Final Boarding Call - Part 1

Hey Travel Lover

Have you ever missed a Final boarding call? Was it for a Local or an International flight? Can you remember the experience?

I used to be a “shopaholic” on my foreign travels, yeah, yeah, the shop-till-you-drop kind of shopaholic. Even if I admit it now, that shopaholic life must have made me miss out on some beautiful experiences I could have had and some beautiful places I could have seen….Oh well, we learn every day. We move!

Now, the beautiful thing about shopping as a tourist is you can get tax refunds on goods purchased. The process starts from the shop and is concluded at the airport. Sometimes the officials don’t demand to see the goods bought, while at other times they do.

In September 2010, on my return trip to Nigeria from the UK, I got to the airport quite early and was at the front of the check-in queue. Suddenly, a thought hit me; I hadn’t done my tax refund. I left the queue in a hurry and went to the tax refund office. I saw a very long queue, I checked my sports watch and figured I was good with time, plus I hadn't heard any boarding call. I proceeded, concluded the process and got my refund, cha-ching! 

I smiled my way back to the check-in queue, which was extra long by now. I tried to mention I had previously been on the queue but I was told to join afresh. I meandered slowly until it was my turn, dropped off my luggage and started heading to the boarding gate. The boarding call for Lagos! Lagos!! Lagos!!! started filtering through. I didn’t realize the time to get to my boarding gate was 20mins.

I was lazily strolling down, when someone asked if I was heading to Lagos, Nigeria that she just heard “Final boarding call”. I borrowed some steps from Usain Bolt and started a mad sprint for the boarding gate. Alas, I got there a little too late. I pleaded and pleaded but my boarding pass was torn in two right before my eyes. Seven of us were not allowed entry into the aircraft that day.  We were told our luggage will be brought out of the aircraft.

Now, there was no other flight that day. To board another flight, I had to pay a fee, Guess what? The amount was the same I collected as tax refund, the main culprit of the saga. One of the seven got a flight with long connecting hours, and another person’s ticket was non-refundable, non-changeable, so he was kind of stuck. I remember him calling his travel agent to sort it out. The rest of us got a flight for the next day.

Of course the five of us were one of the earliest the next day. Strangely it seemed a "row of shame" was reserved for us, as we sat together on the flight. I haven’t contacted them in a while, I should after this post.

So, Travel Lover, my tax refund saga, left me with a scar. Now I would rather not process tax refund than miss my flight. I have also since become a reformed shopaholic…learning to enjoy more sights, smells and sounds than just shops

Don't miss your final Boarding Call!

Till next time….

Yours

Ajalaress