I missed my first flight today.

I knew this day would come but it was more stressful than I would have imagined. A perfect storm I guess. And when I make mistakes, they tend to be big. But… maybe I’m overreacting. Judge for yourself.

Right now (as I’m typing) we are suppose to be landing in Bangkok. Then we will wait and meet my wife’s college roommate from freshman year. I have yet to meet her but that exchange should be done soon instead of my sitting here in Sri Lanka. The ticket was purchased using British Airways miles on a Cathay flight and there isn’t another for 3 days. So not only did I purchase with points, but now I have to pay the full $200 each (one-way) with Sri Lanka airways to arrive 24 hours later than planned.

It hit me right away. It’s weird here because they have security to keep you away from the check-in area unless it is no earlier than 3 hours before your flight. So the guard stopped us and asked us our flight.
“Cathay to Bangkok.” I firmly replied.
“Too early!” he said drawing out his vowels.
“Oh come on, its just a few hours early.” It was 8 am but 6 hours to wait on the other side of immigration is hardly a big deal.
“There aren’t any Cathay flights except at night.” he shot back quickly.

My eyes got big and the ticket flashed in front of me.
0200
that’s… am… duh…

“We missed our flight” I said quietly, as though I was convincing myself but charging straight ahead to information to find out. The guy at information told me that yes, I missed my flight and that the next was in 3 days. He also gave me a list of options, including Sri Lanka airways at the next 0200. We’ll sleep 3 hours and wake up at 7am in Bangkok. Great.
I think I would have waited for the next Cathay but Carrie’s friend was on her 5 day break and is spending it with us in Thailand! I immediately brainstormed ideas but they were all shot down. Priceline didn’t even let me bid on the route. Continental miles charge a $75 fee for anything sooner than 21 days. It would have came to $200 and 50,000 miles, no way. AA and BA partner with Cathay and that ship isn’t sailing for another 3 days, hence the problem. And finally, I was 10,000 USA miles short and they are full of fees.

The travesties are all almost redeemable but have one thorn. They go in this order:
Carrie’s friend Adina could be waiting for us. But there is no way of knowing because we don’t have internet on this side of immigration. I hope she’s travel-tough but I think it would be disappointing if you didn’t get our message and just had to wait and wait. And the worse part is, last she heard, I’m taking care of the hotel. Plus, how embarrassing? She’s waiting because I don’t know the difference between am and pm.
It’s a $400 mistake. But this could easily fall down the list if I get a refund from BA.
I can’t even cross the check-in area and on the other side is a nice club lounge. Good thing I have access to the club lounges. Why do these asian airports do this? You can’t enter the airport 4 hours early because, why?
If I only sleep on the plane, I get 3 hours of sleep and it’s 2 am Sri Lankan time to 7am Bangkok time. This wouldn’t be as bad BUT we spent last night in a van on rough Sri Lankan roads. Our hotel owner’s son (or son-in-law?) chopped off his toe and they wanted to go the hospital in Colombo, all the way across Sri Lanka. It was nice skipping out on the crazy buses all night but… two nights of no sleep in a row? I don’t think Adina’s first two days in Thailand are going to be a blast.
I thought I timed my money just right so I wouldn’t have to draw out of the ATM anymore. But now we are still here without money. My frugal side says it’s stupid to get hit with the ATM fee and foreign fees for 2 meals.

Actually, when I was like 17 or 18 my dad and I went to Houston to help my “Granny” move and we missed the flight back because my dad forgot to change his watch back a time zone. So this isn’t my first experience with this scenario but first time with the fault on me.

So if you’ve been reading you’ll have picked up two tips… well at least two tips I need to follow. To read up about the visa required a little bit before you buy your ticket AND leave. And now, am or pm?