The Journey from Ndola to Aberdeen (COVID19)
This is my COVID19 story: How I helped a client travel from Ndola, Zambia to Aberdeen, Scotland during the most uncertain and unpredictable time in travel history. Airlines were cancelling flights left, right and centre without warning. Countries were closing their borders behind my client and her daughter as they left one country and arrived in the next. I was booking, rebooking, reissuing tickets so many times I lost count.
It all started with their online booking that was cancelled by the airline and they had no one to call. The ‘online booking site’ contacts were unreachable. That is when I got the call from the sister, my existing client “My sister is trying to get to Scotland for a fresh start at a new life for herself and her daughter.” I felt their disappointment from the flight cancellation but also their determination through the WhatsApp messages and voice notes.
Your mission, Lize Roodt, if you choose to accept it, is to navigate the crazy travel circumstances and get them to that new life… I accepted.
The first option would have been to travel via Johannesburg since many airlines were still travelling to and from Johannesburg at the time. The problem arose that they were mother and daughter travelling alone, and time was against us. The South African regulations concerning “Travelling with a Minor” would require they have all the necessary paperwork from the father authorizing the travel and there was just not enough time. So, I relook at flight options.
I booked a flight from Ndola to Lusaka for the Sunday to get to an international airport. From there I found a flight to London on Kenya Airways via Nairobi and then on a local flight on British Airways from London to Aberdeen. This seemed fair, although it felt like a lot of travelling, it would get them to where they need to be without too much administrative issues. Oh, if we only knew then....
They arrived in Lusaka with all their luggage and ready for the international journey to begin. I checked them in on the Kenya Airways flight for departure at 2am (Monday morning). And then they waited to board, and they waited and waited. Only at 2am were they notified that the flight has been cancelled. They were all re-accommodated on the 9am flight which meant they will miss their connection to London and all the subsequent flights.
“OK no problem, we can handle this.” They stayed at a hotel for couple hours and headed back to airport later that same morning. I sent her the flight numbers for the options I found in my system to ensure that when it comes her turn at the Kenya Airlines airport desk, she knows what to ask for. I listed options in order from best case to worst choice – the latter was to fly to Paris, so they are at least in Europe.
Turns out the London flight from Nairobi was also cancelled (not that they were going to make it anyway) and they were left with no option but to fly to Paris. I managed to hold some seats in my system but could not reissue them as it was too close to departure time. After speaking to a nice gent at the Kenya Airways desk, we waited patiently for 30minutes for the reservation manager - me eyeing the time because the flight was due to board in about an hour and we have yet to confirm their tickets.
Between the reservation manager and I, we secured the tickets on the back of the seats I held for them. While they are boarding, I booked the flight from Paris to London and moved the flight from London to Aberdeen onwards to connect. Obligatory selfie on the plane was sent and I knew they were on their way to Nairobi from Lusaka.
What happened next was just beyond mad… not a single flight we had booked went according to plan. I have tried to write to the best of my memory the events that followed.
They arrive in Nairobi to find the flight to Paris was delayed by 11hours, so they stayed overnight in Nairobi.
Now they will only arrive in Paris on Tuesday night due to the delay. I knew that they would need to stay the night again so while they were flying, I booked them into a hotel at Charles De Gaulle airport.
I rebooked and reissued all the onwards flights again (Paris - London – Aberdeen). Airlines were cancelling and consolidating their schedules leaving us little options for good connections. In the effort to try save money, the option that allowed free changes meant I could only book for the following evening (Wednesday) to London and only THURSDAY evening from London to Aberdeen. So I did.
Not long after I had done all this, you guessed it, another flight cancelled. Thursday evening’s flight to Aberdeen. This was, however, finally in our favour as I could rebook them onto the earlier flight with no additional costs which had previously been the costly option.
They boarded the flight from Paris to London, and they sent me the photo of an empty plane. It looked so creepy but all I cared about was that they are on that plane and it was flying.
They arrived in London; somewhere in-between I manage to book them a hotel close to Heathrow Terminal 5 for easy access and hopefully a good night’s rest. One more flight to go! It was the morning of the last flight, my client messaged me to inform me the flights to Aberdeen had been cancelled. My heart sank to my stomach, I could not believe that this was happening AGAIN!
I logged in, I started checking all the systems and flight statuses as well as British Airways website. Something was not right because everywhere it looked fine to me. I checked the client’s message again and I realised she accidently looked at the wrong date and their flight was NOT cancelled and they had 30 minutes to get to the airport for check in… my exact message was “RUN RUN RUN!!” Exhausted but not beaten, they made it to the final flight!
It was a rollercoaster for everyone with little sleep all round, but the final embarkation in this mad 5-day journey to get to bonnie Scotland was a liberation. They boarded and I had the biggest sigh of relief and felt my breathing return to normal for the first time in 5 days.
I have never been tested like this before; major flight delays, at least 3 last minute flight cancellations, system issues, miscommunication and working with little sleep while trying to stay in touch with my client throughout the journey.
5 days from Zambia to Scotland, who would have thought?