TravelChick

Ticket

I finally got my confirmation number for my ticket Thursday evening so scrambled to get to the ticket office off of Oxford Street on Friday, the 23rd.

Now the 23rd is not Christmas Eve. It's not a holiday of any sort, so it should be a normal business day. Not in England. After running various other errands near my house, I got to the ticket office just after 4 to discover that it was closed. Closed! There were people inside, and they mouthed 'We're closed.' I checked the door. The opening hours indicated that they were open until 5.30. No special holiday hours were posted.

I tried communicating with some Arabic gestures, trying to figure out when they would open next and if I would be able to make it back in order to pick up my ticket before I left. Apparently the office was going to re-open the 28th, when I would be in Paris. I pretended not to understand and one of the men in the office made the mistake of coming up to the door to tell me what I already knew, that they wouldn't be re-opening for several days.

I pleaded, telling him that there was no other time I would be able to pick up my ticket before my flight. He said 'You can pick it up at the airport.' I replied obstinately, 'No, I can't.' I explained that I'm moving to Doha, that I'm going to work for Al Jazeera, that...I didn't get to finish the sentence. 'Al Jazeera?' The man gestured for me to go in through a side door.

I picked up my ticket, thanked all of them profusely, and got the hell out of there. Well, after I asked how much they charge for excess baggage. I get an allowance of 20kg. 20 kg! I foresee more pleading at the airport.

posted by Travel Chick @ 4:41 PM