Well, I have a new found respect for travel agents. I've never really used one for personal travel, at least not in the last 20 years, and definitely not since the rise of the Internet.
Earlier this week we were told that our agency was trying to get our travel group locked in to an early appointment with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. That appointment date is what determines when adoptive families get to travel and no firm plans can be made until that date is known.
On Monday our adoption agency informed us that the Travel Notices (the official approval to travel from the Chinese) had gone out and that they were requesting appointments for a date which would require us to travel as early as next week. By Wednesday morning they had those appointments and by Wednesday night we had a sample itinerary from the travel agent.
That's where we hit the snag. Many families purchase a lap ticket for their child on the return trip, but some purchase a regular seat. The extra room in coach adds comfort to the final leg of a very exhausting journey. In our case we wanted to do this, and also get a 3rd seat on the way out. We're bigger folks and 17 hours crammed in a coach seat is not our idea of comfortable.
When we mentioned this to the travel agent, she went back and worked out a couple of scenarios. However, for reasons I still don't understand, the airline could not confirm that any of the 3 seats, coming or going, would be together. Now the whole purpose of this was to have more room between the two of us so possibly not getting them together was unacceptable. So, as of last night, no tickets. Keep in mind, we're supposed to fly out next week.
The agent went back and started working a few other options, but I went most of the day without hearing from her. In the mean time I am going out of my head and really not able to focus at work. I got stuff done, but spent much of my time agonizing over whether or not we would be able to find a flight. All of my own personal searching on airline and travel websites had been fruitless. I was starting to worry that, after 26 months of waiting, I was putting us in danger of even more delay because of my desire for personal comfort.
Finally, though, late this afternoon, we heard from the travel agent. She had found us seats on a different airline. There had still been some difficulty getting seats confirmed, but she had been successful in convincing the airline to assign the seats. The only gap is the first leg from Atlanta to New York - it's on a Canadair jet and only has a 2-2 configuration.
So now, thanks to the hard work of our travel agent, we have seats. One more thing off the checklist and one more step on the journey.
Earlier this week we were told that our agency was trying to get our travel group locked in to an early appointment with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. That appointment date is what determines when adoptive families get to travel and no firm plans can be made until that date is known.
On Monday our adoption agency informed us that the Travel Notices (the official approval to travel from the Chinese) had gone out and that they were requesting appointments for a date which would require us to travel as early as next week. By Wednesday morning they had those appointments and by Wednesday night we had a sample itinerary from the travel agent.
That's where we hit the snag. Many families purchase a lap ticket for their child on the return trip, but some purchase a regular seat. The extra room in coach adds comfort to the final leg of a very exhausting journey. In our case we wanted to do this, and also get a 3rd seat on the way out. We're bigger folks and 17 hours crammed in a coach seat is not our idea of comfortable.
When we mentioned this to the travel agent, she went back and worked out a couple of scenarios. However, for reasons I still don't understand, the airline could not confirm that any of the 3 seats, coming or going, would be together. Now the whole purpose of this was to have more room between the two of us so possibly not getting them together was unacceptable. So, as of last night, no tickets. Keep in mind, we're supposed to fly out next week.
The agent went back and started working a few other options, but I went most of the day without hearing from her. In the mean time I am going out of my head and really not able to focus at work. I got stuff done, but spent much of my time agonizing over whether or not we would be able to find a flight. All of my own personal searching on airline and travel websites had been fruitless. I was starting to worry that, after 26 months of waiting, I was putting us in danger of even more delay because of my desire for personal comfort.
Finally, though, late this afternoon, we heard from the travel agent. She had found us seats on a different airline. There had still been some difficulty getting seats confirmed, but she had been successful in convincing the airline to assign the seats. The only gap is the first leg from Atlanta to New York - it's on a Canadair jet and only has a 2-2 configuration.
So now, thanks to the hard work of our travel agent, we have seats. One more thing off the checklist and one more step on the journey.
