Airfare drama

*Airfare drama:

We bought tickets back in August because some people from Perth said Singapore Airlines was a fantastic airline, very organized and comfortable for travel. They loved it. It was also the cheapest flight. Definitely longer travel time at 44 hours (!), but I was just trying to be responsible. BYU is paying for the tickets, but when we first proposed this sabbatical, the budget for airfare was $7000, round trip. And then the war in Ukraine changed that reality so it was actually $8000 on the cheapest airline. And it was going to take 44 hours to get there. Ugh. But, you know, I was trying to respect the budget and do my part. I can buy a good travel pillow and just sleep, right? And pack snacks and then still have 5 months (minus one extra day) in Australia. 

A few weeks after buying the tickets, I got an email that our flight from Salt Lake to San Francisco had been cancelled and I needed to call to make a change. I did, and they offered me a flight that actually left later but still arrived at the same time so we went from 44 hours to 36! Yay! 

Then it was too good to be true. A few more weeks passed and they cancelled the Salt Lake flight again. But offered nothing to replace it. They told me they would have to 

1) email Singapore Airlines to see what changes they would offer

2) I would get a response in 4-5 days with a new itinerary. 

Ok. 

Never got another email. 

So I would call again about 10 days later. 

This time they would say 

3) they would escalate this issue to priority status, and 

4) there was no need to call again. 

Except there *was* a need because I never got an email. 

I repeated steps 1-4 about 6 times. It went on for 75 days. 

I am not a pushover and I don't take things like that quietly. 

Prices for tickets were now over $4000. It was cheaper to keep this booking and buy my own one way tickets to LA. Then they said I can’t do that because if I don’t show up in Salt Lake for the first flight they will consider me a no show and cancel the rest of my bookings. I said “if I don’t show up for WHAT in Salt Lake? There isn’t anything for me to not show up to!" Ugh. So they said they’d have to 

1) email Singapore Airlines to inform them of my plan and 

2) wait for a response. 

Oh my freaking gosh. At this point I had lost all faith in their ability to get me there. I said just cancel the booking. 

And can you believe,... they said... 

1) we’ll have to email Singapore Airlines to grant a refund and

2) it may take up to 8 weeks to receive my refund, and it may not even come until after my travel would have started. 

I’m furious. Actually I was furious about 2 months ago. They had already had my money for 2 months and I needed it back so I could buy new tickets (which were going to cost 50% more now). I had to call in the big guns.

I called VISA and disputed the charges. Within 24 hours I had my money back and the case had been settled. 

Bought tickets for $8500. But this time they were only *one way.* Yikes. I'll still have to buy tickets to get home. It will likely end up costing the $4000 per person. 

But here is what I learned. God loves me. He said “Shelly, I appreciate that you wanted to be frugal and were willing to make sacrifices to keep the cost of the tickets low, but I’m paying for these tickets [it’s a church owned university] and I want you to have a good trip.” The travel time went from 44 hours to 19. Nineteen. It felt like a luxury. And it was the perfect moment to rebuy them because I checked again on prices a month later and they were still the same price, but the low travel time option was no where to be found unless I paid about $9000 PER PERSON.

God loves me. And he’s taking this trip with me. 

Now I have to tell you about my fish hook.*