Getting there. That’s half the battle. Let’s talk about flying for a moment. Who else has severe flying anxiety? Like severe. When I flew on my very first international flight (solo) December 2019 – Boston to London, I almost made Mike pull over on the way into Logan, in Boston. My panic had set in days before. My primary had prescribed medication to help me relax on the flight. She told me take it 30 minutes before takeoff. I’m such a crazy lady, I refused to take it because, what if. What if it knocks me out. What if I get a side effect. What if it gives me you know what and I’m stuck in the toilet. What if I don’t wake up when we land. What if…what if…what if…..I never took it. I managed my severe symptoms all by my big girl self, for the excitement of travel. I’m not even exaggerating when I say severe symptoms. I have always been claustrophobic. Severely claustrophobic since I was a little girl. I also get awful motion sickness. Zofran is my best friend, and I can’t leave home without it. With my vascular disease (thoracic outlet syndrome-TOS) I get awful nausea just turning my head or even sleeping on my right side. So, imagine my anxiety flying 8 hours, all through the night. Solo. Looking back, I am still pretty proud of myself that I was able to conquer not only my fears, but my flying anxiety enough to arrive in London. Safe and sound and unmedicated.
That is when I had to decide if this dream of mine ~ to travel was going to actually work out. What if I couldn’t even make myself get on the plane? What if I buy the house in Italy, but never go. Now imagine the negative impact covid had on my flying anxiety and stress. If all that I mentioned above wasn’t enough, now I’m required to wear a mask. When Mike and I flew in February, it was pretty unbearable. The whole mask situation is unfortunately not ideal for so many. For me personally, not only do I suffer from severe claustrophobia, but, I also have a rare skin condition – Erythromelalgia. This skin disorder/disease causes intense burning, painful, redness & swelling with any skin friction. Wearing a mask is just extremely unpleasant. I don’t know if people really consider what some have had to endure with these covid restrictions. I know we are all waiting to get our lives back. Having masks lifted on flights will be a wonderful celebration for me, for so many!
You’re probably at this point asking yourself, with all of that, why would you even want to fly? Well, you can’t drive to Italy… now can you? Preparing for such a long international flight takes much preparation. First, I start with the quickest -most direct flight possible. Less time at gates, less time in the air means I am less panicked. Less anxious. So, it can be extremely frustrating when your flight details are changed, numerous times by the airlines. It’s like anything else, you and I are just another number/passenger to “them”. It can take the joy out of your travel preparations and the excitement of your upcoming trip. It can enhance the stress of your upcoming flight and intensify the anxiety, you are already experiencing. It’s kind of a crappy situation isn’t it.
This past week brought on a migraine, literally. A full blown 5 alarm 3 day migraine. Mike and I are scheduled to fly out of Orlando on Sunday 6/20/21 into Rome via 1 stop in Atlanta. Then a direct flight to Rome. We were scheduled to arrive at 7:30 am on Monday. Our daughter, Kailee was arriving at 7:45 (same terminal) in Rome. We were to meet at baggage, this would be ideal if anything were to come up at immigration upon entry. Well, Delta decided to change our flight and now we arrive at 10:00 am. Not the end of the world, but frustrating. Over the past few weeks, I have received numerous “flight change” emails from Delta. Mike and I were to return on 7/14/21 leaving Rome to Atlanta back to Orlando. A 1 stop flight.
Our flights were booked via our Chase credit card and a portion of the fare we were redeeming a “travel credit” from Delta (from our change in March). We actually were issued a $626.00 per passenger credit. Perfect, right? Not so fast. Each email we received we called Chase (who have always been above & beyond helpful). We were informed that unfortunately Chase no longer holds our ticket, we needed to call Delta. Numerous calls ended after 30-45 minutes on hold. Finally, on Monday I held for 2+ hours with no answer. I called back on Tuesday and after 5 + hours spoke to an agent regarding our latest flight change. Yes, I said 5+ hours on hold with no call back option. The agent rudely informed me that I had to call Chase to make changes. I told her that information was unacceptable to me, that I was informed by Chase I had to call Delta. I would not have spent the past 8 hours trying to reach Delta, if in fact I only had to call Chase, who by the way picks up. I informed her that on our Delta trip it is showing our return flight has been changed to a 2 stop (which I never would have booked) and it has us missing our connecting flight. They had us going Rome to Atlanta to Boston and all the way back to Orlando. Missing our connecting flight in Boston. Unbelievable. Her reply was “that was computer generated”. Ok, but who is modifying our flight and what are our flight details? She was in need of a massive dose of pure pixie dust.
After I hung up on her, yup….after 8 hours between the 2 days I hung up. I filed an “online complaint” with Delta. Which generated a case number. Simultaneously, we were texting a live agent on Mike’s phone who replied. He told us to change our flight it would incur a cost of $956.00 per person. We exchanged a conversation that lead to nowhere fast. We were trying to modify our return flight, which had to be modified anyway. In my complete frustration (because we needed to correct our flight to arrange a car rental etc.) I called back. FYI, when you call Delta, you are opted to press 1 for new reservation, 2 for existing reservation, 3 if you filed a complaint. Much to my surprise I hit 3 and Nicole (a supervisor) picked up, immediately. I could not have asked for a nicer agent. She saw all the flight changes on our trip. She saw the recent calls. She apologized for the “run around” and misinformation. She tried to “mirror” a flight that would be closest to what we were scheduled to be on, however, our tickets were basic. Unfortunately, the flights that would “mirror” no longer had basic tickets available. For the love of God…….I even told her about the going change that now has our daughter waiting 2 hours. Unfortunately there were no other flights that “mirror” our flight (price/time) that would not now incur a $956.00 fare increase per person. She was quoting us flights at $2600.00. Insanity.
I asked how best to resolve this. I asked if we flew out on our 1st leg, Orlando – Atlanta – Rome on 6/20/21 would they at least refund our return flight due to all of the flight changes on Delta’s behalf. First she replied they can not do that as it is a round trip fare. I told her this would then allow us to rebook with a different airline who had return fares for $625.00. To my amazement, Nicole replied yes. She said yes she could do that. She informed us to fly out as scheduled. She will generate an email and once we land, we can reply to her email which will initiate a full refund on our return flight per passenger. I received her email and once we land we will reply. Thank you Jesus.
I’m not one to ever complain. I’m not one to file a complaint, ever. But to have 4 flight changes and have to be on hold over 8 hours to be told to “call Chase”…or simply pay a fare change fee of $956.00 was simply unacceptable. It just doesn’t seem right an airline can change your flight as many times as they need to, inconvenience you multiple times, but, then charge you an expense that’s a full round trip ticket. We technically didn’t get anything for free, not that we were looking for that. I was simply looking for a compatible modified flight. We ended up booking with Air Portugal for almost $2000.00 cheaper than the Delta return flight. Once Delta issues the refund, it should be a wash. We pray! Unfortunately, it is a 2 stop. Certainly not ideal for me. But, Mike will be with me and I should be coming home with a heart full of memories from Italy. I can do this. It will be ok. In through the nose and out through the mouth……repeat.
Lesson of Kerri’s blog…..if you need to hang up on Susie because she is incompetent and sends your headache to a full blown migraine status, hang up! But, make sure you call back. When you do call back, be courteous and kind. Explain yourself and why your emotions are where they are at. It will be validated by an agent who is simply doing her job. Providing excellent customer service. That’s all we can ask for. We simply want people to understand our frustrations and not treat us like another number. Make me want to use your airlines again. The jury is still out on Delta for me. Maybe when my refund is issued my opinion may change. I’ll report back on that one.
We are t-minus 9 days, 4 hours, 5 minutes and 46 seconds as of right now! I could not be more excited. I feel the flight anxiety creeping in, although I am doing my best to push it back. The mask, the testing, the layover, the testing again upon arrival in Rome, the rental car…….oh God I forgot the packing! It’s all good. It’s all worth it! It’s all going to be ok. Namaste. Namaste right in Italy maybe haha.
I hope you have a trip planned this summer. I hope it is giving you something to look forward to. Just the simple act of planning is a wonderful distraction. We have all been dealing with so much for so long, it is time to get back out there. Comment below and tell me where your travels will take you. Are you doing a staycation or going international? I can’t wait to hear about it. Get back out there and enjoy the world. Enjoy your life!! We have all been cooped up long enough. Spread your wings and fly the friendly skies. And if you end up on hold for 8 hours, press 3.
Travel brings us to moments you can’t put into words. Well, lucky for you, I can. So stay tuned……This girl is going to Italy.
Ciao friends. Have a wonderful night!
We are made to be cherished, not to be compared. We are made to be celebrated, not to compete ~ Blessed is she