Elementor #786

9 am Christmas morning, Tokyo Japan

Well I was expecting to write from Bangkok, guess life doesn’t always live up to expectations.

If you are a first time reader of mine. Do not expect a travelogue, I write my experiences, and might include a bit of the local scenery.

So – let the bitching begin!

Sunday – 5 days before the flight. The arrot companions need to go to “Parrot Camp” which is 20 miles away over (now) snowy back roads. My car is not snowable. I can get nearly anywhere, except back into my actual driveway. So a great friend with 4×4 drove me and Dorothy and Greenster to camp. Whew! Thanks Von, no parrot skeletons when I get home.

Monday – 4 day before flight. 12 inches of snow. Not even a track from another car on the street.

Tuesday Wednesday – same thing

Thursday – 1 day before flight. Begged a ride from my wonderful next door neighbor for a ride to the pick up location for a ride to SeaTac airport. He has big massive 4×4 truck and inched down the three blocks to cleared streets. He dropped me off around 8 am for a 3 pm bus. I got lucky and caught an earlier bus.

I went to check in for an over night stay at a hotel I have stayed with many times in thee past. Check in is at 3pm. It is now 1:30 “That will be $30 early check-in fee”. I held my breath and stomped my feet and she finally said “$25 is the best I can do”. I felt like I was in the marketplace in Cairo, only she was much more difficult to haggle with than most carpet salesmen. It was 16 degrees (-9c) and a wind out of the north. Here’s your Ice money. I would have said blood money, but it would have frozen.

The room was as expected, so white I needed sunglasses and enough pillows for a huge pillow fort or a neighborhood pillow fight. The flight I am on, on Friday, has been running late the last few days. I log on and see how late. 30 minutes. Not so bad. I can still make the connection tomorrow. Wait. Tomorrow it says CANCELED. What?? How about some notice Alaska Airlines?

What to do? Worry, worry. Fret, fret. Well, duh. Call the airlines. One ring dingy …. “… all our agents are busy. The estimated wait is 38 minutes. If you would like a call back in the order received press 1”. So I press one, and get confirmation they have my number.

I wait 20 minutes snuggled in downy luxury and decide. The airport is in easy walking distance, I walk over and talk face to face and if the call comes in then I’ll deal with that, then. By the way, it’s now 15 degrees.

The terminal is a madhouse. Crowded, all courtesy left at the curbside. People running around pushing through like the are bomb squad team member with a live bomb that they have to get someplace else to disarm. The line to ask questions at Alaska Air is so long, it would be tomorrow before I got to an agent. Wait. There is no one at the bag in kiosk. What the heck, what the worst she can say? No. She said, yes. So An actual 40 minutes later she and I gave up. United had one seat available. Whoops! No seats available. Korean Air has a flight but no way to get seat assignments. Fiddle. She really tried. I mushed though the throngs back to the hotel room. It’s been over an hour and no call back. I’ll call once more and press 1 for a call back. Only this time it is 3 hours wait time.

An hour and a half Alaska calls! The woman listens to my tale and says, there isn’t anything I can do for you, let me transfer you. Christ on a crutch! “Hello this is Tonya in Arizona … “..So I blah, blah, blah her my situation. She starts checking. After 45 minutes, she says “I can get you on a Japan Airlines to Tokyo tomorrow at noon from SeaTac”.– Tonya I love you!! I can still make the connecting flight from Tokyo to Bangkok!! Tonya I really, really love you.

Good night.

Friday – Flight day. Up early and it was raining and turning the streets to an ice rink immediately upon lighting on anything solid. Including the sidewalks. I didn’t fell like doing my best Dorothy Hammel or Three Stooges walk to get to the airport this time so took the shuttle. Everything went smoothly at check in. The schedule was 30 minutes than normal, but still plenty of time to connect in Tokyo.

Get ticket, get gate off to get electronically strip searched. No problem, well one problem. I am at the south most part of the terminal and TSA Pre is at the most northerly. In case you haven’t flown commercially since out were born, airports are big. About ¾ of the way to pre check I notice regular TSA has no line. The guy tells me that I still can keep my shoes on, but will have to have my laptop come out. I can live with that. Of course I get secondary. At last I got to keep most of my clothes on. Back the way I came to the tram which for the south terminal is behind where I checked in with JAL. Get off the tram and start looking for the gate and the intercom lady says the gate has been changed to back in the middle of the main terminal, eventually I got there, my Apple watch said I had walked 1.2 miles and done 12 minutes of exercise and it wasn’t even noon.

Then the wheels fell off the bus. Next was an hour, then two. Still possible, but going to need to do my best Florence Joyner and hurdle through NRT. We get on the Renton made flying bus and I find that this plane does not have the fancy economy seats I paid for. I was able to snag a bulkhead seat, but it is still normal economy. Could be worse, could be middle seat in the back against the toilet. ……. and we wait … and wait. I can see Bangkok fading into the sunset. The flight attendant offers me to move across the aisle to the empty 4 on the bulkhead. That will guaranty me an empty seat next to me. No fuzzy slippers, leg rest and extra ass kissing from Premium Economy, but this is about as good as it gets. 1230 scheduled departure, push back from the gate at 1729. looks like more adventure.

About 10 hours later 0350 Circadian rhythm time, 2050 local time. Te BKK flight is somewhere over Vietnam by now. We transit passengers are ushered to an area where out connecting flights have already been set up. The nice lady informs me that my next flight to BKK is at 610, and I am welcome to stay in their premium business lounge until then. By now my internal clock is at 0500 and I can’t sleep on a plane. So 6 hours in the lounge, not my first choice, but the food is nice there and the WiFi is free. I whine a little, and confirm the time. Yes, 610pm tomorrow evening. Whoa!! 18 hours in your lounge ? No way, Princess Zelda. ! “How about a hotel?” She said words like – no hotel – pandemic – quarantine – and a bunch of other current buzz words. I step away from the counter and count to ten twice before I go into full blown American Karen. After slamming pens and paper I scribbled my scowl on the paper she shoved in front of me. Then was told to sit over there. I am not sure if this was a ‘Time Out’ or just needed more time to fiddle with paper work. Ten minutes later she comes and whispers something to me. The women here are exceptionally quiet, but she was whispering. The third time I asked her to repeat what she said “We have you a hotel”. She was whispering so the other passengers didn’t hear.

More paperwork. Then escorted through quarantine and vaccination check. It would be so much easier if I had a collar and a tag. Then immigration where I filled out the form in Blue pen and had to redo it in Black pen. Customs was a “Keep it moving, tourist” A shuttle bus ride, and check it and by 6am body time I had a room.

Nice room, funny room. Compact room. Squirt toilet. Throw away house slippers and leather hallway?? slippers. Two sets of P.J.s. Real P.J.s as well as all the rest of the stuff you’d expect. Lights out and a Valium and the day was forgotten.

In the morning, breakfast. I declined the eels, but did partake in the Miso soup, pickled ginger and salted plum. There was also some scrambled eggs, a very un-French croissant and weak coffee. Putter around for a bit and back to the airport.

The seat to BKK is not in Premium Economy as purchased, but in the middle either on the aisle or window. How about me buying an upgrade to Business?

The SEA to NRT was only 1/3 filled in business. They might be up to changing my seat for an extra Benjamin or two. Well that would happen, for and extra 15 Benjamin’s. Uh, no. You don’t understand I want an upgrade, not to buy the plane.

Now in the business class lounge, had some soup and a salad and some (not weak) coffee and have a few hours yet before boarding for Bangkok, I think, I hope.