The ticket's been booked.
Truthfully, the story behind purchasing my plane ticket deserves a post all by itself. When I got the great news about the wedding earlier this summer, I was staunch about my price point: $1100. Thats right, $1100 for an international ticket including taxes and fees. I searched online through my favorite travel website, Kayak.com, called agents recommended by family members, and considered loan options if it came down to me finding the perfect price that needed to be booked right away. Now, here's why the situation was so urgent: plane tickets to Nigeria can cost over $2000, even if you book months in advance. When you're looking to travel at the end of the year during the holidays, it's even more expensive. Of course, I'm using the word "expensive" relatively here for a couple of reasons: (1) I'm a young woman, (2) I'm not too far out of college, and (3) I'm an emerging artist. Understand my price point, now?
I called the agents and the best price I found was 1050. However, the agent with the better deal wanted me to transfer the cash into his bank account because his company doesn't take credit card transactions for flights to Nigeria. Hmmmm... never had to transfer money into a legitimate business' bank account before...I decided to pass. I jumped back online and saw that the price to Lagos and/ or Abuja, Nigeria was 1136. Maaaaan, it was a little over the hump but I was so disappointed I didn't have all the funds right there and then. The fourth of July was right around the corner and I just knew the airline industry was gonna get greedy. I was right. After the fourth, I went back online and , the best deal, a European airline, was saying 1370.
I called another agent and his best price was 1270. He couldn't check the flights to Abuja because they were not yet open for that time of year. Sigh . I was upset because he had a lower price before and didn't get back to me on time to hold it (he's the most popular African travel agent in New York, but the man is hella busy!) I told him, "If you don't have a price below 1100, I'm not buying. YOU call me when you find something." And that's when I stopped searching and just waited. And waited. And waited. Then, one day, I got a call from the agent and he said 991. 9.9.1. Ya dig?! I said "heck, yes" to that, he placed a hold, I submitted my payments in increments (the greatest benefit of booking through a travel agency as opposed to buying online) and I was set.
Or, so I thought.
I'm holding onto my printed reservation thinking everything's been confirmed for 2 MONTHS , then a relative calls me and says, "You better call the agent. He hasn't booked your ticket yet." What?????!
I called the agent and he explained that my relative (who's also a loyal customer of his) asked him to pause my booking because my cousin's wedding date might change. The relative was supposed to get back to him after she returned from her own trip overseas, but she didn't. Needless to say, my blood pressure went up like a huge tidal wave.
Like seriously? My relative had the audacity to butt into MY itinerary? The one that I carefully crafted according to my OWN travel plans, which included not only participating in a wedding, but traveling to certain cities that were crucial for MY research? Not to mention, I purchased this long-awaited ticket completely by MYSELF!
(Am I being self-centered here or just wishing someone would respect my property and my space?)
So,
I told my agent, "Dude, I'm coming down to your office to book my ticket asap." By that time I was scared that I had not only lost the dates, but the price as well. After getting a sweet deal like 991, there was NO WAY I was jumping any higher than that. I came to his office first thing in the morning prepared to tell him that, too. When I got there, he made me wait (as usual) while he fielded other calls like an octopus from would-be Nigerian expeditioners. E-mail, voicemail, instant messaging, telephone, cell phone, you name it. This agent lived for booking flights via any means. He finally got around to me, patiently sitting at the side of his desk, and he asked me if I was sure I wanted to book. Being the resourceful woman that I am, I made some flight adjustments so that I could get into Lagos AND Abuja on the same ticket :) THEN I booked that bad boy. Before I left, I made sure he still had my checks and that they would be processed within 1 week. I also made sure he understood that under no circumstances was he to allow anyone, relative or not, to butt into my ticket reservation.
Did the ticket really get booked this time? It sure did. A week later, I saw my account balance drop by $991...and I was very pleased.
So, what did I learn from all this? Two things: (1) the start of any journey can be a HARD fight, and (2) sometimes our relatives love us so much they think ahead of us, albeit outside of us. Crazy enough, both of these traits are veeeeeery typical of the African experience in America.
Live hard...laugh later!
~ Odyssey
