In Which I Book a Plane Ticket

Today I booked my ticket for California. I'm going to school the same week as one of my friends and we've been watching the flights as the prices went up (to $500 one way before taxes) and down again. Since we leave in 23 days, we were really running out of time. Finally we decided that we'd wait to see what WestJet's Blue Ticket Thursday sale was and then book. The sale was only for Canada, but.....the non stop flight to LA was well under $300 and the flight back was under $200 so the total was low enough, and if we waited any longer the prices were going to go back up (especially on the flight back, which only had 2 seats). I decided to book, emailed my friend and told her to book, and started the process.

Have I ever told you about my internet issues at work? I have a terrible internet connection. I'm pretty sure the modem is dying, but I can't do anything about it because Telus won't just come and fix it; instead, they ask questions I can't answer. Anyway. Today was the worst internet day yet (by the end of the day I couldn't coax it into working long enough to send an email).

Okay, back to the story. I started to book the ticket. The internet went down. Then it was back up. I got a bit further. The internet went down. I tried to enter payment information. The internet went down. I was ready to enter my MasterCard access code (once I chose a new one since I never, ever remember what it is). The internet went down. The entire transaction timed out. I started over.

Fun times. I did it all over again (except that for a change I remembered my MasterCard access code), and the internet kept going down. I was frustrated and tired and finally reached the end...and the internet went down. The flight didn't go through. I started over.

This time I switched to the computer by the modem so I could watch the lights (three steady lights and not much blinking means the internet is working). At each step, I waited until the internet was working before moving on. I almost reached the end....and the seat I wanted was gone. No more cheap seat. I had to start over.

By then I was ready to cry or yell or something. After some moments of frustration, I tried praying... because God is sovereign over all things even the internet and flights and WestJet and even when I don't understand and I was frustrated and annoyed and tired and would He please keep the internet working because I need the ticket please, please, please!

I started over, with a slightly higher price (about $40) and finally reached the end. Confirmation popped up on my screen, the ticket was booked, and did I want to print the page. The problem is, that computer won't always print. Instead of trying to print, I opened another window and checked email to see if the confirmation was there so I could print it at home.

And that, friends, is when I learned that one of those earlier attempts that hadn't worked (and had never been confirmed) had, in fact, worked. I now held 2 tickets to California.

I considered crying, breaking the computer, throwing a temper tantrum....and resorted to prayer again, and then finally laughed (a bit; it was only sort-of funny, but it was one of those times when it was laugh or yell (or break something)).

Once the internet was working again, I found the WestJet number in one of the emails and called (and got put on hold, although they will take your number and call you back when your turn comes, but I decided to wait). I put the phone on speaker (I was using my cell) and read my book until the internet came back up. Then I went back to the confirmation page on the WestJet sight (which I had never closed) and hit the refund button. Then the internet went down. I waited. Finally I was able to confirm that I wanted a refund on the flight.

About the time the refund was confirmed, the WestJet lady came on the phone. I told her that I thought I had fixed things, but could she check for me. I told her my story and she sympathized and laughed with me (telling it was funnier than living it) and told me that she never tries to navigate the on-line booking. She assured me that I only had one ticket booked, that the other ticket had been refunded. She said that she wanted to mess with me and tell me that I was confirmed to fly from Newfoundland to Tampa Bay, but she was nice and confirmed that I am indeed flying direct to LA on July 16th.

Next time maybe I'll just call to book.