My blog, my outlet - the stress that comes with the return home.

I don't usually use this blog to bitch but since the stress from our recent vacation has yet to subside, I feel the need to share some facts of life with my readers, whether they be travelers or not.

First off, traveling can be a huge pain in the ass. Forgive my language, with airlines are often sending you on round-about journeys to make claims, complaints and most importantly, get your money back. Oh, and don't forget about your luggage. It's always a "don't call us, we'll call you-type of deal."

The first surprise we got upon our arrival back to Helsinki occurred before we even left the airport! Our bags were not on the flight with us. As some of you have heard, and others have not yet because I haven't blogged about it, Juha was very sick on the journey home. The airline and airport had been contacted that we might not be able to make our connecting flight, but luckily, we did make the Frankfurt - Helsinki flight. Upon arriving at the gate, we thought it wise to check in with the counter and let them know that we'd made it so our bags could be loaded onto the aircraft as well (no, we didn't pack our toothbrushes in the hand luggage.) The woman told us that once our tickets had been scanned in, the luggage would be boarded on the plane. Guess what? The woman was wrong.

So alas, we got to Helsinki and found out she'd been wrong. So we went to the lost luggage counter and filed a missing bag complaint or whatever they're called. Then we were given a tracking number to check online. I thought I was being smart by asking for a number we could also call if we didn't hear anything. The woman pointed it out to me at the bottom of the paper she'd given me. Here's a tip for you guys if you ever end up in this situation - CALL THAT NUMBER IN FRONT OF THE PERSON! Because when I woke up the next day with no information and I called the number I got the following voice recording: "All our agents are presently busy." in Finnish, then in Swedish... and then the line goes dead. So yeah, good luck reaching anyone at Lufthansa. 2 days after landing in Helsinki, our bags were delivered to Tampere. We were so happy to see them, that we didn't even notice Juha's luggage belt was missing. How do you complain about that? You go to the luggage counter at the airport... yeah, thanks a lot.

That's only the beginning.

In order to find out how to claim all the costs incurred from the trip, I called Air Canada and waited on hold, patiently, for 45 minutes. (It was on speaker phone but the dread I get when I know I have to make one of these calls is comparable to depression.) Now if I may add, the call center people are not always so friendly (except you Horia!), or at least they don't seem friendly enough after you wait an hour on hold. This woman, in particular, was rather rude and told me that the claim can be made on the website. I went online, made the claim for the flight tickets we had to pay ourselves to Tallin, scanned and attached the necessary documentation and received a confirmation email that my request would be handled soon. I decided not to claim everything, such as the hotel night in Zurich or the many meals we could've eaten as home in Canada because I have a Visa Gold... and I used it to buy my original tickets.

So my next call was to Visa: "I'd like to make an insurance claim." I find out that you need to be sent a package in the mail, which you then fill out, attach the appropriate documentation to and send back. Would I like to start this process now? Yes I would.
"One moment please, I'll transfer you."
"Hello... blah blah... what is the nature of your claim?"
I tell her. And she checks my card. Well guess what? The card I have, that I've been using for years and was told had travel insurance, actually only covers: purchase security, extended warranties and auto rental collisions or something. Not much I can do there, so I hang up. (Any idea how I can add to my claim when all I got from making the Air Canada claim was an email telling me they will process it as soon as possible, and they attached my claim number?... which looked to be about 20 digits long.)

I called them again later about an inflated transaction from a restaurant we ate at in Vancouver. I had to fax them my receipts but still had to confirm they received them since I didn't hear anything from them. They had and the correction will be made shortly.

Then I check my Aeroplan balance online. Aeroplan is Air Canada's frequent flyer reward system. They, of course, didn't register all our flights into their system. I called them today - after a week of putting it off - and found out that because Air Canada booked us on a flight that wasn't part of Star Alliance, and then they didn't pay for it... and we had to, nor did they refund us any money, there is no guarantee that we'll be given any points for this either. But send us your original boarding cards (I can only find one of the 2) and we'll see what we can do.

In the meantime, my bank has decided not to post exchange rates on my account balance anymore so all my euro transactions are made in Canadian dollars, without seeing what fees I'm paying for each one or what kind of exchange rate they're given me. I called them and then launched a complaint online.

Sometimes coming home can be even more stressful that traveling and traveling can only be enjoyed by not thinking, or not anticipating, that everything is currently going wrong but you're only going to find out later when cancelled flight responsibilities fall on your shoulders. So my heart goes out to all of those who have had comparable experiences, and for those who haven't, remember:
- keep all your receipts,
- know your rights,
- find out all the information possible when you have the chance to talk to real people, face-to-face,
- and don't let the airlines screw you.

Love,
irina.

P.S. We're still waiting on the phone bill for the call Juha made to Air Canada, direct from Helsinki, waited on hold for 45 minutes only to have the agent hang up one him and for which, Air Canada nor Visa will be paying.