The next time I enter an airport for an international flight I want it to be stress free.
We had given plenty of time to get to the airport, return
the car, pay for the last of Levi’s medical expenses at a bank, and check in
for our flight to Australia. Plenty of time turned into minutes to get on the
plane before it took off.
I guess I came to think in my head that going through a travel agent and in addition to that hiring a travel consultant, they would tell me when I need a visa. I was shaking so bad in Johannesburg airport I could barely type.
We arrived at Johannesburg airport 3 hours before our flight. We had to pay another bill for Levi's health care at a bank before we left (that is another story of working with SA systems). After that we headed to check in for our flight. The check in desk said we needed visas for Australia. I was surprised. They said you could do it online but the internet is so bad in this country that any where else would not have been as much of an issue.
My phone had plenty of data to use, but that was so slow I tried the airport wifi but that was soooo slow I asked people behind desks if they could help us. They said they didn't have internet. One man sent someone to check with Quantus as they usually help patrons with this (even though we were flying Singapore Air). Quantus man wasn't coming to work until 3 and our flight left at 1:45.
The British Airways man said he did not have internet (I don't believe him) and said go to vodocom(the cell phone company I used). I RAN with kids and bags in tow to vodocom (the African version of Verison) and they said they could not get internet (how can this be? You sold it to me and I still had 1.5 gigs). Anyway, they said go next door to the dry cleaners as she had internet.
As expected, the dry cleaning lady denied having internet and said my data would work better in the parking lot. By this time my voice is in panic mode and I begged her to help us. I guaranteed I would pay for her internet time as she was most concerned about this. The woman the airline had sent with us spoke in another language and the dry cleaning lady finally relented.
With very shaky fingers I got through my application in 10 minutes and everyone else's 5 minutes each. Jacks credit card was shut down after first three applications but good thing we travel with 4.
The airline lady had to leave before the financial end of dealing with the drycleaner started. $30 US and everyone was happy. I did not care what the price and we had no time for this.
We RAN through the airport back to check in gate, got the bags checked and were personally escorted through security. We were taken right to the plane.
I do not think I felt right until we landed in Singapore. Singapore Airlines is marvellous by the way. Best airline we have flown so far. The boys were thrilled with the constant food and drinks throughout the flight. I drank 4 glasses of wine.
But how can an international airport as huge and the biggest in SA work without internet? Every desk must have it and to think the drycleaner of all places is the only one who could access it? I do not get it! It is hysterical when I think of it.
Thumbs up indeed! Lucky to aboard this plane.
Travelling and time changes are exhausting. Nate catching a snooze during our 4 hour layover in Singapore.
