AIRLINE AGGRAVATIONS!

WHY would I be asking this of you all, dear readers?!?

Because of the incredible aggravation and stress this airline has put me through. 

As I am sure you all know, all international flights have been getting cancelled for many weeks now. People who are living and/or travelling abroad and who wanted to return to their native countries have been required to purchase tickets on special, chartered "repatriation" flights. These are government-sponsored flights, at twice--or triple--the cost of the regular, commercial airline flights. However, if one really and truly needed to return home immediately, at least this is an option. 

I myself have no such need. In fact, I have remained, by and large, unwavering in my intention to remain the "Expat in India."  Granted, I DO want to return to the U.S. at some point to deal with stuff in storage, handle some business matters and enjoy the pleasure of seeing friends. Also, I have to renew my visa each 180 days by exiting India for at least a short duration, which is required of all American tourists in order to be able to remain/return to the country legally. 

Knowing this to be the case, I had scheduled a return flight to the U.S. for June 30th. The flight was to leave from Mumbai, with a brief stop over in Paris, before continuing on to Los Angeles. I figured I would spend a couple of months back in California before returning to India and continuing my life and travels here. 

Of course, the Covid pandemic has changed everything, for everyone, everywhere. 

Like every other expat/traveler in the world, the vast majority of my plans have been seriously thwarted. 

I love Pune overall, and had vague plans to eventually settle in this city, but only AFTER completing several months of travels to various parts of India. Now, of course, all of this is impossible, and therefore Pune has become my home... for now... until travel restrictions are lifted. 

Since it IS common knowledge these days that international flights have ALL presumably been suspended, it thus came as no surprise at all when I received this message below on my Air France app:

The fact of this cancellation was something I also already confirmed with Air France at least two weeks ago. So this was just stating the obvious...or so I thought... although it was perturbing that it came at such short notice, about four days prior to the scheduled flight. 

HOWEVER!!!! When I received the following communication only TWO days prior to the original return departure date, I was shocked, dismayed...and could not believe my eyes:

WHAT THE HECK!?!?!?!?!?  A BOARDING PASS FOR THE SECOND LEG OF MY (PREVIOUSLY) SCHEDULED JUNE 30TH FLIGHT????

I shook my head in disbelief. If the FIRST part of my return flight--that is,  from Mumbai to Paris-- was cancelled, HOW ON EARTH was I supposed to be on the SECOND half of my trip, from Paris to L.A.?!?!?!  Teleport there??? Hitch a ride on a seagull across the ocean?!?!  AND... furthermore...why would ONLY the first part of my connecting flight be cancelled, yet NOT the second part?!?! 

Friends, this is the twilight zone of air travel in Covid Days, as I now refer to the nightmarish, surreal era we all unwittingly find ourselves dumped in. 

My response was to immediately get on the phone as well as the website for Air France. When I called the Indian customer service line for the airlines, the same thing happened repeatedly: an automated recording of an Indian woman babbled for a good 3 minutes in Hindi--NEVER with a repeated message in ENGLISH (or French, for that matter, which I at least would stand some small chance of understanding!), before the call was automatically disconnected. 

Frustrated, I then went on to the "contact us" tab on the Air France website...both on my computer, AND on my phone's app. With no better results: all I would get on these "contact" pages were messages stating the Air France offices were closed!!! Good God, are robots flying the planes and checking people in, then?!?! Who the heck IS working for this pathetic, dysfunctional airline?? ONLY the pilots, perhaps?!?!

Frantic, I finally managed--through several long and involved Whatsapp messages with a travel agent in Pune (whom a dear friend referred me to) to acquire a different number; apparently one used exclusively by travel agents. Thank God!!! After waiting a good 30 minutes, a REAL person answered the phone: she spoke decent English and apparently was handling flight matters for both Air France and KLM. She told me she was at a central, Indian office in Delhi. 

She did reassure me that, if I had a connecting flight, that of course I would not be expected to be on the flight from Paris to L.A.! I asked, more than once--just to be sure--if my return flight would be credited back to me. She told me that it would. I then asked her to reschedule the flight now. She responded, no, this would not be possible until after the 12th of July, and that I would have to call back then. After being sure to obtain her first and last name, and recording the date and time of the call, we ended the conversation. 

I messaged the travel agent the results of this phone conversation with the customer service rep.  The agent messaged back, asking: did the service rep in Delhi say she would issue me a travel voucher, then? Offer a refund???

Well, no, I responded, flummoxed... I did not know to ask for this, since the woman in the Delhi office seemed totally confident that my flight was already credited and could be rescheduled sometime during the latter half of July. 

The travel agent was adamant I call back and ask for this--either a voucher or a refund.

Good God. 

Shouldn't the service rep in Delhi have OFFERED me these options??!

Such incredible incompetence, all the way around. 

The latest communication I received from Air France, AFTER I had this conversation with the woman in the Delhi office: 

An email stating that--(aren't I pleased?!?!)--my flight out of Paris was departing on time!

I hate Air France. At this point, I might even choose to sacrifice my return ticket and book a flight on a different airline altogether, when and IF I DO return to the United States. If they cannot handle something as straightforward as informing people their flights have been cancelled ALL the way through and that customers need to reschedule such flights by such-and-such a time, how can they possibly be trusted to fly people thousands of miles and get them to their destinations safely?!!?  I honestly don't believe that they can.

There are lots of choices for airlines out there... NEVER AGAIN AIR FRANCE!!!!!!