Northwest Airlines

Every year it is a challenge to get airline tickets to Vilnius from Detroit without having to also procure a new home loan. One hears of fantastic ticket prices from others and those rates are advertised everywhere, but there is always some part of the fine print that prohibits me from being able to enjoy those same rates. I have been flying NorthWest almost exclusively since 1969 when it was NorthWest Orient Airlines. I can still sing the ditty that they used in their advertisements. The mind is a curious thing. I have racked up enough frequent flyer miles to trade in for an around-the-world ticket, but apparently, not enough for a great rate.

I have been flying EuropeByAir.com for the past few years. It never ceases to amaze me that if I try to book through NWA it is about $1700. But if I book to any hub in Europe and buy two EuropeByAir tickets for $99 each, it is about $1200. We are talking about the exact same flights and probably the same seat assignments. How is this possible?? It is possible to book tickets through an intermediary that are $300 cheaper than booking them through NWA. It just makes no sense.

This year I have an added agenda item - I want to visit Romania on the way to Vilnius. It shouldn't be difficult. An extra jaunt to Bucharest. How hard can that be? Apparently, one can't get there from here, no matter how hard one tries. I have spent hours on the Internet, on the phone, and at the travel agent's trying to make this reasonable. I am even willing to pay a premium to get in and out of Romania but I didn't really want to give up my first-born son in the deal. I have spent three or four hours a day for weeks pouring through the airline websites to make this work. It seems that for a mere $2000. I can do the trip I want to do. And this is months before I am planning to go when there should be all sorts of deals I should be able to get my hands on. The best I was able to find was using Dublin as a hub. Aer Lingus is beating all the airfares by hundreds of dollars this year. A few years ago it was Iceland Air. Every year it is some place different. I rather like that as I get to see different places this way.

I nearly booked the Aer Lingus flight a few times, but I did not have either my credit card or vouchers with me and so kept planning" to do it tomorrow." It is now a week from the date I need to be there and still no tickets. We all know that if waiting too long will result in paying full price no matter what, which is now well over $3000. Not wanting to get stuck, I made my reservations at 10:27 on Sunday night. Not like I was cutting it a bit close. This year I can earn an extra 15000 points for flying from Detroit to Brussels or Dusseldorf and the rates are the lowest. I clicked Send and nothing happened. At this late date, I resort to calling NWA. Their number is on my speed dial. Seriously, that's true. I talk to a very nice woman who gets me set up on the flight I want and takes my voucher, leaving me with a balance of just over $600. Not bad!!

While I am on the phone with this agent, I ask about the jaunts around Europe that I want to make. It is only three flights - how hard can this be? Those three little trips are up to $1600. now and I just can't see paying that much for them. Maybe I will rent a car. I say goodbye and hang up. Back to the drawing board.

I finally look into a Eurail Pass. That would be fun. It would be great fun. I could meet new people and learn about where they are from. It was going to be 42 hours of great fun to get to the little town that is my destination. I was willing to do that, but I could not find a price for the last leg into Lithuania because Lithuania is not a part of the Eurail system. Clicking the Purchase Tickets button seemed like a bad idea with no final price listed and so I hesitated. It is getting closer and closer to the date I will arrive in Dusseldorf and I still have no idea how I am getting around. I am actually stating to get nervous about this. Usually, I wouldn't worry because things have a way or working themselves out, but this one had me flummoxed. I just wasn't getting through the barrier.

I am going to arrive in Dusseldorf with bags complying with international flights and will then want to go on domestic flights - trains - donkeys - whatever conveyance I can find - with all my huge bags. I can already see the red flags. I have been "chosen" at airport security checkpoints too many times. How can I look like a terrorist? What terrorist lugs armloads of books and gifts and lesson plans??? I really need to get serious. Back to the travel agent. She can do it for $3500.+ and that is only the three internal flights. This is looking bleaker and bleaker. Where is it that I am going to spend the next academic year? It is more and more obvious that I am not going to be getting out and about. Back to the Internet. NWA is not even taking calls. Their phone volume is so high that the recording suggests I try another, less busy time, like next week. Are they kidding? I need to get these tickets now!

I am at lunch with my mom and she is in the rest room. She is 83, bless her heart, so that can take awhile. I figure I can take a 41-hour train ride to Gura Humorului and then a 46-hour ride to Vilnius. I will be able to spend one day in the town. I am leaving for Europe six days early so that I can spend less than 24 hours there. This just makes no sense. Back to the travel agent. Can she get me a Eurail Pass? Yes. OK, go for it. Of course, she is with a customer and will call back. Probably one who thinks it is fine to pay over $4000. to fly around Europe. I leave a message asking her to get me the Eurail Pass.

My mom is not back yet. One more try to NWA. The phone is answered after only three rings and almost immediately I am switched to a real, live agent. I actually asked her if this was NWA. Maybe I punched in the wrong speed dial code. She really worked for NWA and was ready to make this work for me. This must be my lucky day!

I explain what I am trying to do and the difficulties I am running into. I explain about all the deals I have registered for that never seem to work out. I tell her I am a poor teacher and doing this as a volunteer and that volunteering should not cost so much. She agrees with everything I have said and wants to make this work. She is a fairy godmother and she is smiling today!
I had registered for a deal that allows you to fly around Europe for $40 to $200 per leg depending on the number of flight miles as many times and you want as long as you take at least three jaunts. I have searched on the NWA website and can not figure out how to actually get that rate. She has never heard of this deal. No surprise there. I can not remember the name of the deal. I tell her it is much like the EuropeByAir.com vouchers. She has never heard of that either. I remember that all of my flight research is in the car and ask her to hang on while I go get it. Thank you Verizon for cell phones. We talk while I trudge to the car and wrest my files from the back seat. This is post shopping and so it is crammed with those big shopping bags with string handles that get all tangled up with each other. The agent is such a patient lady. I find what I need and tell her the program is called SkyTeam Europe Pass. She looks it up and voila! she finds it. She reads the pages of fine print and asks me to be patient while she does. She talks to the rate department and asks if I mind waiting. She routes the flights according to the fine print. I am now flying through Prague - a city I have not visited before but I am sure will be interesting. I will even get to spend the night in Dusseldorf to see what I can find to do there. She keeps checking in with me to let me know she is still working on the flights and the rates. I am starting to wonder how much longer my cell phone battery is going to last. Even though I had just recharged it, it has been awhile.

Meanwhile, the waitress arrives and we order lunch. The salad arrives. It is delicious. A friend stops at our table to wish me a Bon Voyage. We talk for a few minutes while I hold the phone to my ear. She heads off for the rest of her day. Our sandwiches arrive. I forgot to tell the waitress that I didn't want any mustard but the honey Dijon is fabulous on the sandwich. I might even start adding it myself. (The lunch ladies back at the high school will probably wonder if I have taken leave of my senses.) Mom and I talk about the shopping we have accomplished and she wonders if my sister will invite her out to the club so she can wear her new hat and outfit. She really looks cute. The waitress is bringing me the third glass of peach iced tea. It is really delicious. Mom wanted to sit inside in the air conditioning but I insist that we sit outside. We are sitting on the patio at Max and Erma's overlooking the duck pond. There is a breeze in the air and it is about 80 degrees. What could be more perfect?

Mom and I talk about her options. She is in rehab but she wants to come home although she is not sure if she is ready. I tell her I am leaving in three days and that moving her home will be quite a bit of stress at this point. I mention that I will not be here to be of any assistance if it is not the right decision. I think she should wait a bit before she comes home. She agrees. Then she thinks that maybe in a week or two. I suggest that if she waits three weeks I will be back and can make it all go so much smoother for her. She sees the logic there. This does mean that she has to live with the woman who wakes up at 4am screaming for everyone to leave her house and go home. When I met her on the first day, she kept yelling that I should "Get the hell out of here!" She is not an easy woman to live with. She has sent her two daughters home crying several times so far. It is such a sad thing to see what happens to us as we age maybe more than our bodies are supposed to. She is perfectly healthy, but her mind is in another place. It must be terribly frightening to not really understand where she is and whom all these strange people are that are milling about. Poor Mom. Three more weeks of her. The waitress reappears asking if we want dessert. I order ice cream and Mom orders the banana cream pie. What a delightful place to sit in the afternoon while we wait for glasses to be made. The agent comes back on the line and tells me that she has it all figured out and they can make those reservations at the fabulous price of about $600. I am ecstatic! I knew it could be done. Who says waiting until the eleventh hour doesn't work!?

We wind up the financial details of the trip and say goodbye. I have another travel voucher but this trip can not accommodate any other finagling. I am going to enjoy my trip to Europe this summer for a little over $1200. Much, much better. Now I will be able to enrich the Lithuanian economy as well as teacher's minds this July. Does it get any better than this?! Mom and I toddle back to the mall to get her glasses, which seem to fit perfectly and then I took her home. A wonderful day all around.

Enough grousing because Northwest has come through, using my car for a file cabinet works, the battery on my cell phone lasted, the food was fabulous, and Mom enjoyed the afternoon.