Trouble

Took a 6 seater bush plane out of the glamping camp. We then booked a flight to Johannesburg airport (now a comparative ghost town). In theory we were to fly from Johannesburg to London and on to YVR. We wanted to leave 5 days early. Long story short, even though we paid for biz class on British Airways they couldn’t help us. Our travel agent told us to fly to Zambia (on our own) then come back to Johannesburg and then get our flight to London and then YVR.  This same agent also asked us for a lot more money because demand for our tickets had gone up. British Airways told us they could do nothing. So we were tired and frustrated. You see no one can reach British Airways right now. Their website and phones are overwhelmed. People are angry at the gate. Last night a flight left for London with room and they would not let us on. Flights from London to Canada are being sold at highly inflated prices, because it is the only way right now all of Europe can get into North America. 

Well we took matters into our own hands. At 3 am after working our fingers on our tablets, we got confirmation we are on a flight from Johannesburg to Dubai, then on to Seattle, then finally into YVR.  We leave tonight. We feel very lucky we were able to make this happen. It will be a super long 30 hour journey, but we do not overnight anywhere. 

Doug: Although the routing home will see us cross 14 time zones versus the original plan’s 10, I am actually feeling quite good about it. Total transit time is about the same 30 hours and we should be home 6:30 pm Monday. In addition, we go nowhere near the hot zone of Europe. We leave in another 11 hours so let’s see if I’m still feeling this way, say, 36 hours from now! 

Interesting to see that travel insurance companies now waffling on trip interruption claims due to the virus. We’re with Manulife - the Darth Vader of insurers. Insurance is generally very useful unless you actually are in need of it.