Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Disaster narrowly averted!

Yesterday I rang Qantas to check on my baggage allowance, and prefaced my question with "I'm flying on Qantas flight 4 tomorrow night..." at which the passenger agent said "But QF4 leaves in the morning! That flight always used to leave around that time at night but it was changed a few years ago." Gulp! Imagine turning up in the evening, only to find that the flight left 12 hours before.

I'm now packed, ready to go out for my breakfast, and will be picked up by the shuttle at 7.45. All's well, but it could have gone so horribly wrong!

Tip to self: read tickets carefully, remember 24 hour clock and don't jump to conclusions!

27 comments:

Kerri said...

Whew, that was a lucky break Val! Best of luck on your flight home. I'm sure being home will feel wonderful after such a long time away. I hope you enjoyed Hawaii and had lovely weather.
It's still raining here!!!
My voice is almost back to normal, Thank you. I'm going to try attending choir practice tonight for the first time since the laryngitis set in.

Susie said...

Hi Val,
Glad you caught that "slight error" in the nick of time!
Hope you have a wonderful comfortable flight home. I know you'll be glad to see your family again.
Can't wait to see pictures...
:)

Carole Burant said...

Oh sure, you just wanted to stay longer in Hawaii!!! hehe Good thing you did call them though and found out! Can't wait to hear all about your trip...you'll have a lot of typing to do when you get home! lol Take care, safe trip home....xoxo

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Wow, that was lucky you made the call, wasn't it !!
Hope the flight home is a comfy one.
Take care, Meow

Jo said...

Lucky u rang, but surely they should of contacted people to let them know of the change of flight.
I would have been furious!!!

Alice said...

Hi Val - I hope the trip was good, but I bet it was a shock to get home and find all sorts of unseasonal weather, like rain, hail, sleet and snow. Oh, well wait a couple of days and it'll probably be hot again.

Welcome back, my dear. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip and adventures.

lindsaylobe said...

We are creatures of habit; changes are so easily missed, indeed, maybe a minor diaster narrowly averted. You are returning to somewhat icy conditions, rain and even snow in some regions, a blast from Antarctica via the great southern ocean. Finer weather for the weekend however !!
Best wishes

Jeanette said...

Hi Val Have a safe and comfortable journey home .
look for to see pics of your trip

Annette said...

Have a grand trip home just in time for the snowstorm north of Melbourne!

Annette

Annette said...

South! I meant South! LOL, silly northern hemisphereian, that's me!

Annette

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Oh how DREADFUL that would have been having to spend a few more days in Hawaii...chuckle, chuckle.

It's good that you called the airlines and averted the mistake and by now you are probably safely flying home. The MWC will be so happy to see you as I'm sure you'll also be glad to be home. I'm sure you'll have some wonderful stories and pictures to share with us and I can hardly wait.

Safe trip.
Sandy

Val said...

LittleJen, it was my fault totally, the change in schedule had been made a few years ago - I just neglected to read carefully!

The potential dramas of my return continued in Sydney after my carry on stuff went through the security scanner. First someone picked up my duty free bag instead of hers - she noticed it straight away. But I picked up someone else's carry on bag - it is so distinctive, and what are the chances of someone going through security at the same time with the same bag. Luckily he noticed it before I got on the bus to transfer to the international terminal. In that bag was my money, passport, travel diary and my camera with all my photos. Glad I made it home ok!

DellaB said...

Hi Val,
Sounds like you have been fortunate to arrive home in one piece with all your bits and pieces - welcome back.
:-)
Della

Anonymous said...

Hi Val ~ Great that you are home safely
with a few minor hiccups. Guess you are pretty tired at the moment. Hope you can
share the photos and stories with us soon. THANKS to getting the right bag
eventually. Guess you heard about Brendan's mishaps in Ireland, glad he is back and I thought all along Lance should be captain. Take care, Love, Merle.

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Hope you are home, well and rested.
Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.
Take care, Meow

Kerri said...

Goodness Val, I'm so glad that fellow noticed you had the wrong bag in time. That would've been horrible.
Glad you're home safe and sound, and hope your warm weather has returned. We had a bit of snow today, but it didn't stick. Hope it stays away until everyone has finished with their Thanksgiving traveling. Our kids are all coming home. Ya!
Hope you are enjoying your home once again. Takes a while to settle down, doesn't it?

Granny said...

So glad you're safely home with your luggage and sanity intact.

It was such fun chatting with you. Maybe next time it can be face to face over tea or your beverage of choice.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I'm glad you made it home okay Val. It sounded like you had several almost disasters coming home...but alas you are safe and sound at home.
Can't wait to hear about your trip.

Sandy

Pear tree cottage! said...

Val hello, gosh just think turning up and going all through that getting to the airport stuff to only find you should just about be in Australia by then yikes!!!!!

I hope this finds you back safe and ready for a long hot waterless summer lol lol lol lol!!

I will get the USA / AUSSIE cook book out for you to let you know what is best instead of graham crackers. lol lol

Lee-ann

Val said...

Hope you are recovering from the travel, and got your "landlegs" again and are adjusting to home. And sorting out all the photos - same as me, and mine was only two weeks!

Welcome home!

Kali said...

Welcome back Val!
I've had a quick skim of your posts (and loved the MIL story!), and it sounds like you had a really special time (and did so much!)...I really want to come back and have a proper read, but today I am going to have a computer free day...but will be back soon. :)

I hope you are settling back in well.

Tanya said...

Seems to me we're all waiting patiently for news. And where are those photos? Hope all is going well.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Just stopping in to say "Hi" Val and I think you are out having too much fun...away from blogland. *LOL*

DellaB said...

Hi Val, getting a bit concerned now, is everything okay?

John Cowart said...

Hi Val,
Hope things are going well for you.
I keep checking in to read your latest and, along with others, I'm getting worried about you. OK, so you retired from the library; just hope you haven't retired from blogging too. The world would be diminished.

Jellyhead said...

Hi Val,

Hope you're OK, and just taking a well-earned vacation from blogging.

When you feel like it again, we'd love to hear from you!

Regards,
Jelly

Alice said...

Hey, Lazybones - come on, just one post to let us know you still love us!

By the way, have you received any emails from me in the last two days? I keep getting 'undeliverable' messages.

Cheers -

'Alice'