No trip is complete unless Air Canada is terrible!

You all know I have had my problems with Air Canada over the years/trips.  And of course, why break such a long streak.  But instead of focusing on how very, very much Air Canada sucks, let's all appreciate how awesome RBC Travel is.  

As you will remember from my December post (BUSINESS CLASS!!), I had points so I bought my amazing, business class tickets through RBC Travel.  I can't even remember if I booked them online or called the RBC Travel agent but I'm pretty sure I booked them myself to save the $10 'phone booking' fee.  But no matter that I didn't even pay that pittance of a booking fee, they still took care of me.  

On Wednesday, I got an email from RBC Travel telling me there was a change to my flight and I need to call them ASAP!  I had received a couple of other itinerary change emails where they changed the times of one or other of the flights, a few minute here, a half hour there.  No panic, the connections were still fine.  But this time, there were ALERTS! and red letters!  This is serious!  

We were scheduled to fly Victoria to Calgary, Calgary to Houston, Houston to Buenos Aires.  Freaking Air Canada cancelled the Calgary to Houston leg and didn't replace it with another flight!  

So, I called RBC Travel, expecting to be on hold for hours, the norm lately for calling any CSR for any business.  But Riha answered right away!  I assumed they just cancelled me because of my super-cheap Business Class seats but no, Riha said the entire flight is gone (shades of LOST).  She checked, the only other option was Calgary to Houston at 6am.  Which would have meant a hotel in Calgary.  

I suggested I am open to whatever combination of Victoria to any Canadian city to Houston she can find as long as we get to Houston in time to get our flight to Buenos Aires.  Off Riha went to her own experience of trying to get through to someone at Air Canada.  She assured me, as she put me on hold, this is Air Canada's fault and she will find a solution.  

I was on hold for over an hour, medieval lute music playing the whole time, before she came back on and said that she found a flight that works.  Victoria to Vancouver, Vancouver to Houston, Houston to Buenos Aires (this leg unchanged).  And still Business Class!  Book it I cried!  Already did, she exclaimed!  

I sent the info on my new flight to Amy.  Amy called her travel agent people, they fixed her up and now we are both good to go!  

Air Canada never sent me a notification.  I wonder if they would have if I had booked my flight through them.  Either way, I am pretty sold on travel agents now.  Even the cheapest ones available.  I hear horror stories about cancelled flights and dealing directly with airlines (and let's face it, I am asking for trouble with Air Canada AND United!).  I know, I know, travel agency is a dying industry, but this and my previous experience with a cancelled flight make me hope they stick around until I'm too old to travel (so another 47 years). 

BUSINESS CLASS!!!!

OH MY GOD!  So, I have been tracking tickets to Buenos Aires for a couple of months.  And they have been cheap.  I have enough travel points to buy a ticket up to $2000 (not including taxes).  If I buy a ticket to South America, I use 100 000 points whether the ticket is $900 or $2000. So obviously, start big and work down is my 'flight search' policy.

happening!  

Business class tickets to Buenos Aires on my dates: $2179 (give or take $20 depending on the day).  I had to wait until my return date was finally available.  It seemed too good to be true.  I went in to see if it was true and got far enough into the booking process to see that the seats available were not in the business class section.  Oh, well, as I suspected.  I was at work, trying to research/book during lunch so I abandoned the process because I wanted to read the fine print (so unlike me but there are new 'cancellation' considerations these days).  

Today, I went in and started the process again.  This time, I think I chose the Air Canada version of the flight instead of the United version.  Same flight, different flight numbers.  I know this because the first time I was in the booking part, I could not choose my AC seats but I could choose the United seats and they were in the deepest, darkest, back of the bus, economy section.  But this time, oh glory be to the gods of wide seats and free booze, I choose the Air Canada flights (despite my well documented issues with Air Canada).  I could see the AC seat selection were Business, front of the plane.  I choose my seats.  But I couldn't choose the United seats.  Those are the important ones.  Flight down is 9 hrs, 50 minutes.  Flight back is 10 hrs, 25 minutes. It told me to go to United's website.  I got my confirmation email with my booking numbers.  I signed onto United and it let me choose my seats, which I figured was a miracle in itself.  Seats available:  BUSINESS CLASS!  No seriously:  BUSINESS CLASS!!!!!  Is it wrong to be this excited about my seats!  I don't think so.  

This literally makes me want to cry with happiness

All told, $200 bucks for my BUSINESS CLASS tickets (just the taxes).  Lie-Flat seating! With bedding and sleep themed amenities.  (I don't even know what that means, but I'm going to find out!)  Chef designed onboard dining experience!  Access to United lounge!  Two closets!  So many coffee stations!  

So, there you go, it is getting harder to say this might not happen.  Let's all hope and pray that Omicron (which we are not talking about) is quick and gone and no new, even worse, Covid variant shows up before November, 2022.  I was saying to Amy, if we had gone this year, we would have been in a bit of a safety bubble, mostly post-Delta and pre-Omicron.  Let's hope Oct/Nov 2022 is even better!  

Less exciting but still trip related, I have started doing a bit of research on Buenos Aires.  As in, I googled 'which area is the best to stay in...'.  Palermo is top of the one list I looked at.  Okey Dokey.  Booking.com, my old and trusted booking friend.  I found a two bedroom apartment in Palermo.  Not in the super-trendy Palermo Hollywood or Palermo Soho sub-neighbourhoods, but not too far (and about $1000 cheaper, thank you very much).  It is in Alto Palermo.  I can walk for trendy.  

The cool kids are in pink or aqua, we are in blue (with the 
smart-with-their-money kids).  

I booked this without consulting Amy.  We haven't even really talked about what we want to do in our week in Argentina before the cruise.  Do we want to stay in the city (which seems huge and diverse) or travel around a bit?  Staying in one place seems like to wise thing to do right now, but who knows in 10 months.  My booking.com reservation is cancellable until end of Sept so we have lots of time to consider our options.  

I have since has a one minute conversation with Amy to tell her I was sending her the flight info (so she can book with her travel money) and the apartment info and she said "if someone else wants to plan, I am all for whatever that plan might be'.  I am writing that down as a contract.  I may have completely changed the wording but the thought is probably, mostly (somewhat, maybe) right.  

Then I read the second paragraph in that one 'where to stay in Buenos Aires' site.  It says Palermo is not close to the 'sights'.  Next research:  how to get around Buenos Aires.  Super-duper subway system is how.  Called the Subte.  

Way up in the top left, by the green D, is Palermo station.  

Some cross referencing with a Subte map with some streets on it and the Booking.com map, I can see the place I booked is three blocks from the Bulnes stop on Linea D.  Linea D takes up to the Cathedral where we can catch Linea E with goes through San Telmo, where the touristy sights are (or some of them).  So, boom and Bob's your uncle.  I have started planning!  I'm sure there will be lots of Subte'ing!  Lineas H & F might get us to some good spots too.  Oh dear, now I am looking at San Telmo neighbourhood apartments.  Never read the second paragraph, it just complicates decisions.  

In shopping news.  It is snowing in Victoria right now so I have had to shovel my walk a couple of times and the weak point in my cold weather gear is my hands.  I ordered some expensive gloves (50% off boxing day sale and $10 bonus discount, so not too bad).  They should arrive in a couple of weeks, hopefully too late to test them in frigid weather (because I am done with Victoria having frigid weather!).  

We don't like the snow
 but we do like the live bird show