Mr. Twitchy and I have embarked on another adventure, this time to Morocco, with another couple. The earthquake several weeks ago did not deter us. Most of the places on our itinerary were not affected by it. We left home on Thursday morning, with a Friday morning arrival. But things just didn’t go as planned.
Mr. Twitchy, as always, has had a lot of fun summarizing what occurred. Here is the post he wrote for his blog Qaj and the ITC
Enjoy!
| Qaj and the ITC Maraud Morocco jekrischer. Sep 30 Day 1 – Getting from Los Angeles to Morocco in Ten Easy Steps Step 1: get in Uber (7:00 am (Los Angeles time) Thursday) Step 2: check in at Air Canada desk Step 2.1: work with Air Canada staff for about 40 minutes to find out why they cannot print boarding pass for connecting flight in Montreal Step 2.2: staff discover that connecting plane — booked for business class — has no business class section (at all!!), convert business class tickets to coach class and print boarding passes Step 3: Board LA to Montreal flight Step 3.1: flight departs 25 minutes late Step 3.2: flight lands 30 minutes late Step 3.3: flight parks on tarmac for bus deplaning (rather than at a gate) Step 3.4: bus boards from rear of plane, so row 2 in business class turns into second row from the back Step 3.5: board second bus Step 3.6: get off bus into terminal Step 3.7: run (well you know) through immigration, etc. to connecting gate Step 3.8: connecting flight gone Step 4: get agent to find replacement flight(s) Step 4:1: agent, who is nice but does not want to discuss anything with passengers, says they deserve the comforts of business class, finds connecting flights through Dulles (Wash. DC) departing Montreal at 6:30 pm the next night Step 4.2: Agent provides hotel and food vouchers for nearby airport hotel Step 4.3: Agent escorts passenger back to international arrivals to go through customs and get shuttle to hotel Step 4.4: passengers realize new connecting itinerary has only one hour between flights at Dulles airport Step 4.5: passengers begin to panic and check internet to find there are other earlier Air Canada Montreal to Dulles departures Step 4.6: passengers clear immigration Step 4.7: passengers find Air Canada luggage office and check with baggage agent Step 4.7.1: baggage agent reports that bags are in the airport Step 4.7.1: passengers explain new booking and desire to change to earlier departure Step 4.7.2: baggage agent tells passengers to leave bags there, go to ticketing to change departure and bags will automatically follow Step 4.8: passengers go to ticket counter to change Montreal departure time Step 4.9: ticket counter agent says cannot change flight without bags in passengers’ custody Step 4:9.1: passengers sigh (maybe cry) and explain what baggage agent said Step 4.9.2: ticket agent directs passenger to use special white phone to call big shot central ticketing people Step 4.9.3: passengers use special phone to contact big shot ticketing people Step 4.9.4: big shot special phone ticketing person confirms ticket counter agent Step 4.10: passengers return to international baggage claim office, but cannot access because behind security Step 4.10.1: security directs passengers to special black luggage phones Step 4.10.2: passengers try phones approximately 10 times for a minute each Step 4.10.3. nobody ever answers black luggage phones. EVER. Step 5: passengers take shuttle to hotel Step 5.1: passengers have crappy dinner at hotel Step 5.2: passengers go to bed but not to sleep worrying about and planning to retrieve luggage, if at all possible Step 5.3: passengers get out of bed at 7:00 am and get on hotel shuttle at 8:15 am to return to airport for 6:30 pm flight Step 6: return to airport Step 6.1: return to special black luggage phone Step 6.2: still no answer Step 6.3: return to international baggage claim security to be denied entry Step 6.4: security advises passengers go to DOMESTIC baggage office to speak to live luggage agent Step 6.5: passengers speak with live baggage agent (who is a saint) Step 6.5.1: live baggage agent advises that baggage agent from last night was very wrong Step 6.5.2: live baggage agent cannot find any international agent to answer phone or radio Step 6.5.3: many attempts and mutterings later, live baggage agent finally reaches somebody and confirms bags are in the building and figures out what to do because bags have to go back through US Step 6.6: live baggage agent escorts passengers to Air Canada US ticketing counter (different building) Step 6.6.1: live baggage agent says he will slow his walking to passengers’ speed Step 6.6.2: live baggage agent says passengers walk the same speed as his “bubba” and “zedah” Step 6.6.3: live baggage agent explains he is Philippine/Jewish and explains how the Philippines were a refuge for European Jews during WWII (passengers had never heard this before; later confirmed it was true) Step 6.7: live baggage agent delivers passengers to live ticket agent Step 6.7.1: live baggage agents explains in 5 minutes of airline-speak what live ticket agent needs to do Step 6.7.2: live baggage agent says live ticket agent understands what to do Step 6.7.3: live baggage agent says goodbye Step 6.7.4: passengers hug live baggage agent and tell him Shana Tova Step 7: live ticket agent says Shana Tova to passengers and works on computer for about ten minutes Step 7.1: live ticket agent calls over live lady ticket agent Step 7.1.2: two live ticket agents fumble with computer for another ten minutes Step 7.1.2: two live ticket agents figure something out Step 7.2: boarding passes issued for Montreal to Dulles 1:00pm departure (Qaj in business; ITC in coach) Step 7.3: clear US immigration in Montreal Step 7.4: buy mementos of excellent vacation stay in Montreal Step 7.5: get to Air Canada lounge at about 10:00 for 1:00 departure Step 8: Board plane to Dulles Step 8.1: Arrive Dulles at 2:30 pm Step 8.2: because immigration already cleared, proceed to departure terminal B at Dulles) Step 8.3: go to Turkish Air lounge (services Morocco Air) Step 8.4: go to departure gate to get actual boarding passes Step 9: Board Morocco Air flight Step 10: Arrive Casablanca 9:30 am (Morocco time) Saturday (elapsed time approx. 43.5 hours)And that, dear readers, is how one gets from Los Angeles to Morocco in ten easy steps.Post Script: The ITC’s luggage arrived; as of the of this posting, Qaj’s bag is still in Montreal (but AirTag says it was physically moved within the last half hour) |
It is now Monday night, I think. We have been able to track the movement my suitcase has made because of the Apple airtag that I put inside. My suitcase has made it to the airport in Fez today, thanks to our guide Mouni’s hurculean efforts. We got to the airport to late to get it today, so Mr. Twitchy and Mouni will get it early tomorrow so I can finally put on some CLEAN CLOTHES!
The shouk awaits us tomorrow morning. Time for some serious shopping!
Leave a Reply