Up, up and awry: A very stressful story

Wow, I cannot believe remembering some of the most stressful situations I've encountered in my work life could rile me up again.

Just talking about what happened in the past made my pulse raise a teeny weeny bit, but I am okay. Inhale... exhale...

Handling travel needs of Filipinos can be very stressful. This was at a time when bookings for hotel, flights, and tours still had to be done via airlines and travel agencies, and not online as they are now.

It is the propensity of Filipino travelers to book flights late, change their mind about schedules and to squeeze every centavo of an already limited budget that can give travel agents or planners a heart attack.

I was 22 or 23, on my second job working as admin assistant slash travel agent, when faced with a most trying circumstance I thought I would never get out of. I swear it was only by God's grace that I got through that alive.

The clients were a family of seven. They were friends of the boss. Usually, the boss would handle the travel arrangements, but she was out of the country at that time. She said it was simple enough to arrange: 4 days and 3 nights in Hong Kong, with a city tour, and a 3-star hotel.

It was the travel season that was the first challenge. Peak season means two things: reservations for both flights and accommodations are difficult. Everyone wants to travel at the same time. And because of the law of supply and demand, it can be relatively expensive.

This was during the time when the only deals you can get are an additional ticket for every X number of tickets you buy. Pre-pandemic, there were all sorts of flight promos that were sold a year or months ahead.

So, I made the arrangements for the date they chose and confirmed everything. The price I quoted was reasonable, because the boss said to give them discounts.

Then I get the call that there was a conflict in schedule of two passengers in the party. They would rather rebook when all could go at the same time. You've got to be kidding me!

Rebooking isn't just the flight going and back, but the hotel as well. And since you're buying tickets closer to the departure date, it will naturally cost more. But they were adamant. We all want to leave on this day.

Here's the thing with making travel arrangements: you have to book a flight first before proceeding to accommodations. It's logical because what dates are you blocking rooms for, right?

And hey, the closer to the departure day you book, the higher the cost of the plane fare.

At that point, flights were overbooked! So, I had to be on the phone the whole time I was at work to check if my booking was confirmed. Remember, it was not for one or two passengers but seven!

My mistake was assuring the passengers they could leave on the day they wanted, never mind if the booking was waitlisted. I was calling the airline every hour to check, and it was giving me palpitations and a migraine each time I would get the same answer - no confirmation yet.

The hotel was on standby, but unless they get that flight, I could not confirm that reservation either, lest they be charged penalty for not showing up.

Here's the kicker... the day before the scheduled flight, I was still waitlisted, and a typhoon landed! The office was in Makati, where waters can rise waist-deep when prolonged rains are dumped.

I was seriously in panic mode. I could not eat. I was pacing frantically. I would actually lock myself inside the bathroom to calm myself by praying several times during the day and night (we were stranded and had to stay at the office overnight). And outside, I could hear hard, driving rain pelting the roof and wind whistling as it rattled the windows.

By 7 PM, the flight still wasn't confirmed and I was breaking down inside the bathroom. Oh dear God!

I cannot recall how many Our Fathers and Hail Mary's I prayed during that time, mumbling for the Lord to get me out of the terrible fix I was in. I know I was bargaining things with God just to get my tickets for the next day.

I was actually wishing the storm would not let up and flights would be cancelled the following day. But by 10 PM, the rain was abating. The only problem was the flooded streets.

Angels were sent to me on that fateful night. Somehow, I managed to get confirmation for the plane seats. But at a cost. It was going to go way over budget. I didn't care. What was important was the passengers getting on in that flight.

The hotel reservations came through in less than an hour. The transportation and tour was okay. The only hurdle was getting the actual tickets and hotel vouchers to the passengers.

The flight was in the afternoon. The tickets had to be processed and paid in advance before it could actually be issued in physical form.

The movies where the protagonist was racing against time? That was exactly how I felt on that day. I wanted to stop time so I could get everything done.

Finally, the tickets were in my possession. But I had to get to the airport pronto. Good thing the flood had subsided and I could run out into the street. Of course there was traffic...

I didn't have a lot of money with me, but what little I had then I used for a cab ride. The driver must've been an angel, too, because we zipped through traffic and got to the airport with time to spare.

There was another hurdle: the passengers were already inside the airport (I can't remember how or why) and there were no cellphones then.

How did I get the tickets to them? I took a deep breath, swallowed hard, prayed to the Lord Almighty, and flashed the ticket to the guard who let me through no questions asked. (They weren't as strict then about people entering the airport premises).

The clients were lined up at the check-in counter and with sweat streaming down my face and back, I found them and handed the precious documents.

I wanted to choke as I exited the airport. It was done. By some miracle, I did what seemed impossible just 24 hours ago.

I never told them about the fare change, but when it was time to bill them, that was my next challenge. They absolutely refused to pay the added costs.

While I wanted to keep all that a secret from the boss, eventually she found out and was furious! Why did I not tell her what was going on? I was stupid, and over-confident that I could handle things.

As punishment, she had me pay for the extra cost, which was a lot of money, through salary deduction.

That was a very expensive lesson for me. And after that incident, it was a very, very, very long time before I ever handled travel arrangements again, for anybody.

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