4May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. – Psalm 20:4-5
My good fellow journalist, Uncle Carver Bhima sent me a video that was complete with various relics of our past – a charcoal iron, a dial ground phone, gramophone, one tambala coin, one kwacha note, paraffin lamp in a Vaseline bottle, 23 tambala loaf of bread, give a guy a green, nzeru radio, and so many others. I was quickly sent back to reminiscing on the great and better services we got in past years, which was a matter of course, almost everywhere one went. For these, we were drawn to giving tips (without being asked for it or without it being worked into the cost of the service!). But even with the tips to be given or requested, these days, out the window seems to be the very nature of being of service to people, the customer, and many times the reason the server has a job!
I recently flew across the country to visit my sister; of course I used an inexpensive (aka cheap) flight that takes you south to get to the west. Cheap travel agent, however, did not write in bold letters that despite my travel being local, I have to be at the airport two to three hours before my flight; better check in online as well and just drop my bag at the Drop Bag section! I missed my Thursday (Good Friday Eve) flight, because “old-timer me” just about made it one hour early. The airline counter closed and all attendants were at the gate.
It was a God-sent thing that one other traveler (with husband and two children) also missed the flight. There was much sharing of telephone numbers to get us onto another flight. Only problem was that my later flight led to a 16-hour stop-over in the southern destination. My west-bound plane would be on Good Friday at 12:30 PM.
At 8 PM, I approached a friendly desk officer of the airline and by divine intervention I started reeling off reasons why the airline should give me a hotel room, at their cost, and please it should not be too far from the airport. A number of “did I tell you (’s)…” were repeated to officers on ground and airline headquarters.
a) Did I tell you that I am a 70-year old woman, I am black and feel unsafe to be in a deserted airport?
b) Did I tell you that one of your officials said I do not qualify to get a hotel room; why do I not qualify?
c) Did I tell you that I am a journalist?
d) I informed them that I am a heart patient who must take dinner, then medicines and I need water. If I do not take these, I may have a stroke, and you may be speaking with my family about other things…
e) I further informed them that as a Christian, there are other things I do on Good Friday, other than rushing to catch an airline, travelling etc.
After a six hour battle back and forth in person, on phone and even an email (offering me an airline ticket voucher to use at a later date. The last point was responded to “I need a hotel room tonight”), I finally was offered a voucher for a room at the Hilton Garden Inn. This was complete with a free shuttle bus ride from the hotel to the airport.
The airline (name withheld) later sent me the email below
—- Airlines: INC-20250418043835-000237
Dear Janet,
Thank you for contacting —- Airlines. We appreciate receiving your email and are happy to address your concern.
We are sorry to learn that due to late arrival at the airport and ticket counter, you were unable to board your aircraft, but your flight was rebooked and you wanted to get a hotel voucher. Please accept our deepest apologies on behalf of the company for the service, the threat, and the additional charges you were required to pay as a result of these inconveniences.
We regret to tell you that your hotel voucher request will not be honored. Airlines require passengers and their baggage to be checked in at least 60 minutes prior to departure. Once a flight is closed, our agents are unable to reopen the flight to print boarding passes or check in baggage. It is recommended to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours in advance of your flight.
However, we can see that hotel voucher was given, with the following information: Voucher|Hotel Run of House|135.00000|Hilton Garden Inn – — Airport|H023584, this was sent at the email address on file, j.k@gmail.com.
We know that it cannot be aligned with what you were looking for; we need to follow up on our policies to be fair with all our customers.
Regards, Efrain C, Customer Relation Specialist, —- Airlines.
I am grateful for a restful night, in a secure hotel bedroom; the alternative was scary, unsafe, and highly unacceptable for a 70-year old woman of any color in a sporadically populated airport.
I thank all commercial airline providers and travel agents in the industry for the tremendous work they do in the travel details of so many passengers. However, I beg them to please spend time and money to inform us, the end-users, travelers, and your customers, ANY and ALL information and CHANGES in the requirements to our travels. This will avoid catastrophic experiences like the one I endured one Good Friday eve in 2025!
