Fun with Aeroplanes.

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  Airport Hell, Singapore
Monday, December 4, 2006

Yeah, Finland. Just kidding.

So we're waiting for our gate to be opened for passenger screening and boarding last night, and the boarding time goes by without comment from anyone working the gate. It's only 10 minutes before the announced departure time that the captain comes out and sheepishly tries to communicate to several hundred angry people listening in their second language as he tried to communicate in his second language. Fortunately, it was my first and only language, so I was able to figure out the situation very quickly.

We were screwed. Finnair's plane (an MD-11, with the extra jet engine right in the middle of the tail) needed a spare part, which was in town, but the local company didn't want to part with it for some reason. That's why I always say you should never give your spare parts names, because it hurts too much to sell them once you get attached. Finnair had no idea where they were going to get another spare part, and they would let us know as soon as they could.

We decided to use our platinum status to go back to the lounge and nosh on some more free food and wine while they figured it all out. The lady at the front desk of the lounge assured us we'd be first to get updates.

A while later, we hear another passenger say his flight had been delayed until 3. We check with him, and it's our flight, all right, but 3 pm the next day! We hurry down to the gate, and the security guard there directs us to the Transfer desk, where we joined the end of a long queue. Two people were helping an entire planeload of people find options for rebooking, while 4 or 5 other agents sat around and directed all questions to the two overworked ones.

By the time we reached the head of the line, dead last, they'd exhausted all other options, and gave us a room at the Mandarin (swanky!), a limo taxi, and told us we'd be leaving at 3pm. It's now after midnight, and we wander downstairs to discover that they'd misplaced our bags. Since the plane never left, we were sure they'd be close by, and after some clowning around by the sleep-deprived staff, they showed up and we got driven to the hotel.

We used the spacious bathroom with two big sinks, a tub and bidet, and a hair dryer to start a small backpacker's laundry, with Cierra washing the smelly clothes in the sink while I tried to kill all the evil bacteria living in our shoes with the tub and all the soap packets we had in the room. In the morning, the airline treated us to breakfast at the hotel, which cost enough to buy you a pair of really nice steaks anywhere in the US. Again, swanky. Probably a bit swanky for us, actually. I think I was the only person in that room sporting a plastic belt buckle.

As we were told to, we called at 11am and were told we were on for 3pm. We check out at 11:45 and are given $35 for a limo taxi back to the airport. Great. We take a regular taxi for $15 and we're in business now. To the desk to check in, and the manager looks surprised to see us. "What are you doing here? Your flight isn't leaving until at least 8!"

We summoned our very best patient faces and asked him what was going on. He'd called the hotels at 12 or 12:30 with instructions to keep us there, apparently having forgotten that he told us to be at the airport by noon. After some more fun waiting, they get us through security and tell us to check back with them at 6 pm. Great! A day at the Changi Airport!

**********

Yes, our flight finally took off... at 8:30 pm. Then, after waiting on the tarmac for a total of 3 hours (when it should have been only one) at Bangkok, we were back in the air and in Helsinki a scant 24 hours after we were supposed to be.

So Finnair isn't exactly our favorite airline right now. After we got off the flight, we went to change our flight for that evening (to Barcelona), for the next evening, so we'd still have enough time to do something in town. When we got to the ticket office, there were 3 agents helping 2 people. The third was sitting behind a counter that said "Closed". On the floor, it said "Please Wait Here". So, we waited for a few minutes. Eventually, another couple walks up to a take-a-number machine 10 feet to our right, takes a number and is immediately helped by the free agent.

I looked at the ground and pointed as I read the words that they might have printed down there. "Please take a number. Right arrow."

However, we were able to delay our flight by one day, so we still get to see Helsinki!

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