Today it took 2.5 hours to reach Bangalore airport. I had factored in 1.45 – 2 hours, but the traffic was crawling because of the ongoing road work🚗🚌🚚🚙🛵🚛.

I reached the airport by 10 am and my Indigo flight to Mumbai was due to depart by 10:20 am. My first thought was to reschedule and I went to the Indigo counter outside the airport and told them that as I was late for my Mumbai flight, would like to reschedule to the next available flight at 12:30 pm. The Indigo counter lady said, all flights are running full today and that there is nothing that she can do.

I checked other airlines and found that Vistara had a flight out by 11:30 am. I approached the Vistara counter and they said they would be able to issue a ticket but that their flight was already delayed by an hour and they were expecting further delays. I told them to book anyway as my meeting was only at 4 pm and I could still make it.

After doing the Vistara booking as I was walking up to the check-in counter to collect the boarding pass, I decided to just check and see if my old Indigo ticket would still be valid. I approached the Indigo counter inside the airport and to my surprise they told me their flight was delayed and I could still check in. Time was by now 10:30 am. Their only query was if I had any check-in baggage. I said only hand baggage.

I went through security and reached the gate to board the Indigo aircraft and found final call being announced; I was the last passenger onboard.

While walking down the passageway to get into the flight, I called up the Vistara’s toll free number and got connected to a pleasant lady to whom I explained my predicament; that I now had two valid tickets to Mumbai and that I wanted to cancel the Vistara ticket.

She was very accommodating and said that she would do so, but that the refund would be only 25% of the booked amount. I gave her the go-ahead. After checking she came back to me and said cancellation would have to be 2 hours before departure time or else it would be treated as no-show and I would get 0% refund.

I told her the Vistara flight that I had booked on was for 11:30 am, but that the flight was delayed and was expected to depart by 12:30 pm although there is no guarantee due to the bad weather at the Mumbai airport. She said, considering that delay in flight take-off, she would relook if any refund would be possible. She came back to me and said they were processing 100% refund as the flight was delayed. And I thought wow !!

Right now I am still sitting in the Indigo flight in Bangalore, writing out this message. We haven’t yet been able to move as the runway is congested and we are waiting for a slot to open up for us to take off.

What a day so far 😅 … the morning saw a lot of ups and downs and the day has not even begun yet !! This reminds me of my grandmother’s old saying in Malayalam – “Suryan udichetta ollu, asthammichittilla.” (The sun has just risen, not yet set.)

I had always thought of that as a negative quote. A dire warning of retribution or evil coming your way. Perhaps there is a silver lining to that saying, maybe it’s even a positive saying – giving hope for better things to come !!

Keeping 🤞🏻for the rest of the day ! 😄

🌸🌸🌸

A guest post, originally sent as an impromptu WhatsApp message. Sharing positive experiences is joyful.

Take care and have a good day !!