The epopoeia of a pre-flight
As I've mentioned before, my scholarship program will pay my ticket only from the nearest international airport from where I live to Japan (and, hopefully, take me from there to the international house where I'll live, since the last airport is not in the city I'll live).
It just happens that the nearest international airport from Londrina is in Curitiba (Afonso Pena) , which is 426 km away. As a sidenote, public transportation in Brazil doesn't work so well like in Japan (don't have parameters to compare it to anywhere else). So, bullet trains to go to Curitiba, for example, are out of question.
A car trip is also out of question. People have lives of their own, and I can't oblige anyone here to drive me there (plus, there'll be the return trip). A bus would take too long (about 6 hours, what is part of the reason to avoid cars too), and I also will have more luggage than an average bus user (which may draw unwanted attention).
So, the obvious choice is by airplane. But then I'd have to buy an extra ticket by myself. To avoid names, "X" will be the company responsible for the domestic flights in Brazil, and "Y" the company responsible for the international flight and domestic flight in Japan.
"X" and "Y" have some kind of agreement, it seems. Passengers flying by "Y" may also but tickets by "X" to fly from Sao Paulo (that's the airport "Y"'s flights land in Brazil) to some other place in Brazil. And you can buy them together through "Y".
Problem 1: Without the international ticket, "X" can't let me board following international luggage limits.
Or should I say, if I but a ticket from "X" separatedly, that happens. Anyway, I'd have to pay for the extra weight then. That's not a good option, so I want to "Y"'s agency to take my ticket and see what I can do.
Problem 2: They couldn't change the route to depart from Londrina instead of Curitiba. That should be done the moment the ticket was bought.
Ok, some flashback: I asked the consulate why the ticket would be from Curitiba instead of Londrina, and the answer was that "from the nearest international airport" stuff, and that's where the problem started. But, I was asked to ask "Y" if they could change that with the tickets on hand. Asking "Y", the answer was "problem 2"...
Anyway, our sponsors won't change the departure place. But I could go straight to Sao Paulo (buying it myself) to avoid a departure fare in Curitiba. But there was another fare coming...
Problem 3: The ticket wasn't completely paid. There was some departure fare of something of the sort (XT, XPTA or whatever... don't understand airfares details).
The solution for that problem is simple: pay. The biggest amount is being paid anyway. But I thought that was the fare only from Curitiba to Sao Paulo (and it scared me... the amount is considerable... about 55,00 USD). It isn't. Fare for Curitiba only is much lower (about 8,00 USD). That big fare is for the international trip, I guess, and it had to be paid anyway. That misunderstanding took a long time to be explained (because they were both "departure fares", and I was told I wouldn't have to pay a "departure fare" if I didn't use the ticket from Curitiba).
Misunderstandings solved, "Y" said they couldn't change the ticket, but I could go to "X" agency and ask for luggage limit like those for international flights. At least now I have the ticket for the international flight, and I could try to link it to the extra domestic flight (or go straight form Londrina to Sao Paulo), applying the higher luggage limit. But in "X"'s agency...
Problem 4: "X" can't link directly domestic flights to international flights, at least in my case. That can only be done by "Y" agencies (because my ticket was bought like a closed packet or something of the sort).
... Infinite loop?! Heh...
So, the only option left is begging mercy to "X"'s manager at the airport and see if the fare for the extra weight can at least be lowered.
An extra problem is that if the flight Londrina-Curitiba gets late, "X" won't take responsability (not without a trial at least) if I lose the Curitiba-Sao Paulo (or worse, Brazil-Japan) flight, because Londrina-Curitiba ticket is not linked to any other flight...
Rant post? Probably... but that's more with the lack of communication here. The rules of the game change out of the blue (previous students departed from the closest airport... international or not), and then starts a ping pong game, where every company tells the other company can do something about it... and in the end no one can (only the sponsors of the scholarship... and the problem started exactly there).
Ok, I shouldn't complain since most of the fares are being paid for me, and the scholarship will be nice... But an early warning would be much appreciated. What if, someday, someone can't afford the extra expenses?
It just happens that the nearest international airport from Londrina is in Curitiba (Afonso Pena) , which is 426 km away. As a sidenote, public transportation in Brazil doesn't work so well like in Japan (don't have parameters to compare it to anywhere else). So, bullet trains to go to Curitiba, for example, are out of question.
A car trip is also out of question. People have lives of their own, and I can't oblige anyone here to drive me there (plus, there'll be the return trip). A bus would take too long (about 6 hours, what is part of the reason to avoid cars too), and I also will have more luggage than an average bus user (which may draw unwanted attention).
So, the obvious choice is by airplane. But then I'd have to buy an extra ticket by myself. To avoid names, "X" will be the company responsible for the domestic flights in Brazil, and "Y" the company responsible for the international flight and domestic flight in Japan.
"X" and "Y" have some kind of agreement, it seems. Passengers flying by "Y" may also but tickets by "X" to fly from Sao Paulo (that's the airport "Y"'s flights land in Brazil) to some other place in Brazil. And you can buy them together through "Y".
Problem 1: Without the international ticket, "X" can't let me board following international luggage limits.
Or should I say, if I but a ticket from "X" separatedly, that happens. Anyway, I'd have to pay for the extra weight then. That's not a good option, so I want to "Y"'s agency to take my ticket and see what I can do.
Problem 2: They couldn't change the route to depart from Londrina instead of Curitiba. That should be done the moment the ticket was bought.
Ok, some flashback: I asked the consulate why the ticket would be from Curitiba instead of Londrina, and the answer was that "from the nearest international airport" stuff, and that's where the problem started. But, I was asked to ask "Y" if they could change that with the tickets on hand. Asking "Y", the answer was "problem 2"...
Anyway, our sponsors won't change the departure place. But I could go straight to Sao Paulo (buying it myself) to avoid a departure fare in Curitiba. But there was another fare coming...
Problem 3: The ticket wasn't completely paid. There was some departure fare of something of the sort (XT, XPTA or whatever... don't understand airfares details).
The solution for that problem is simple: pay. The biggest amount is being paid anyway. But I thought that was the fare only from Curitiba to Sao Paulo (and it scared me... the amount is considerable... about 55,00 USD). It isn't. Fare for Curitiba only is much lower (about 8,00 USD). That big fare is for the international trip, I guess, and it had to be paid anyway. That misunderstanding took a long time to be explained (because they were both "departure fares", and I was told I wouldn't have to pay a "departure fare" if I didn't use the ticket from Curitiba).
Misunderstandings solved, "Y" said they couldn't change the ticket, but I could go to "X" agency and ask for luggage limit like those for international flights. At least now I have the ticket for the international flight, and I could try to link it to the extra domestic flight (or go straight form Londrina to Sao Paulo), applying the higher luggage limit. But in "X"'s agency...
Problem 4: "X" can't link directly domestic flights to international flights, at least in my case. That can only be done by "Y" agencies (because my ticket was bought like a closed packet or something of the sort).
... Infinite loop?! Heh...
So, the only option left is begging mercy to "X"'s manager at the airport and see if the fare for the extra weight can at least be lowered.
An extra problem is that if the flight Londrina-Curitiba gets late, "X" won't take responsability (not without a trial at least) if I lose the Curitiba-Sao Paulo (or worse, Brazil-Japan) flight, because Londrina-Curitiba ticket is not linked to any other flight...
Rant post? Probably... but that's more with the lack of communication here. The rules of the game change out of the blue (previous students departed from the closest airport... international or not), and then starts a ping pong game, where every company tells the other company can do something about it... and in the end no one can (only the sponsors of the scholarship... and the problem started exactly there).
Ok, I shouldn't complain since most of the fares are being paid for me, and the scholarship will be nice... But an early warning would be much appreciated. What if, someday, someone can't afford the extra expenses?
3 comments:
Sugestao pessoal: vai de onibus.
Vc nao enfrenta aeroportos a mais (o que eh um problema atualmente), nao esta sujeito a mal tempo (e o aeroporto em Londrina fecha o tempo todo) e nao tem limite de peso (nada que um taxi em Curitiba nao resolva). Fala serio, Curitiba eh ai do lado, nem cansa a viagem.
Ps: vc teve as manhas de complicar isso, hein. Eita cara dramatico! ;)
Huahauha... pois eh... eu tenho que deixar as historias mais dramaticas, nom?
Mas parece que o trecho pelo qual eu vou nao esta tao afetado pelo apagao. Vamos ver o que acontece...
verdade!!! Eu sempre disse que vc complica as coisas simples, Igor! Pelo menos vc tem o dom de simplificar (só pra vc mesmo) as coisas complicadas!!
E tbm, vc escreve muito. Passei aqui pra dar uma olhada... Afff... E também pra saber se vc chegou bem por aí... Ve se escreve uns e-mail de vez em quando e ve se toma cuidado com a qtdade de fotos que vc posta! Agora eu sei como se sentem as pessoas para as quais eu mandava meus albuns! Ninguém merece uma conexão igual tem no Brasil!!
Abraços!
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