There's always a first time for everything. It was my first time to tour Cebu, my first time to tour Bohol, and my first time to miss a flight. We had such a good weekend touring Cebu and Bohol, the last thing I expected was to miss my flight going home!
That unlucky morning of March 26, we arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 10:30 from our hotel and send us to the airport. I knew that my return flight was at 11:40am. So I thought I had enough time. But for some reason, I didn't know that Cebu Pacific check-in counters close 45 minutes before the flight. I looked at my e-ticket, and voila, that rule was clearly written there. I could have blamed the Cebu traffic or the slow driving of our taxi driver but ultimately, it really was my fault. I guess I thought it was okay to check in within 30 minutes of the time of flight. Apparently, I was wrong.
I remember feeling really edgy on our way to the airport. I was telling the driver to speed up because I was running late for my flight. But alas, in every corner there was a stop light, and at every stop we had to wait about 2-3 minutes for the light to turn green again. I've been late countless of times before in my life... in school, at work, for meetups, but never for a flight!
I couldn't even properly say goodbye to my friends at the airport because I was in such a hurry. To make things worse, when I arrived at the check in counter, there was a long queue. I hurried to find a guard and pleaded with him to help me. I told him my flight was in 20 minutes and I needed to check in. The guard was really kind, and he helped me cut across the long queue. The lady at the counter was not paying any attention to me, even though I was pleading with her. She said there was no way I could make the flight because all the documents have been sent aboard already and that there's nothing she can do. She told me to go to the Cebu Pacific office to book the next available flight. I felt like crying on the spot. Obviously, that has never happened to me before, so my emotions almost took the better of me. I struggled to compose myself and maintain a straight face.
There was also this one Cebuano guy who was supposed to be on my flight, and he missed it too. So together we went to the Cebu Pacific office. I learned that the next available flight was at 7:10 in the evening. So that was a good 7-hour wait at the airport. I didn't mind the waiting, I could stand to wait a few hours. What really pissed me off was that I had to buy a new ticket (because my return ticket was a promo ticket, and it was non-rebookable and non-refundable). And the new ticket costs Php 2,479.68! I was traveling on a strict budget, and that amount put a huge, unexpected dent on my budget. It definitely wasn't supposed to be included in my Cebu - Bohol Tour Expenses. I know for some, it's just a small amount, but for me, it's a big waste of my money that I could have spent elsewhere.
It took me a while to decide whether to get the evening flight or stay another night in Cebu and get a cheaper airfare the next morning. I finally decided to take the evening flight. I didn't really have much of a choice, anyway. It's a good thing, a friend picked me up at the airport and made my wait more worthwhile. She took me to a friend's wedding and I was able to buy some pasalubong along the way. She dropped me off again at the airport at approximately 4:30pm. I didn't want to be late again!
But the stroke of bad luck didn't end there. I was inside the departure lounge watching "Sana Maulit Muli" in Cinema One on TV, when I realized I was waiting at the wrong gate! I was supposed to be at Gate 8 and there I was waiting in Gate 5! C'mon, what the heck was wrong with me! I hurried to the right gate, just in time for boarding. Then I realized I left my pasalubong at the hotel! I thought I packed everything before I left, then I remembered putting the plastic bag full of pasalubong inside a cabinet at the hotel. Great. It was all I could do to keep myself from swearing. In the end, everything worked out anyway. The friend who picked me up at Cebu airport called the hotel, picked up my bag of goods, and shipped the whole thing to me safe and sound. Thank God!
I'm a newbie at traveling, so I have yet to experience a lot of things. The thing is, with travel, anything can happen. And it's not always good. I could have cried and I could've beaten myself up for missing my flight and leaving my pasalubong, but I told myself, what good will it do? The damage has been done, and there's nothing I can do about it. So why not look at it as part of the adventure? After all, I had no one to blame but myself. Even though I was P2,479.68 poorer, at least I can charge it to experience. When traveling, we should be ready for anything. Despite the not so fortunate turn of events, there were very nice people who helped me in one way or another, and I'm very grateful for them.
One big lesson that I'm going to take from this experience: I WILL NEVER BE LATE AGAIN FOR A FLIGHT.
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