I spent the last ten days in Michigan experiencing the cold weather that I bought a home in Florida to avoid. I returned for my consultant work with Michigan Works! Southeast.
My original plan was to fly to Michigan on March 19th and return on March 23rd. I wanted to return to view a large public presentation of students from seven Lenawee County school districts. I helped develop the event. I booked my round trip flight shortly after I arrived in Florida last fall. In late January I was asked by the director of MWSE to make a presentation to the MWSE Workforce Development Board. The Board is composed of business and education leaders from five counties: Lenawee, Livingston, Hillsdale, Jackson and Washtenaw. They wanted to hear about the program that I coordinate on their behalf. The meeting was scheduled for March 14th.
I had a dilemma. I could fly in and out for the meeting on the 14th (When you have a flexible schedule you can consider such options.), or I could reschedule my trip. I chose to reschedule my trip so that I would leave on March 13th and return, as planned, on March 23rd.
When I started to complete the rescheduling, the cost to “change” my departure date exceeded the cost to rebook the departure flight. I booked a new flight that left on the 13th. The original departure flight for March 19th would be an unavoidable expense that would fall by the wayside. I could still head back to Florida on the 23rd as originally planned.
My time in Michigan went well. My required duties were well received. I had the opportunity to reconnect with friends, develop new business contacts, and most importantly, see my grandchildren and watch my grandson play basketball. All good stuff.
If you are a “flyer” you know that you can check in on-line for most flights twenty-four hours prior to your scheduled departure. I planned to do just that. On Thursday afternoon I went on-line to “check in”. I couldn’t. A message popped up that said I would be receiving an email and text message with further instructions. No such message came. I searched for on-line answers with no success and decided to make the dreaded phone call. You know the call. You get to press one for Spanish, remain on the line for English, listen to dozens of recorded options followed by lame music and service announcements, until you discover that “we are experiencing higher than normal call volume so your expected wait time is from now through eternity”.
Just as I was getting ready to throw the phone out into the yard, “Charlie” came on the line. “Charlie” had a distinctive accent that made him difficult to understand. He was polite and wanted to be helpful. I just wanted to check in so I could print my boarding pass.
“Charlie” couldn’t help me with my boarding pass. It seems that since I didn’t board the flight that I had originally scheduled for the 19th, the remainder of the round trip flight had been canceled by the airline. That was in the fine print. You are supposed to read the fine print to make oneself aware of the specific terms, conditions, restrictions, limitations, etc., of an agreement, contract, or other document, which are often printed in very small type and thus easy to miss. The fine print is also referred to by some as the “s#@t out of luck clause”.
I didn’t read it. I was stuck. I asked “Charlie” what my options were. While I knew that I could remain in Michigan (that was an option) I didn’t want to. If I wanted to fly, I had to book a new flight, and purchase a new ticket.
“Can I fly tomorrow?” (Friday)
“Yes, Mr. Tebo, however, the only flight we have leaving tomorrow departs Detroit at 8:00 a.m., goes to Baltimore (through an impending blizzard), and arrives in Orlando at 1:45 p.m.. You won’t have to change planes.”
“What’s the fee?”
“$285.00”
“Can I use my points?”
“No sir. There are no options for using points on this flight.”
“What are my options if I wait until Saturday?”
“We have a direct flight leaving Detroit at 4:35 p.m. arriving in Orlando at 7:14 p.m.” (Same flight as originally scheduled but on a different day.)
“How much is that flight?”
$279.00″
“Can I use points?”
“Let me see. Ah… Yes. You can use 25,000 points and that would bring the fee down to $249.00.”
“Forget using the points. Book the flight.”
“Yes, sir.”
What’s the moral of the story?
- Read the fine print.
- If there is a chance that you may need to alter your flight plans, book a series of one way flights rather than a round trip.
- Don’t swear at “Charlie” because he didn’t write the fine print. He just has to read it to you.
You are absolutely correct!!! ALWAYS book one way. Saves you these headaches and sometimes, money; And book with an airline that puts the ticket cost on hold for a year as opposed to taking your hard earned money.