Oops!

I’m going on a trip to L.A. this weekend. Benny, my cousin, is getting married. Really, he hates being called Benny, it’s just Ben now, but I have been pardoned and grandfathered into being the only one allowed to still refer to him as Benny. He was always my favorite cousin and protected me from his older brother who always picked on me. I can’t believe we’re all grown up now and married; having families of our own.

My son, Isaiah, is in the wedding so we have to be in L.A. at least the day before to go to the rehearsal. Heather, my sis, is going with us and I reserved our tickets online about a month ago. Last night she called and wanted to plan all the final details, like what time we should get to the airport. I checked our reservation and gasped. The ticket was for a 7pm flight, which meant we wouldn’t arrive until 9pm, which meant we’d miss the entire day before the wedding including the rehearsal. I couldn’t believe I made such a huge mistake!

You can bet that early this morning I was on the phone with the airline. They were kind enough to offer to switch my reservation, for only another $600 per ticket!! I declined that offer and they let me know that I could arrive at the airport early enough to get on the stand by list, which is no guarantee that I won’t be waiting at the airport for the entire day with my impatient baby and missing the rehearsal. But it looks like I have no other option.

Heather and I plan to leave for the airport early Saturday morning and wait it out…I’ll let you know how that works out.

If only I had called the airline to reserve the tickets. I am very unfamiliar with airline procedures and purchasing tickets online. It was a little tricky finding the right information and when I did get to the list of available flights the list was so crazy and long that everything started running together. Reserving airline tickets online is not as easy as some other services you can buy online. Today I’ve already talked with the customer service center three times. They’ve been extremely courteous each time. I should have called them in the first place and avoided this mess.

Sometimes talking to a real person is the best way to ensure that your customers get what they need. It is perhaps more necessary to talk to a person when reserving a storage unit. A real person can help determine what size your customer needs if they aren’t sure and a live voice will give your customer peace of mind that their needs have all been met.