Planning a trip ?? Make sure to buy the ticket to the correct place

[natty bumppo 297]

Oh, You Wanted to Go to That Salvador.....

I’m seeing the world about three weeks at a time. Brazil had been on my radar for a while, but once I decided to go recently, it was a very last-minute trip.

Nada Marjanovich is the publisher of Long Island Pulse. Here is her story !

"I have been flying most of my life, even as a child. And I fly quite a bit for business. I consider myself a very seasoned, savvy traveler. Nothing much can shake my confidence.

I used frequent-flier miles for a round-trip ticket to Brazil. My first stop was to be Salvador de Bahia, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia.

I made special note of the potential for confusion between the country of El Salvador and Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. I took a lot of time to clarify my destination with the travel agent. I wanted to make absolutely sure that my final stop was going to be the country called Brazil, not the country of El Salvador.

I was scheduled to leave on a Wednesday afternoon. I started packing my luggage on a Sunday night. And I made the unusual decision, at least for me, to look at my passport.

Much to my dismay, my passport had expired. After a few quick Google searches, I found a New York City agency that could renew my passport in 24 hours.

So that Monday morning, I trekked into the city and made my way to the agency. They took my picture, application and fees and told me everything was going to be just fine.

On Tuesday morning at 9:10 I gave the agency a call. Somehow I knew the gods of flight were not going to be with me. I was right. My passport was rejected.

I had worn a scarf in my hair and the passport people rejected the picture because some of my hair wasn’t showing. At this point, I was starting to get the sinking feeling that I should cancel my trip.

Meanwhile, I had some important last-minute meetings. I asked the agency people if I could send them a digital photo that I already had. They obliged.

But at 2:15 p.m. that day, I got a call telling me that picture wouldn’t work because my body was turned and passport photos require a straight-on portrait.

I started screaming into the phone, begging them to please make it work. About 25 minutes later, I got a call saying that my documents were ready.

I raced into the city from Port Jefferson in Long Island. It’s normally a two-hour ride, but I did manage to make it into New York a few minutes before the agency closed for the day.

I got my documents but still had this sinking feeling that this trip was not going to go well.

On Wednesday, I got to the airport in plenty of time. I got my boarding pass and somehow even managed to get my favorite exit aisle seat.

But just as I was starting to get comfortable, the pilot got on the public address system with this: “Good afternoon. Welcome aboard. On today’s flight to El Salvador we will be cruising ... .”

At that point, there was nothing I could do. The fates had won.

When we landed in El Salvador, I grabbed the first ground agent I saw and started to plead my case. The official didn’t seem too worried. In fact, he seemed to take it as a matter of course, telling me to relax.

Apparently, he is confronted with issues like mine about once a day. It seems that many travelers to Brazil wind up in El Salvador. Who knew?

Eventually, I did make it to Brazil. I was only a day late. I figured at that point that the fates were done with me.

I was wrong. I was in Brazil, but my luggage was nowhere to be found. It took the airline six days to locate my bags. And when they finally arrived, most of my clothes were gone. The toiletries were a mess. And my bags were broken.

Despite everything, I had an incredible time. I had a toothbrush. I had a bathing suit. I had a credit card. I was in Brazil.

I may have lost every battle with the fates, but I did win the war. And that is the best revenge.""

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

She doesn't seem that bright. Two bad passport photos? And a the wrong destination?

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

She doesn't seem that bright. Two bad passport photos? And a the wrong destination?

some world traveller she turned out to be

[Kathryn41 3,205]

This reminds me of one of the times I was flying from Detroit to Atlanta to visit Joe while we were still engaged. My flight was for 6:15 pm and so I arrived to check in about 1 1/2 hours before my flight. While standing in line to get my boarding pass (they didn't have electronic check in yet) I overheard the conversation with the man ahead of me. He was checking in for the same flight - except that it turned out not to be the same flight. He had booked a flight that had left at 6:30 am instead of the 6:15 pm one! I don't know how the rest of it turned out as it was my turn at the counter. I realized then that it could be rather easy to make that mistake if one wasn't paying attention and have always been careful to make sure the flight time is correct since.

Edited August 18, 2007 by Kathryn41

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I remember years ago on a flight from Berlin to NYC I made a funny remark to the lady sitting next to me when the flight tracker in the plane showed the plane heading east immediately after take-off. I said something to the effect: Can't wait to get back to Moscow. She looked at me all panicky like saying that this was the flight to NYC, right? I said: NYC? No. This is the flight to Moscow. I remained very serious and very excited about going back to Moscow and she really started to panic. It was funny. When the plane started to change course a few minutes later, I said that she must have been right. Then she was all confused wondering how I got onto the wrong flight and how I could be so relaxed about it. I just laughed and said that that was fun. She was a bit mad at first but we had some good conversation over the next few hours. It was a great flight!