Travel Planning Frustrations

Thursday, July 17, 2014--San Antonio, TX

I have been planning constantly now for about 3 weeks in preparation for the trip.  It takes a LOT of time to plan for being gone 10 weeks.  Unexpected problems pop up, too.  Major planning is almost complete.  The more planning I can do before departure means the more time I have on the trip to enjoy where I am.  I am now trying to plan all my transportation connections from place to place.  I have a tentative travel itinerary which was posted as a revision to the previous entry here.  Two of my frustrations that might be interesting to read:

AIRBNB PROBLEM and COMPLAINT

I made a reservation for an apartment in Brno.  The entry said there was a "moderate" cancellation fee, but that wasn't a concern since I knew I would not be canceling.  Yesterday, I got an e-mail (outside of the Airbnb communications system) from the host of the apartment saying that it would not be available due to city water and gas work and wanting me to accept a different apartment twice as far from downtown and not as nice.  As a part of that communication she asked ME to cancel my original reservation with Airbnb if I did not want the replacement apartment.  In my mind, I am facing a bait and switch operation, because if I cancel the apartment, I still have to pay her "moderate" cancellation fee.  She has written again after I wrote her asking HER to cancel, and she again has asked ME to cancel.

Airbnb does NOT have an 800 number.  They try to deal with disputes via an online form that gives only options to check.  I completed their online form.  As I completed it, I clicked an "urgent" button, and it gave me a toll number I could call.  When I called that number, it said there was more than a 30-minute online wait.

I was frustrated, so I called my credit card company and filed a dispute for the charge.  Several hours later, I got a message back from my online form saying that they would investigate the problem and get back to me no later than the 22nd (after I have left on my trip).  I immediately sent back a copy of the e-mail I had gotten from the host and pointed out the problems:  1) She is trying to operate outside Airbnb which is against the rules.  2) She expects ME to cancel the original reservation so she can get the "moderate" fee for cancellations plus the rent for the new apartment.  3) Airbnb seems to be favoring their host who is creating a problem rather than their customer who has gotten in the middle of the problem.  4) That a good company would have some flexibility for their employees to make a decision immediately to cancel when presented with the evidence (her e-mail) that the host is the problem.  Anyway, I still do not know what is going to happen.  I will NOT stay in her alternative apartment.  I do not feel comfortable searching for a new place until this is resolved.  If Airbnb doesn't resolve this in my favor (via communications with me and by not fighting my dispute with the bank), then I am going to be stuck with the "moderate" cancellation fee or the whole cost of the apartment. I really question whether I should do any more business with Airbnb after discovering how difficult it is to deal with them related to problems.

Update:  Got a cancellation notice from Airbnb on my e-mail before posting this.  Problem solved, but WHAT a hassle!  Have reserved a hotel in Brno-see Itinerary post before this one.

AIR TICKET

I needed an air ticket from Kiev, Ukraine to Batumi, Georgia.  That was one of my goals today.  I couldn't really try to buy this ticket until I had my itinerary completed, because I needed to know the exact date that I should fly.   Through previous research, I already knew I could get a one-way ticket with Ukrainian Airways for about $166.

Well, I went online today and Ukrainian Airways had NO dates available anywhere near the date I needed to fly.  Apparently, people from Ukraine, having lost the Crimea as their summer travel resort area, are flying to Batumi for their holidays.

My general search on Kayak showed another airline flying the same route with a seat available.  I checked, and it required an overnight stop at the hub airport for that airlines--a town not worth visiting and with a small airport that might not allow me to stay within the airport overnight for 9 hours.  Also, that alternative would have cut a day from my time in Georgia.

I went to the webpage for the airline--DnieproAvia.  I searched there and found I could get to Batumi on the day I wanted to travel by going through Kharkiv, and had the added surprise that it would be the same cost as if I had flown Ukrainian Airways.  Kayak had not shown that possible route.

All of these efforts up to this point are just normal travel planning procedures.  There are always small headaches.  But then my efforts became more complicated.  The DnieproAvia webpage made it seem as if they would mail me a PAPER ticket.  I couldn't go further without investigating this, and they do not have a number in this country.  At this point, however, I was trying to do it without being registered on their site.  I completed the registration process and indicated I was above 65 years old as a part of it.  Then I started the whole process all the way through.  The first surprise was that the cost of the ticket went down because I was a senior; it was now $12 cheaper!!

I muddled my way through page after page of the process which lead to other problems.  They use an online payment system named Galileo (similar to Paypal, but located in Ukraine, I guess, or maybe Russia) for payment.  The bank refused the payment thinking it was fraud.  I had to call my bank.  We got that straightened out, and while on the phone line I had to go through the payment process again including waiting for an SMS giving me a code to use to complete the payment with Galileo.

Anyway, I finally got my ticket for a good price and on the day I wanted it.  I do NOT have to stay overnight at an airport, and I arrive at a much better time (mid-afternoon) than I would have with Ukrainian Airways (10:00 or 11:00 at night).  So things worked out for the better even through there were frustrations along the way.

Update:  In less than one hour after I bought this ticket, the news that the Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down over the Ukraine/Russia border was released.  My flight from Kharkiv (sometimes spelled Kharkov) to Batumi will follow this route.  My earnest hope is that the army and the resisters will be scared to death about shooting toward planes after this first incident.  (My guess is that it will be the Russian resisters who did it, since they are probably the only ones who have been provided with weapons capable of such accuracy at such a distance.)