Polar Vortex…The Dream Crusher

I’m not even sure where to begin with this one.

Two Words: POLAR VORTEX.

POLAR VORTEX

We are still in Buffalo.

Everything out of Buffalo is cancelled.

We were booked on FIJI Airways out of LAX tonight at 9:30pm- we can’t get there.

W T F.

We thought we were in the clear. Everything was scheduled and on time, we finished packing- posted our farewell on Facebook, poured some wine and then BOOM- CANCELLED. The Buffalo Storm of the Decade is the crusher of all dreams.

Adam and I spent about 4 hours, starting at 1am, on the phone trying to figure out a way to get out of Buffalo, how to cancel our flights, contact the reservation we had in New Zealand for the first couple nights we got there, and if we just lost all of our money.

Here are some things we learned in this process.

Oh, and only twice did Adam have to take the phone away from me because I’m pretty sure I wasn’t speaking English, but pure profanity after 3am.

Tip 1: Do not book FIJI Airways. Ever. In a million years.

                  Example Conversation:        

Fiji Airway Employee: There is nothing we can do for you. We do not refund.

                                    Adam: So you’re saying even though there are traveling bans where we are and every flight is cancelled, if we cannot make it across the US before our flight at 9:30pm we are screwed.

                                    Fiji Airway Employee: Yes, sir.

Tip 2: NEVER book through AIRFARE.COM…who apparently I booked through when I used KAYAK [this may be more so the problem, but FIJI Air was about as helpful as speaking directly to a wall]. And I repeat, NEVER. They hung up on me twice, and they refuse to cancel my flight. They sent me 2 emails with a link to change the flight telling me that’s all I can do, and by doing so- I will get charged $350 per ticket. There is no way for me to take out my credit card information to process the request. Mind you, all of their flights now are about 2 or 3 times more than what we paid in August, and they will not honor our pricing.

Example Conversation:        

Airfare Employee: You are confirmed! Your flight is on time, have a great trip. 

                                    Nicole: No, I am trying to tell you…

                                    Airfare Employee: Your flight is on time and you are confirmed.

                                    Nicole: No, I need to cancel my flight. 

                                    Airfare Employee: You cannot cancel your flight it is non refundable.

                                    Nicole: Our connecting flight was cancelled and nothing is flying out for us to get to LAX- we have no choice.

                                    Airfare Employee: Your flight is confirmed and it is non refundable.

                                    Nicole: We are unable to get there- there is no possible way for us to get on that flight. 

                                    Airfare Employee: Our flight is on- I suggest you get here or you lose your money. ::CLICK::

Tip 3: PURCHASE ALLIANZ TRAVEL INSURANCE. AAA uses Allianz, which is how I heard of them. Adam and I purchased this insurance directly through Allianz and my fingers are crossed that this is covered with them. I was hopeful on the phone and I am currently gathering everything I need to send them for this claim. They are extremely helpful and someone from the United States actually answered my phone call at 2am- points in my book for sure. They even knew of the situation; fingers crossed.

We changed our Southwest flights out of Buffalo, and we booked elsewhere to get to New Zealand.

January 18^th is almost the same as January 8^th, right?

See you on the 21^st New Zealand.