If It Can Go Wrong - It Will Go Wrong!

How difficult can it be? You have written confirmation that you have a seat on a flight, so when you turn up at the airport, you name is on the passenger list, right? WRONG So let me start at the beginning! Andy and Henry were due to fly out to Ascension Island from RAF Brize Norton on Wednesday night. The flights had been booked and confirmation received some months ago (March). It was stressful enough for them leaving the dogs, our home and the eldest son behind, packing all your worldly goods into bags and taking the almost 4 hour drive to the airport without things going against you! Having made the journey in good time and cleared security at the RAF base entrance, they arrived at check-in, to be told that there was no record of their booking and they would have to go on ‘stand-by’ for the flight! If you’ve been to Brize, it’s not the most entertaining of airports as it IS an RAF base. The facilities consist of one small kiosk serving tea and coffee and selling a few bits and pieces and the obligatory toilet facilities. Once you go through to the departure lounge (usually an hour or so before the flight there is a soft play area for small children. So Andy and Henry found themselves sitting, surrounded by bags waiting to find out if they would be allowed to board. In the ‘pack’ I prepared for them in the UK, was the email confirmation that they were indeed booked on said flight, but despite this being in their possession, checking in was still forbidden! I can only imagine how stressful this was for them, but finally after a considerable wait, they were allowed to check-in and the ‘missing’ booking now confirmed – No apology though.

Throughout this time I was receiving messages from Henry via Facebook, so I knew they hadn’t been allowed to check-in. The flight time came and went and although I’d asked Henry to let me know if they made the flight, there was no update. With a heavy heart, I went off to bed not knowing if they had made the flight, or whether they were in custody in a RAF jail, having finally lost patience! Early next morning, still no news! Had to look on the bright side and hope that was good news. I arrived at work and proceeded to recount the previous evening’s events. My boss, Susan, has relatives on Ascension and she immediately set about contacting them. The wait for news began and after more anxiety, the confirmation arrived that Andy and Henry were indeed on Ascension. Within minutes the office phone rang and it was Andy calling to let me know they’d made the flight and had arrived safely. But the challenges did not stop there! Although I had prepared all the paperwork the St Helena Government pick up the bill for the permits etc. Despite me sending them a reminder email, they had not made payment! Andy and Henry could not get into Ascension unless they stumped up the cash for the permit. Luckily Andy had enough cash to cover the fees, so they set off for the Obsidian Hotel – just about the only place to stay on the Island. So just when you think nothing else could possibly go wrong, the Obsidian had no record of a booking in their name! After a bit of checking, the booking was found to be in the name of Mr Henry (a very common Saint surname) and the room keys were duly handed over – I do hope they don’t find they are sharing a room with Mr Henry!