We Missed Our Flight!

Our tragedy occurred a few days back but deserves an entry because it’s high time the procrastinators in us learnt our lesson. Never assume planes will wait for you even after the last call, and always wear a watch (or stop blabbering and look out for the time).

AirAsia flight FD3632 from Bangkok to Guangzhou did not wait for us because we were 3 minutes late at the boarding gate (which closed exactly 10 mins before departure). You can feel a dark cloud descending upon your heart when you realize you’re at that moment experiencing an urban tale – missing your flight. And you know you’ve lost your right to negotiate because it’s nobody else’s fault but yours.

But still we badgered the airline staff manning the boarding gate for alternatives and they started haggling with counterparts over walkies. Some hope crept in when they tried arranging for another bus to shuttle us to the plane parked far far away, but somehow they ended up giving instructions for the ground crew to suck our luggage out of the aircraft (apparently a fairly straightforward task).

And so the dismayed couple soberly followed the airline staff to the Thai customs to have their exit stamp revoked. The husband was dispatched out through a series of doors and procedures to retrieve our orphaned luggage, while the wife shared her sob story with the AirAsia staff at the sales counter and successfully got discounted tickets for a similar flight the next day. And we were thankful that the financial damage was minimal and we ended up experiencing good hospitality from staff at a mission home we sought out that night. Perhaps all this was God’s little way of reminding us never to take things for granted…