Oh, please, please no... (aka Travel agents! To me!)

[iradney]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH - slightly stressed out.

For those not in the know, I am headed to the Great White North to visit my dear parents. I have organised the trip for TTO and myself with the help of a travel agent.

My tickets cost a pretty penny, and the agent knows that this is the first time I've organised anything like this. I'm super nervous, as I know that a bajillion things could go wrong, and either create a situation ranging from where we look back and laugh, to flushing the entire damn thing down the toilet...

So I'm organising lifts to and from the airport, and I realise my e-ticket doesn't have a landing time for when we get home. We take off from Charles du Gaul at about 10:40 am 15 August, so I was guestimating we land about 8pmish on the 15th of August...I pop off an email to the agent merrily asking what time we land in SA.

I get an email back saying we land at 05:40 AM on the 16th of August.

Uh. No. Since I really doubt the flight from France to Africa is over 24 hours, something is seriously wrong here.

I clearly remember discussing layover times with her. We land in France from Toronto at 06:05 am 15th of August, and I said that the 4 hour layover is a perfect amount of time. In fact, according to the ticket, the longest layover we have is at Toronto on our home flight, for about 7 hours.

I've already sent a very polite email in reply, asking if she is indeed sure, as the time on MY e-ticket is different.

I am holding the e-tickets in my sweaty little palms. I know that the carriers can change times and whatnot at their whim - but does this mean I have to now check in on a weekly basis at the agent to make sure all my times are correct? Can they really change it by nearly half a day? Why would they do that??? *mind, she is boggled*

I really REALLY don't want to land that early in the morning - the whole point of me booking a flight that landed in the evening is so that TTO and I can get home, collapse into a sleepcoma, and wake up the next morning with our internal clocks set to "Africa". Not land at sparrow fart and try and stay awake the whole day...

*sigh* How can I not be sucky? Would be a sucky to ask for a flight closer to the original time that I requested and paid heftily for?

[Ironclad Alibi]

Is the flight from Paris to SA a direct flight, or do you any stops in route? Aug 15, 10:40 am to Aug. 16, 5:40 am is a 19 hour flight. I looked on Expedia for tickets from Paris to SA and found the flight times vary from 14 hours to 38 hours. These were flights with 1 or 2 connections.

[Peppergirl]

Answer - yes, then can. And do.

If the airline has done a schedule change that doesn't fit with your timing, you are within your rights to request a different flight. They wont put you on another carrier, but if there's a different flight on that same airline that day, they should accomodate.

Its easiest to call the airline directly to facilitate this, rather than go through the TA. The TA can do it, but alot of airlines get crappy with us nowadays and will do more for the passenger if they call direct.

If you want further info, PM me and I'll give you my email address...I'd be happy to help or offer more advice.

[iradney]

Hey Ironclad - the one we're taking is a direct flight, AFAIK - well, I requested a direct flight.
Peppergirl - thanks very much, hun. Once I get a reply from the TA, I will definitely get your details - I'm hoping that none of my other flights have changed...
I think it might be better for myself to call the airline - the poor TA has enough to deal with!

[iradney]

UPDATE:

Spoke with the TA (I'm sorry, I forgot to mention how awesome she is - SHE IS AWESOME).

Air France basically cancelled all their morning flights for that week, and moved their morning flights to the evening. We did have a look at trying to get a later flight from Toronto to Paris, but alas, we are already on the latest one.

So TTO and I will be in Charles du Gual from 6:05 am to 7:40 pm. TA did offer to organise a "pass" to allow us to enter Paris, but TTO and I are too scared something might happen and we'll miss our flight home!

So...any French CS people fancy a cuppa coffee at the airport??

[Yfandes]

If I were stuck at an airport for that long, I'd look into getting a day pass into one of the airline lounges. There are some sites that offer them here and here, but I've always gotten in free (or very cheaply) using special credit card promotions (American Express) or the fact that another cc is an airline mileage card. OR see if your travel agent can get you into one. IMHO free food, booze, newspapers, magazines and sometimes showers make it well worthwhile!

[TOLady]

Yeah - you're visiting My Fair City!

Mayhaps we can arrange to get together for a drink or two while you're in town!!!

I make a great tour guide!

BTW - it's going to be hotter than Hades while you're here.

Ooops - just noticed that you're just here for a layover, but 7 hours is still quite a while. You can get into the city centre in less than 45 minutes and see some sites in any case.

[StefanMuc]

World's worst airport?

As beautiful as Paris is - CDG is absolutely horrid. I've only used it once, but in my recollection it was incredibly boring. No shopping, no restaurants to speak of. (Apart from a McDonalds somewhere in the basement.)

Sorry, don't want to worry you even more. However since you already have a tour guide lined up - maybe you could change your flight so that your connection is on the following day? Then you could stay the night there, and get a rest before continuing your flight. A day in the city would definitely compensate you for the airport experience, and the train connection is actually pretty good.