Let's take a step back in time a couple weeks to see what happened at the beginning of my journey:
Seattle (June 22, 2013)
Saturday morning I woke up nice and early to disembark the cruise ship where I had spent the past week with my friend Jessica and my parents. We ate one last breakfast together, said bye to Jessica, and my parents and I set off to our designated waiting area. We arrived at the room we were to wait in and were told that we were allowed off the ship early which was a great start to the day. Customs and Immigrations was basically non-existent, so we were on a shuttle bus to the airport within a matter of minutes.
When we got to the airport I still had to check-in for my flight. My parents' flight was domestic, so the cruise-line had taken care of everything for them. I headed over to the check-in area, scanned my passport, received my boarding documents, and checked my bag. The woman at the counter asked me about a return flight which I told her I didn't have. She proceeded to check my bag and sent me on my way to security so I could go wait by my gate.
Once making it through security, I had around 5 or 6 hours to kill. I waited with my parents until they boarded their plane, which left much earlier than mine, and then I proceeded to the International terminal. I sat down and read as I waited to board.
Finally it was almost 2:10, which meant it was time to get on the plane. Zone 1 was called. Then Zone 2. That was me. I got up and stood in line. I handed my passport and ticket to the woman so I could get on the plane, but I was told there was a problem with my passport. She told me to go stand in line at the counter and sort things out with the representatives there. I was slightly confused, seeing as I had been at the airport for basically half of the day and the woman who helped me with my luggage earlier had failed to mention there had been a problem.
I obliged and waited in line as I watched everyone else in Zone 2 continue to go through the gate. I reached the front of the line and handed the woman my ticket and passport. She told me that what I was holding was not in fact a boarding pass, but only a boarding document, meaning I had not been cleared to board the plane. She told me I was not allowed on the plane unless I provided proof of an onward flight from Manila. I was not even allowed to board the flight to Tokyo and sort my situation out there. I was told I had less than 10 minutes before the gate would be closing. The woman advised that I go to the desk at the other end of the terminal to purchase an onward flight, but until I had proof, there was no way they would let me fly.
This was extremely frustrating. I had been sitting at the airport all morning. Had I been told previously that I could not board my flight until I had an onward ticket, I could have taken care of it hours before, but here I was with less than 10 minutes to figure something out.
Luckily the Seattle airport has free wifi and luckily my iPad still had battery left. I quickly turned it on and connected to the internet. Frantically, I went to AirAsia's website (budget airline in Asia) and searched for anything I could find that was cheap and departed from Manila. I clicked on a flight, not even caring when or where it was and I began to fill out the payment information. At this point I was shaking a bit. It is very hard to stay focused on a tiny little iPad screen when you know you are almost out of time as the crowd around you dwindles down to nothing. I managed to click the submit button and raced back to the line to provide my proof of purchase to the woman women behind the counter.
The woman cleared me to board. She handed me a actual boarding passes this time and she called the luggage guys and told them to load my bag. I was the very last person to board the plane, but I made it. I sat down at my seat, 58K, a window, as the announcement to turn off all electronics was made as the door shut.
That was definitely not the ideal way to start a journey of unlimited travels, but at least I was on my way. Tokyo and then Manila where I would be meeting up with Jim.
(Written July 8, 2013)
Seattle (June 22, 2013)
Saturday morning I woke up nice and early to disembark the cruise ship where I had spent the past week with my friend Jessica and my parents. We ate one last breakfast together, said bye to Jessica, and my parents and I set off to our designated waiting area. We arrived at the room we were to wait in and were told that we were allowed off the ship early which was a great start to the day. Customs and Immigrations was basically non-existent, so we were on a shuttle bus to the airport within a matter of minutes.
When we got to the airport I still had to check-in for my flight. My parents' flight was domestic, so the cruise-line had taken care of everything for them. I headed over to the check-in area, scanned my passport, received my boarding documents, and checked my bag. The woman at the counter asked me about a return flight which I told her I didn't have. She proceeded to check my bag and sent me on my way to security so I could go wait by my gate.
Once making it through security, I had around 5 or 6 hours to kill. I waited with my parents until they boarded their plane, which left much earlier than mine, and then I proceeded to the International terminal. I sat down and read as I waited to board.
Finally it was almost 2:10, which meant it was time to get on the plane. Zone 1 was called. Then Zone 2. That was me. I got up and stood in line. I handed my passport and ticket to the woman so I could get on the plane, but I was told there was a problem with my passport. She told me to go stand in line at the counter and sort things out with the representatives there. I was slightly confused, seeing as I had been at the airport for basically half of the day and the woman who helped me with my luggage earlier had failed to mention there had been a problem.
I obliged and waited in line as I watched everyone else in Zone 2 continue to go through the gate. I reached the front of the line and handed the woman my ticket and passport. She told me that what I was holding was not in fact a boarding pass, but only a boarding document, meaning I had not been cleared to board the plane. She told me I was not allowed on the plane unless I provided proof of an onward flight from Manila. I was not even allowed to board the flight to Tokyo and sort my situation out there. I was told I had less than 10 minutes before the gate would be closing. The woman advised that I go to the desk at the other end of the terminal to purchase an onward flight, but until I had proof, there was no way they would let me fly.
This was extremely frustrating. I had been sitting at the airport all morning. Had I been told previously that I could not board my flight until I had an onward ticket, I could have taken care of it hours before, but here I was with less than 10 minutes to figure something out.
Luckily the Seattle airport has free wifi and luckily my iPad still had battery left. I quickly turned it on and connected to the internet. Frantically, I went to AirAsia's website (budget airline in Asia) and searched for anything I could find that was cheap and departed from Manila. I clicked on a flight, not even caring when or where it was and I began to fill out the payment information. At this point I was shaking a bit. It is very hard to stay focused on a tiny little iPad screen when you know you are almost out of time as the crowd around you dwindles down to nothing. I managed to click the submit button and raced back to the line to provide my proof of purchase to the woman women behind the counter.
The woman cleared me to board. She handed me a actual boarding passes this time and she called the luggage guys and told them to load my bag. I was the very last person to board the plane, but I made it. I sat down at my seat, 58K, a window, as the announcement to turn off all electronics was made as the door shut.
That was definitely not the ideal way to start a journey of unlimited travels, but at least I was on my way. Tokyo and then Manila where I would be meeting up with Jim.
(Written July 8, 2013)
That is really annoying! But you made it!
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