So you thought you had a plane ticket, did ya
A Lesson in
Norse
Briefly,
before we try to save the vacation of our lives – which Norwegian (Air Shuttle, their full formal
name) royally fucked up today:
California Dreaming…
We booked
flights on Norwegian (from Berlin, Germany) to LAX via Oslo in January – using
Expedia – for today, July 21, 2015.
Our plan
was to travel on to Alaska via Seattle (w/o Norwegian), before trekking down
the West Coast for a month.
…turns into a Nightmare
As usual,
we received the travel documents via email quickly, tucked them away, and
pulled them out again yesterday.
We got out
of the house nice and early this morning, and reached the airport with hours to
spare (punctuality can happen when you become a family man…).
But when we
stepped up to check in, we weren’t on the passenger list.
No amount
of scrutiny and double-checking changed the fact that our names were nowhere to
be found. The staff at the counter was not from Norwegian, but locally hired
hands. Who were not helpful.
So our only
option – as advised by the gruff ground staff – was to call the Norwegian
hotline. In Norway. On our cellphone. Who were not helpful, informing us that
Norwegian had sensed credit card fraud, and canceled our (via Expedia) booking.
So we
called the Expedia hotline. Who were not helpful.
No-one gave
an inch in several long (long, LONG!) phone calls with both Expedia and
Norwegian, leaving us completely stranded.
In other
words, we showed up at the airport with precisely the same documents, and after
having had exactly the same communications with Norwegian (and Expedia), as any
other passenger (yes, this could have been you, Mr. or Ms. Online Shopper…),
yet no-one anywhere felt an inkling of responsibility to help us get on the
flights we had bought. Or at least closer to our destination.
Lots of
well-trained faux-heartfelt “Sorrys!”, though.
So what really happened?
Well,
before subpoenaing the records in question, it will all remain pretty
mysterious.
What we’ve
been able to piece together over the last idle hours waiting for a
flesh-and-blood travel agent to save us (yay meatspace!),
is that Norwegian called our bank for the confirmation of our credit card,
which we’ve used regularly before and after.
Answering
Norwegian’s inquiry, our bank confirmed that our credit card was legit, funds
were available, plus whatever other information one might want to exchange
about a brimmingly healthy account.
Yet for
reasons only known to Norwegian, they still canceled our bookings, presumably
months ago.
And did not tell us!
No call
(they had our number...), no email (…and our email address, of course), no
other attempt to reach us.
No message
to us, or the credit card company (to our knowledge), or our bank (confirmed
via phone), or Expedia (as per call-center staff), whom we used to book these
flights.
So
ironically, everyone kept up the flurry of marketing emails with Exciting
Things To Do! in Oslo! and Los Angeles!
Including actual
(well, virtual) flight and travel plans from Expedia (e.g. “Your upcoming
travel: Los Angeles”, “Your upcoming travel: Oslo” [translated from German: “Ihre nächste Reise:
Oslo” etc.]).
Fight or Flight?
I just
heard we’ve found other flights, for a few thousand extra.
Oh well,
we’ll still have fun.
And return
with a well-rested, nicely rounded grudge, itching to be exercised.
Top Travel Tip: Be very careful when dealing
with Norwegian and Expedia
So our word
to the wise – if you can’t avoid Norwegian altogether, be sure to triple check
all communications with them.
That they
send you a “Travel Receipt” doesn’t mean that they’ve accepted your payment.
That they
send you a “Travel Document” doesn’t mean that they’ll actually give you a seat
on a plane.
To a lesser
extent, this also applies to Expedia – that they send
you official-ish online documentation of a supposedly
upcoming journey does not mean a thing when it counts.
TBC