Booking Plane Tickets on the Outer Islands

My family is coming to visit in July. Yayyyy! They’re only coming as far as Vila though, so I have to get myself there to see them. Travel in this country is always an adventure, and my adventure started six weeks early.

I want to fly to Vila on Friday, July 8. We currently only have two weekly flights in and out of Sola – Mondays and Fridays. My family is arriving on a Tuesday, so I could feasibly fly Monday, however, the dinky Sola plane is notorious for having engine problems, brake problems, overbooking, and overweight cargo. It doesn’t matter what the date on your ticket says, you very well might not be flying that day. Plus, after 5 long months in the Banks, I figure it’ll be good for me to have a full weekend to acclimate to city life (harhar) on my own, without having to put my family through the turmoil of my Vila shock (plus clean myself up a bit… I won’t have had a shower from a showerhead in 5 months).

Wednesday, May 25, I took my 40,000 vatu ($400) to the bank/postoffice/ticketoffice to book my tickets. Going July 8, coming back July 29 (again, they leave on Tuesday so I wait till Friday to come back). I’m told to come back later for my tickets. I expect this. Everything is done by phone here – the agent has to call the Vila flight office, give them my name and dates, then they’ll actually book it on the computer there and tell her all the numbers to handwrite onto the ticket (and its 3 carbon copies).

I go back to the bank/postoffice/ticketoffice two days later, which is a mistake to begin with since it’s a government payday and the place is hoppin’. I’m handed my tickets and told, “You can’t fly on the 8th because it’s a Wednesday, so I booked you for the 10th, but the Sola>Santo flight is overbooked so I put you on the waiting list.”

“No, July 8th is a Friday.”

“No, it’s a Wednesday.”

“July 8.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a Friday.”

“Anyway, you’re flying on Friday the 10th, then coming back on the 1st.”

“I want to come back on the 29th.”

“There’s no flight that day, you’ll have to wait until the 1st.”

By this time she’s switched over to English because she thinks I’m TOTALLY dense. (Which is seriously irritating, in case you’ve never had someone doubt your language abilities).

I suck it up and go back up to my office and check the wall calendar on the wall behind Leslie. Leslie asks what I’m doing. I explain the whole ordeal. He picks up the office phone and calls Vila, where they say, “Yep, she’s booked for June 10.”

Ohhhhhh…

Leslie gets it all figured out with the Vila agent over the phone (I swear the guy’s a saint), then sends me back down to deal with our local agent. It takes me a good ten minutes to explain the mistake to her. The problem seems to be that she thinks June is the seventh month, and continuously gets confused going from her calendar – where June and July are words, to the ticket – where she’s written 10/07 to represent 10 June. Just when I think it’s useless and she’s just not going to get it (who’s dense now?) she says, “OH! You want to go in July!”

YES, that’s what I’ve been TELLING you.

She says she’ll change it, and I should come back later to pick up the fresh ticket. I’m busy all afternoon (I know, right?? I’m actually getting busy!!) and don’t make it back until 4:05. The office closes at 4:00 and she’s already gone. [Vanuatu is not like Latin America, where Latin Time just means “late.” Vanuatu Time is just more like “whenever I feel like it,” and only maybe 90% of the time does this mean “late.” When it’s concerning leaving work on a Friday afternoon, it means “immediately.”]

I go in on Monday morning and she asks if she can help me. I say I’ve come back for my plane tickets, and she gives me a completely blank look. SERIOUSLY?? She tells me that when they’re ready she’ll bring them to me in my office. I’m starting to wish I got a receipt for that 40,000 vatu.

Just before lunch Monday she brings me the tickets, explains it all, and says I’m good to go. I ask about the fact that the tickets still have the incorrect dates on them, and she says it’s okay because it’s all correctly in the system in Vila. I thank her and she leaves. I then go straight to Leslie to ask if he’ll call the Vila office to reconfirm (or give me the number), since the little note attached to the tickets says 08/08 for 08 July. I figured that after 6 days of this, it would be wiser to choose my battles and NOT point out the mistake to the agent herself.

Everything here is a learning experience. It’s amazing that a 20 year old is the post master, the plane ticket agent, the Western Union money wirer, AND the Digicel mobile phone credit agent. I’ve now learned that it’s TOO amazing and shouldn’t be completely trusted.

I also now know that the airport guy (ticket agent, baggage checker, security guard, baggage loader/unloader, and plane fuel tank filler) has a better track record for issuing correct tickets. Everybody says I should have walked the 2.5 miles to him first. But I didn’t know he actually sold the tickets. I know for next time.

Good thing I did all of this early.

Or maybe not a good thing. Maybe if I’d waited till June she would have gotten the dates right to begin with.