– I should have been sitting on the beach in Santa Monica these days, but … well, where do I start? sugar a slightly resigned Geir Dahl. The 51-year-old resident of Hønefoss was actually to travel with his daughters to Los Angeles in 2020 to live in a paradisiacal holiday life. The Airbnb apartment was booked. One month. Palm trees, shopping, Hollywood and sun. But in every paradise a serpent arises. The first was called a pandemic. Two-year postponement. – We were to travel on July 1 this year. Two days before departure we received a message from Lufthansa. The flight from Frankfurt to Los Angelen was canceled. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong The company promised a new flight and rebooked the family to Finnair, the same day, only at a later date. – It was fine, and we were happy with it, says Dahl and continues. – But at Gardermoen it turns out that all the check-in boxes are out of order and that everything must be done manually. It takes an awful long time. Elina (17) and Hanna (22) are impatient to wait. Photo: Private The queues of frustrated ready to travel become as long as the traffic jams on the freeway in LA At last the family arrives at the counter. – They spend so much time finding the documents that must be approved to be able to travel to the US, that we do not have time to check in before the plane takes off. The staff at the airport was low and no one could do anything or help, Dahl says. Sane northerner loses his temper Naturally, the trio tries to land a new flight. The question was: Is Finnair or Lufthansa responsible? They call customer service on both. Finnair disclaims responsibility, as this is Lufthansa’s actual booking. – I called Lufthansa’s service center, which by the way is in South Africa, 10 times. When it became difficult for them, they hung up. Firstly, there is a waiting time of half an hour, so I had to explain to a new customer service representative which airports have routes to LA. They suggested Bergen! “If you get a plane from there to LA, I’d be happy to leave Bergen,” I replied. Geir Dahl describes himself as a sane and polite northerner. But after a few hours of telephone service, he reportedly became “clear” and spoke clearly. We can only imagine. – It ends up that they get booked a new trip to us on July 5, ie yesterday. Not easy with a ticket New trip to Gardermoen. Checking in. Stand in line. Sweat is flowing. The steam rises. American freeway – and sane, Nordic vocabulary that may pass the lips of the Dahl family. – When we arrive at the counter, we get the following message: «No. These tickets are not valid ». – Basically, we “hovered” a bit. We were not affected by the aircraft technician strike or other strike. Then it became that soup in the end, says Geir. Photo: Private Fly cursed. Still no help to get at the airport. New round of customer service at the other end of the globe. As mentioned: It takes time to get through these days. – They check the tickets and do not understand why they are not valid. When they finally find out the problem, it’s too late anyway. The flight to LA takes off. Without Geir and the daughters. Tired of saying goodbye – How was the mood with the Dahl family then? – It was reasonably weak, Geir answers and can not help but laugh. – My daughters were naturally disappointed and sad. They had been looking forward. My roommate had the same. We had said goodbye to her several times. She was tired of us coming back in one drive, laughs Geir who had to travel from Gardermoen – by car home to Hønefoss. Now it’s finally time for the family. Maybe. Photo: Private The company was unable to obtain new tickets within a reasonable time, so the family saw themselves forced to cancel the entire US trip. But it is not completely run down. – We have worked all day to find other opportunities. It’s not so easy these days either. But we found a trip to Malta. We go there today and stay for 10 days. – Not to dampen the mood, but are you confident that you will actually get to Malta? – I do not think so until I sit on the plane, Geir Dahl concludes. news has tried to get in touch with Lufthansa, but has not succeeded.
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Geir and his daughters were going to LA – ended up in Malta – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
