Last minute travel

Discussion in 'Chatty Pad' started by littlekiwi, Nov 6, 2018.

  1. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    Gee it’s expensive and stressful! It’s stressful enough dealing with the intricacies of getting ready for a job interview but adding sorting out last minute travel, waiting for the family bank to loan you more money and it’s a bit of a mess. Now I will say the recruiter did offer me a skype interview, I declined as I always prefer in person interviews and had planned if I was successful that I would go down- I think you can get a better feel for the workplace culture and what they do by being there. Bear in mind I’m booking Tues/Wed for the following Mon to Wed so less than a week away. Firstly the accomodation that I use due to its location has no single rooms available (only Sun/Mon and I need Mon/Tues).Then the better airline when it comes to special assistance only had cheap flights really early(6am, check in at 5, leave home at about 3.30 and no public transport to the airport) or really late (9pm) or fares that cost close to $700.....no thanks!., Next step was to see if the gold class overnight bus was available as it would have been cheaper plus saving me a night of accomodation but it was sold out. I then found a package deal with a twin room with bunk beds where I wanted (for two nights it’s fine - still get the whole room to myself) plus decent flights with the other airline - it’s only an hour long flight for about $360.....yahoo! So I added 10% to it to give family a estimate of how much to deposit into my bank account when they went out today cause I knew I wouldn’t be able to book it til today......wake up this morning and see the lunchtime flight I wanted had jumped up by $170 and there was only one bunk room available.....panic started setting in cause by this time my grandma had left home so I couldn’t get her to add the missing $170 to what she was depositing. At this point I was super undecided as to what to do, pay the difference myself, book a later flight, change what days I’m there to Sunday-Tuesday....I then decided well I’ll just book the mid afternoon flight which is way cheaper than the one I really wanted so booked my flights and accomodation through Expedia who could do a package deal......story should be over, right? Nope! I couldn’t see how to book the special assistance I need at the airport on Expedia (I’m visually/hearing impaired plus walking/standing for long periods can be a challenge especially later in the day). Now as much as the airline gets flack for how they treat people with disabilities at times I was pretty sure this would be an easy phone call. It was sort of. I got special assistance booked fine for the trip down but no staff were available at AKL for the return trip so they said we can shift you to a different flight if you’d like and I was like ok, is there assistance for the flight that leaves 50 mins earlier (I said that flight as the price when I booked was fairly similar and it was a similar time anyway) and they said yes. My next question was then how much will the change cost? Their reply was........free since you’re booking special assistance......my jaw was almost on the floor cause the fare I had booked was such a basic fare to start with and since they’re known for charging for everything under the sun basically (luggage, specific seats, food etc).
     
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  2. HeatherB

    HeatherB Ain't nothin wrong with a few dust bunnies!

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    Phew! Sounds like a very busy time booking your travel and stay. At least there is great news about the fare not increasing with the earlier flight and special assistance. Good luck with your interview!
     
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  3. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    Thanks @HeatherB - this is my third long distance interview and I’ve never had a sudden price increase like that so lots of bad words were being said this morning. I’m quite limited in when I can fly since I don’t drive at all and family that I live with don’t have a car and are working when I’m needing to travel. All I’m hoping is that this job interview might turn out to have good news at the other end.
     
  4. Tree City

    Tree City Get a stepladder, I'm busy

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    It's awesome that they accommodated you like that! Good luck on the interview next week!
     
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  5. Kat

    Kat Seeking wine/shopping/teeth brushing support group

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    My husband booked his flight to London less than a week before leaving (a few days actually) and it was 4,000 for a ticket that is usually around 1800. I couldn’t believe it. It’s gotten really crazy figuring out affordable travel.
     
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  6. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    Yay for no change fees!!! Good luck on the interview!
     
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  7. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

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    i hope this one brings good results after the headaches it's caused you! (and i agree with the in person rather than the skype thing - best of luck!)
     
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  8. IntenseMagic

    IntenseMagic Some grannies cuss a lot. I'm some grannies.

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    Glad you were able to get it all worked out! What a hassle! Wishing you good luck in the interview!!
     
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  9. A-M

    A-M Not a lot of hustle in my hustle anymore

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    Jennifer, I hope all goes well with your travelling and the interview.
     
  10. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    I figure it’s just the cost of doing job interviews really. Even if it was in my own city by the time I look at transport, lunch + a drink it’s easily $40-50, a nearby city day trip up to $100. The biggest variable is the amount of notice I get - the other two I’ve only been able to book 48-72 hours out so they were a bit more, plus one was to a smaller city during school holidays and if memory serves me right, the local college had distance learning contact courses as well so it was a perfect storm of school holidays = increased demand on accomodation and flights plus smaller planes so less seats. That trip was over $500 (which was reimbursed). This time I’m only down for two nights partly cause of cost but also I have a paid meeting on Thursday where I live so need to be home on Wednesday night anyway.
     
  11. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    I know, If I wanted to fly at either 6am or 9pm it would have been heaps cheaper but you make it work somehow. My flights only an hour so I’ll survive!
     
    Kat likes this.
  12. lynnirene

    lynnirene Heather's Team

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    Wow, that's a lot! I'm glad you were able to get it worked out though. Good luck on the interview!
     
  13. jk703

    jk703 CEO of Anything and Everything, Everywhere

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    Holy moly! Good Luck, Jennifer!
     
  14. Kat

    Kat Seeking wine/shopping/teeth brushing support group

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    Oh for sure, it's crazy how much the time matters. My husband flew at 11 pm!! I'd hate to know what the cost was for the "better flights". We actually like the 10ish pm flights to London. Helps the time conversion go a bit better.
     
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  15. cfile

    cfile My bags are packed for Platform 9 3/4

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    Jennifer, @littlekiwi Glad you are all sorted and you were able to get the special assistance with no additional cost. Good luck with your interview :)
     
  16. Beckie

    Beckie Active Member

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    good luck on your interview! Your best mindset is that they would be lucky to have you for this role. So convince yourself of all the reasons why you are awesome at what you do and why they want YOU!

    And this must be a regional thing - but if someone is interviewing in the US, the company pays for the costs of getting the candidate to the office for the interview. Everything - from travel to hotel to meals and expenses related to the trip! I can't believe you have to pay that yourself!
     
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  17. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    Not always. It might depend on the job type? Dh is an RN and we paid for 3 trips to Vegas for his interviews - no reimbursement. He did used to be reimbursed 10 years ago in the hotel business.
     
  18. Cherylndesigns

    Cherylndesigns All glasses should be bigger than 1.5 oz

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