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2 January 2011

I just returned home…technically it is after midnight and thus today really is 3 January, but let’s go with the second for continuity. For the first part of the trip home, all was uneventful, in fact even pleasant: The local airport hotel idea was wonderful, with the last day being a fantastic chance to unwind and enjoy a typical (“non-tourist”) point of view. The flights were uneventful, until Vancouver (i.e., Venice to Frankfurt was fine, Frankfurt to Vancouver was fine, save for being a few minutes late). Unfortunately, Travelocity did not allow enough time for the connection in Vancouver, which combined with the delay meant that I missed the flight from Vancouver to Seattle. That should not be a big deal as this happens every day, and I figured that a quick call to Travelocity would make everything right, as their ads proclaim. Instead, Travelocity gave me nothing but bullshit. Travelocity, in three separate calls, did not do one thing to help me with the rebooking, and in fact one of the three agents said they would charge me a minimum of $280 for a change fee, for a flight that THEY booked for me, and which I missed through no fault of my own. In any case, at the suggestion of—get this—one of the Air Canada reps, I took a bus from Vancouver to SeaTac, then Shuttle Express on home. Kudos to Shuttle Express for being there for last minute bookings, even as midnight approached.

Needless to say, I will never use Travelocity for any of my travels again. Their complete disregard for a customer of 10 years is unforgiveable.

Final trip thoughts: Well, I’m tired and will most likely have more thoughts in a day or so, but I do have to go back to what I said last year and push myself to remember that travel to Europe in December is risky, best case. Don’t get me wrong, this Mulligan turned out well, and I truly enjoyed the group I was with, so on balance I would give the trip very high marks, but I do have to recognize and remember that if I am going to travel in December (due to work needs), then I really should shoot for something in the southern regions: Middle East, Australia, South America.

At this time, I have a trip to Paris on the books for late May, and I will need to start planning that.