Sunday 21 October 2012
An eventful day, mixed emotions and lots of challenges. Yet for most
challenges there was some reward! And I learned a great deal.
We had a quiet morning, trying to keep a lid on ourselves, and also
on Dimitri, who was quite tearful through the morning because we were
going and (a) were not staying, or alternatively, (b) that he wasn't
coming with us. Rose kept him occupied with some games of Party Monopoly.
 |
| Party monopoly on our last day, I was packing. |
Elena had ordered the cab to get us out to the airport at mid-day in
time to check in for our 2:45 pm flight to Dubai.
First hiccup was the taxi. Despite being told there were 5
passengers, and luggage, the cab company sent a Hyundai Accent or
smaller, and I think the taxi driver was worried as we all came out
of the apartment building trundling the cases and bags.
He, like us, was probably working a mental game of Tetris to fit us
in! In the already small boot were a number of the driver's personal
effects, a loose spare wheel (not the little space-saver), and a
number of tools. Finally we got in there with the luggage, and the
driver left his stuff at the apartment to pick up later.
At least the fare was not so bad!
2nd Hiccup was after arriving at the terminal (F) as specified on the
booking, we found that our flight did not exist on the departure
boards. Time was ticking on, and my anxiety levels were starting to
rise! Elena found at the enquiry desk that our flight was instead at
Terminal D, a regional terminal at the far end of the airport.
So we all piled into the terminal shuttle bus and after stopping at
the other terminal, and the airport hotel, we finally made the
terminal to find check-in was in progress. Three lines of
passengers, we managed to get to the counter quickly in our row,
although the agent there seemed to be working quite slowly with one
or two in the groups ahead of us. Ukrainian bureaucracy as she was
checking their tickets, and both internal and external passports, and
organising their baggage allowances (ours was thankfully pre-paid).
3rd hiccup: Almost a game-breaker. Rosemary had no issues with her
booking (we were trying to check through to Sydney via Dubai,
seemingly a good thing to do as we didn't want to deal with luggage
at Dubai). Came to me, and my passport would not register when she
tried to check me in. "You have no visa for Australia". I
couldn't believe it as in the last several times I'd been to
Australia I had never needed one before. She was absolutely unmovable, and ended up calling in her supervisor.
No, there was no way we (or at least, me) were going to be able to
travel, and I was going through all sorts of mental planning thinking,
'no way Expedia' is going to help me here! When can I be returned
to? No refunds on this mess! Insurance would be doubtful!
There was quite a performance in the check-in hall, before he took us
aside to let the queue continue to be processed, because they were
getting restless too! On top of that Dima was having fun with the
baggage conveyors, and Elena got spoken to at some stage for taking some farewell
pix of us on her cell phone, and had to delete them. Stress levels
rising!
In the end Steve became quite angry with him, and demanded his
business card so he could complain. The guy obliged, and then became
a little more helpful, to at least cover his own ass, in the event of
a complaint. The Ukrainian staff were obviously unsure of the
requirements, and we were quite adamant that we didn't need a visa
and had never needed one before! My status as a Pom living
permanently in NZ was unusual for them, and so they had never
obviously encountered this problem before.
So the supervisor sought a compromise. He said he could check us on
to Dubai, but we would have to get it all sorted out there, and
recheck our baggage . Out of his hair, anyway! And we jumped at the
offer, to get on the plane.
Somewhat into the unknown, we had lost so much time that we couldn't
have a cuppa with Elena and Steve, and despite a flight delay to
4:05 pm we were still rushing to get though passport control and into
the departure gate area.
Only to find that all of the shops, eateries and duty frees were
shut. Sunday? The sole water cooler in this big departure hall of 30
gates was empty. You don't drink tap water in Kiev, so that was out.
Parched, sweating. A little upset, and our plane not visible at the
gate (passengers were all there, though). It finally arrived, a 737
from the Emirates budget carrier flydubai.
 |
| Our gate in terminal D, no plane and check-in is closed! |
 |
| All the people ready though, no shops open, at least there were toilets! |
 |
| Some Russian heavy transport planes on the other side of the airport. |
 |
| At last our 737 arrives, and we even got to use the airbridge. |
We got on board, thinking that at least we'll get a cuppa or two on
board in the 5 hour flight. No, it was all a pay-as-you go job, and
the best we could manage were cold drinks, pringles and a stale
sandwich each for 60 dirhams, on the credit card, because at the
airport the foreign cash exchanges were shut too! Even the TV was a
pay to view, and you can only stay interested in the flight path
display for so long!
We touched down in Dubai night time 10:45 pm 33degC, outside stairs
and into the biggest terminal transfer bus I've ever seen! Of
course, flydubai uses Terminal 2, on the far side of the airport, and
we needed to transfer to Terminal 3, a 30 minute bus ride away after
transfer formalities. Time is still precious as our booked flight to
Sydney goes at 1:50 am.
Rose was sick, but thankfully not in the bus. We went to the T2
transfer desk, and the very helpful girl there got on line and
transferred our unclaimed bags to Sydney on the same numbers. One
less thing to worry about.
But she couldn't access my passport and booking details on her
terminal. Never mind she said, they will be able to sort it in
Terminal 3, and she gave us transfers to Terminal 3.
Back into a smaller bus for the trip through the airport, and the
taxi-ways, (airside roadways amongst taxiing planes) to Terminal 3.
We took our chit to the Emirates Transfer Desk and a very helpful
young fellow waved us over to him at the first class counter.
Thiings are looking up.
And here we go again! So now it's close to midnight. "No I
cannot process you on to the flight, you do not have an electronic
visa for Australia". More discussion, but this guy knew his
stuff, and was communicating really well.
So all along, I was wrong, I had cocked up, and the Ukrainians
were right! But the difference was in the level of customer service
and help we were getting in Dubai. Outstanding.
Unlike the Ukrainians, he got on the phone, to Australia, and on-line,
and established that I needed an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority).to
travel on my UK passport into Australia, and that the rules had
changed in 2005 to require this, at about the same time the USA
adopted a similar scheme, that I was familiar with. And the
application could be done on line, immediately, as long as it was
done from outside Australia. NZ citizens are exempt, which is why Rose didn't have the problem.
Monday 22 October 2012
That chap, and his supervisor pulled out all the stops, but were
unable to put in an application on my behalf. Right at the last
moment, the colleague was having a go at the on-line application and
put our home phone number in the screen, and with minutes to spare,
the ETA was approved.
1:00 am... So off we went, boarding passes in hand, on the long
journey to our departure gate. I thought we'd grab a cuppa upstairs,
but just as I was about to order, there was a boarding announcement
for our flight, and we decided not to tempt fate.
And now, the good news continues! No, not an upgrade, but we had
been booked into the mid-ships exit row by the galley on the 777.
What a great flight! A great airline. The food was fabulous. HD TV.
Staff were friendly.
Arrived quite fresh in Sydney 13 hours later at about 10:45 pm and
customs and passport control were a breeze. Our bags were there too!
Took a taxi to our hotel, cost only a little more than a shuttle,
which we hadn't ordered anyway! A bit of light rain. The
entertainment options through the 'Cross were quite an eye-opener,
the street was quite busy. It is the red light district.
Checked in at the hotel to find they had included free internet for
our stay (usually paid extra), and a nice serviced room in the quiet
part of the hotel – pleased about that as we are right on the main
drag from Kings Cross through to Potts Point, and the street outside
the hotel is a party central zone.
A cup of tea, and asleep before the head hit the pillow!
No comments:
Post a Comment