Oh No! Did You Know?

Hey Travel Lover

Knowledge is power. Information is power.

According to Robin Morgan, “The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility”.

Since I don’t plan or want to be a tyrant I will definitely share, share and share. How about you?

Sit back with some popcorn and your favorite drink as I share three true, torturous and taunting stories that I recently learnt from. Happy Learning🤓.

Did you know that you can use visas from the United Kingdom, United States and Europe to enter another country? Until the changes were made last year, you could remotely apply for and get a Turkish electronic visa (e-visa) using one of those visas. It was an easy-peasy process where you go online, fill in the form, make payments and voila…you receive the e-visa via email.

But that’s not all there is to know. In 2022, my friend got her Turkish e-visa this way, went ahead to buy tickets, booked a hotel and boom she was ready to fly to Turkey. On the travel day, after packing, unpacking and repacking, she arrived at the Abuja Airport only to get the shock of her life. Though she had a valid Turkish e-visa, she couldn’t travel because the United Kingdom visa start date was three months away. She could only use her e-visa on or after the start date of the supporting visa. As you can imagine, her excitement quickly dissipated as she watched her travel plans roll into the mud😭😭😭. I really didn’t know this could happen. Did you know?

Let’s move away from my friend’s Turkish disappointment rather than delight and fly all the way to Egypt. On this occasion another friend of mine used his United Kingdom visa to jump on a plane from Nigeria to Egypt, where he expected to get a visa on arrival.

All his plans seemed to be going smoothly until to his utmost surprise he was denied entry into Egypt. The border control officers explained to him that because his United Kingdom visa hadn’t been used he wasn’t qualified for the visa on arrival. He had to travel to London, spend a night and travel back to Egypt before he was allowed into the country. I really didn’t know this could happen. Did you know?

Finally, my all-time favorite is about a friend who had this exclusive travel card that she could use to access lounges across several airports in the world. These various lounges all have different conditions such as duration of stay and access to food and drinks for free or at a fee.

On this fateful day my friend was traveling through the United States and had a lengthy layover at Washington. She made her way to this particular lounge and innocently forgot to look at the conditions. She ordered a super plate of chicken salad off the menu and started sipping from a large cup of apple juice while her order was being processed.

When it was time to pay the hefty bill she was served, she gladly swiped her travel card. Unfortunately, the card was declined despite several tries. She later found out it was because there were service restrictions on that lounge that she didn’t read about. Her love for the appetizing meal vanished as she paid the cold cash out of pocket. Morale of the story is to always read up conditions before using services like a travel lounge. I really didn’t know this could happen. Did you know?

So, Travel Lover, have you gained some knowledge from these three scenarios? Do you have similar experiences to share? Would you love more “Oh No, Did you know” posts? Let us know your responses in the comments section.

Till Next Week

Live, Love, Laugh

Ajalaress

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