This is the story about my budget flight disaster. Travel mishaps are bound to happen, but they can be avoided. Learn from my mistakes, so you don’t have to go through what I went through.
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What do you do when you arrive at the airport, ready to hop on your flight that leaves in just over two hours only to find out that the company you booked your return tickets with went bankrupt and no longer exists?
No warning, no email, no phone call, no text, no…nothing.
Like wtf?!?
It felt like a dream, no more like a nightmare as I tried speaking to the various people at the airport to figure out what I could to do. That’s when the flood of tears came.
Okay, let’s rewind it a bit here.
In October, I’d planned to visit Yann in France. Because of my massive upcoming trip abroad, I couldn’t use any of my vacation time as I needed it all for that trip.
I was still able to get a solid 7 days off work to make this trip to France happen.
So once I had the time frame that I could travel secured, I began seriously looking at flights. Because I had set days that I could travel, it definitely lowered my options when it came to booking different flights.
I didn’t want to spend too much money on the tickets and thought that I’d lucked out when I found this one flight for a great price.
In my searches, I kept seeing Primera air come up and the price was the best out of all the other airlines.
Never having heard of them before, I decided to research them to make sure they were a legitimate company. I checked the reviews and read several different ones. I made sure to check Trip Advisor, which is my #1 go-to for reviews. What I saw there took away my suspicions and I decided to go ahead and book with them.
My flight cost around $500 CAD which is AHmazing for a flight to Europe. Of course, the price didn’t include any extras, which was fine. Since it was an overnight flight and I would most likely sleep through the night anyway.
I got my confirmation email and as promised, my tickets a few days before my flight.
Travel day
I packed my stuff in a carry on suitcase as I didn’t need that much for a week in France. My sister came to pick me up to take me to the airport.
She dropped me off at the departures terminal about 2 hours before my flight was scheduled to leave. I said my thanks and goodbye and went inside to find my gate to check-in.
I hadn’t seen the Primera Air sign out front but didn’t think anything of it and figured I’d just find them once inside.
Once inside, I proceeded to walk back and forth trying to find the Primera Air check-in desk. Normally I can find where I’m going pretty easily but this time around, I was having difficulties.
Instead of wasting time, walking back and forth, I decided to ask someone working there where to find them.
The first person I asked wasn’t too much help as they didn’t know. I walked a bit more retracing my steps in hopes I’d simply missed the sign.
I didn’t.
The second person was a little more helpful(if you want to call it that) and gave me the horrible news. She kind of looked at me a little weird at first and then proceeded to tell me that Primera Air does not exist.
The nightmare begins
I thought “huh?” I told her my flight was supposed to be leaving in just under two hours. I had my flight information, the confirmation number, and everything. That wasn’t possible. The lady asked me if I’d gotten an email or a call or anything, to which I replied no. In a more gentle voice, she informed me that the company had just gone under. It took me a minute to really grasp what she was saying.
I felt my body start to shake involuntarily.
Yann was supposed to pick me up the following morning in France.
I asked her what I was supposed to do.
This had never happened to me before. Was this even real? Or was I dreaming?
The lady told me I could try talking to a few different airlines to see if I could get on one of their flights leaving that day.
In a disbelieving daze, I quietly thanked her and wandered off in the direction she’d pointed me in to talk to an airline representative.
This couldn’t be happening…was this actually happening?
First I spoke to United Airways. I tried explaining to them what had happened and if there was anything they could do.
Their last flight to Paris was in 30 minutes and I wouldn’t have enough time to catch it.
I vaguely remember thanking them and making my way to the next airline.
Deep breaths.
I had to keep telling myself to take deep breaths, I couldn’t fall apart..not yet.
I cautiously walked up to the next ticketing agent and started explaining my situation again and that’s when the tears came.
I had to pause a few times and apologized a few more before getting the whole thing out.
They had a flight to Paris with a stopover in London leaving in about an hour. This flight, however, would get me there almost a full day later because the stopover was a long one. Also, the cost was wayyy more than I could afford.
Wtf was I going to do??
The lady looked at me with what seemed to be understanding and a little bit of pity in her eyes. She suggested I try WestJet as they might have a better option for me.
With the tears streaming down my face and my head bent down slightly trying to hide them, I thanked her and told her I might be back depending on what they had available.
As I was walking to the WestJet counter, I took a quick seat to try to compose myself.
In my head, not going to France as planned was simply not an option. I needed to see Yann as it had already been months that we’d been apart. And I wouldn’t be seeing him till the end of January next.
This trip NEEDED to happen.
I steadied myself (as much as possible) and walked up to the ticketing agent at the Westjet counter.
Literally as soon as I started telling her my situation, the tears came right back. “Get a grip Shylo,” I thought to myself as I stuttered my way through my shpiel and waited to be delivered more bad news.
She clacked away at her computer trying to see if there was anything available for me. Nothing that day she informed me, but there was a flight available the next day.
Related: My 11 travel mishaps of 2019
Inklings of hope
The flight she found had a stop in Halifax and the tickets were only about $1000.
Only $1000? I say that as if its chump change. Well, in comparison to the quote I was given by British Airways, it definitely was much more affordable.
I checked my bank account quickly and seeing that I had just enough, and told her I’d take it.
Luckily for me, I had been saving up for my Southeast Asia trip so I had some extra money put away.
Normally, however, I would have used an entire paycheck to buy my flight, and then my next paycheck would have been dedicated for spending money and everything else. So purchasing another flight would not have even been an option.
I’m so fortunate that wasn’t the case here.
This very nice lady, who’s name I can’t remember for the life of me (probably because I was indeed in some sort of weird trance) made all the necessary arrangements for my flight the next day and even gave me the option to choose my seating…well from what was left.
Once everything was put through and I paid for the ticket with my debit card, she proceeded to offer me some advice on what I could do next.
To see if I could get my money back for the Primera Air flight that had vanished into thin air. I’d used my visa debit to book the flight, so I doubted that I would see that money again.
Still, she gave me a few suggestions on the different steps I could take to try to retrieve my money. The main one being to call my banking institution and explain to them what happened.
I said my final and extremely grateful thanks to her for all her help. I walked away with the security of my tickets already printed for the following day in my hands and I went to call my sister to explain to her what happened and to get her to come back to the airport for me.
Having dealt with the situation, I was much more steady when recounting it for her.
She said it would take her about a half-hour or so to come back for me.
The next messages sent were to Yann explaining what happened and the new arrangements made and then to my besties in our group chat on WhatsApp.
One of my friends is a massage therapist and she offered up her services to help me relax, relieve the tension that had built up and help take my mind off things for those blessed 60 minutes.
I happily obliged.
After my sister picked me up and took me back home, we made arrangements for the following day. I thanked her for driving me around and told her I’d see her the next day.
About 30 mins or so later, my friend came around with her massage table and gave me the sweetest massage I ever needed.
There is a lesson in here somewhere
Somewhere in this whole nightmare of an experience, there is definitely a lesson or 2 to be learned. The truth is, there couldn’t have been a way around it, a way to avoid what happened…unless, obviously, I booked with a different airline.
Primera Air was a legitimate company. I researched them and read several reviews before finally booking with them.
The reality is that companies sometimes go under and unfortunately we, the customers, end up getting screwed in the end.
I did a bit of research and crazy enough, the day before I was supposed to leave for France, the company went bankrupt, leaving hundreds of people stuck and stranded around the world. People that were relying on them to get them to and from their destinations.
The employees all lost their jobs in that moment and it was overall just a sh*tty situation.
That’s why it’s important to get travel insurance, something I will always do from now on.
I’d never gotten travel insurance in the past, I’d looked at is as a way for these companies to just get more money out of us.
I was a young and healthy person, so if I were to get sick (knock on wood) I’d still be okay. You better believe I would still be going on that vacation I planned.
I never considered a situation like this would happen. NEVER.
This is a mistake I will never make again.
This whole thing is something I never want to go through again and so I will take steps to ensure it doesn’t.
How?
Budget airlines are a great way to travel, they’re very cost-effective and offer you much lower prices than other airlines do.
Even after this whole disaster, I would actually consider booking with another one. But I would make sure it is an established airline, that has been around for a long while and has more positive than negative reviews and purchase TRAVEL INSURANCE.
A company that has been around for a long time has a much better rep and chances of it going under at the blink of an eye are not likely.
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I hope in reading this, you’ve come away with a little lesson yourself and learn from my mistake.
If you are traveling, you should travel with insurance. You may not need to use it, but it’s always better to have a plan in place just in case situations like these (or worse) do happen.
It’s better to protect yourself rather than wish you had when it’s too late.
Until next time, Stay blessed ♡
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Never curse the fall. The ground is where humility lives.
-Yasmin Mogahed
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