Help! Travel Abroad

[ballin_n_shawlin]

ok... so i'm reaching out to the native community here lol.. (for advice, soluctions, suggestions and to help kill time)

i had an emergency with one of my children getting sick and we were late for our flight. The man at the gate was EXTREMELY rude to me when i did arrive at the gate. He began yelling at me and asked if i knew how to tell time. We apologized and tried to explain what had happened. The Plane was still hooked up to the walkway and baggage was still being loaded on to the plane for another full 20 minutes and yet he refused to let us board or even speak to us. I tried to get his name and employee ID but he began smarting off in a language i don't understand and the other employees snickered after he must have "told me off".

First we were told that we could be on stand by for the next plane which was in about 2 hours but after radio communication with the *Rude employee (which i mentioned earlier) we were told that we had to pay 250 per person (7 of us ended up missing the flight) I am traveling with 2 young children my younger sister and my childrens grandmother. we also caused another family of 2 (man and his son) to miss the flight because the boy was trying to help me with my son.

to top it our gate # was changed . n there was NO announcement made... they just told everyone in the line
2 move (approx15 gates down) so 2 of the guys traveling with us took our stuff with them 2 the next gate to wait for us. When they boarded the plane. 1 stayed with our carryon and to find us and the other got on the plane

We are now STUCK IN THE AMSTERDAM airport and we keep getting the run around from the NWA employees. First we were told we needed to pay $250 in canadian. So we changed our money into canadian (had to pay a Fee to do this) then when we went back we were told that we need to pay american (which is another fee) Finally we were told to pay 171 eauro's per person (which was yet ANOTHER fee to exchange our moeny)

NO ONE seems to know what to do and they keep sending us from one end of the airport to the other! Cant even tell us where the western union is lmao (found one outside the airport n spoke w/ someone who barely knows english)

I hope no one has had a similar experience lol... but we are trying 2 keep a good humor about us here! (i figure if Tom hanks can live in an airport for a year we can too :P *Terminal*) so anyway...

any ideas? lol... (as i said.. i'm am tryin g2 killl time here at the airport also... as we are waiting for someone else to talk 2)

PS. Hind Sight is 20/20...iykwim

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

call the american embesy sorry i dont know how to spell it

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

paul g is not on line yet or who me
both of these men travle out of the country so thay might know what else you can do,

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

also can you call the ppl from there that hooked yall up with the event mabe thay can make a show of forse to get them to stop picking your pocket

[Tibiki Kinew]

Not to put a bad spot in your day, make sure that you make a big fact out of it that you are First Nations, not regular Yankees!!! In Amsterdam like a lot of European countries the USA is not well liked so get to their hearts and tell them who you are!!!! That should open doors!!!!
Safe trip back.

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

thats a good point.

[sokoki_wolf]

ok... so i'm reaching out to the native community here lol.. (for advice, soluctions, suggestions and to help kill time)

i had an emergency with one of my children getting sick and we were late for our flight. The man at the gate was EXTREMELY rude to me when i did arrive at the gate. He began yelling at me and asked if i knew how to tell time. We apologized and tried to explain what had happened. The Plane was still hooked up to the walkway and baggage was still being loaded on to the plane for another full 20 minutes and yet he refused to let us board or even speak to us. I tried to get his name and employee ID but he began smarting off in a language i don't understand and the other employees snickered after he must have "told me off".

First we were told that we could be on stand by for the next plane which was in about 2 hours but after radio communication with the *Rude employee (which i mentioned earlier) we were told that we had to pay 250 per person (7 of us ended up missing the flight) I am traveling with 2 young children my younger sister and my childrens grandmother. we also caused another family of 2 (man and his son) to miss the flight because the boy was trying to help me with my son.

to top it our gate # was changed . n there was NO announcement made... they just told everyone in the line
2 move (approx15 gates down) so 2 of the guys traveling with us took our stuff with them 2 the next gate to wait for us. When they boarded the plane. 1 stayed with our carryon and to find us and the other got on the plane

We are now STUCK IN THE AMSTERDAM airport and we keep getting the run around from the NWA employees. First we were told we needed to pay $250 in canadian. So we changed our money into canadian (had to pay a Fee to do this) then when we went back we were told that we need to pay american (which is another fee) Finally we were told to pay 171 eauro's per person (which was yet ANOTHER fee to exchange our moeny)

NO ONE seems to know what to do and they keep sending us from one end of the airport to the other! Cant even tell us where the western union is lmao (found one outside the airport n spoke w/ someone who barely knows english)

I hope no one has had a similar experience lol... but we are trying 2 keep a good humor about us here! (i figure if Tom hanks can live in an airport for a year we can too :P *Terminal*) so anyway...

any ideas? lol... (as i said.. i'm am tryin g2 killl time here at the airport also... as we are waiting for someone else to talk 2)

PS. Hind Sight is 20/20...iykwim

NWA is notorious for bad treatment of passengers ans especially Indian ones...contact their customer service either now or if you cant get them,when you get home and file a complaint and keep on them...some airports have travelers aid that might be able to help you out a bit....and yes call the embassy or consulate...(be firm but polite) with the airline people too...if you arent getting anywhere with one employee of NWA,ask to speak to their supervisor...and keep going up the ladder....try talking to another airline and see if they have advice...i know of 2 situations where people did that and the other airline offered them a flight ,using their original ticket from the first airline...the airlines dont like bad press or publicity-you might tell NWA that you are making this situation known via the internet...also most airports have translators that are there to help with language problems...i dont know why theyre charging you any fees but pay them now and keep receipts(for anything you have to buy when youre there) and file a major complaint with NWA when you get back home...and keep asking to speak to someone in charge...one tip: it costs a little bit of money(depending on how long youre traveling etc ) but travelers insurance is a good thing to get these days...it covers changed flights,cancelled flights,hotel stays etc...
you might try filing a complaint there with NWA as well as when you get home...at least it would help kill some time :-)
good luck and hang in there...

[ballin_n_shawlin]

thanks for all the tips!!
we called our embassy, doesnt sound like theres too much they're going to do...

we let the our hosts know.. and they let there embassy know and the mayors of the towns that hosted us. they are writing letters of support saying that we were "honored guests in there country" and are not pleased w/ the way we are being treated. and everything that has happened.

also they paid our fee for us and sent hte money last night... we missed out on 3 flights today already. and wont be able to get on one until the 6th or the 7th because of the american holiday! geez!! lol..

to make things WORSE 2 of our travelors were trying 2 get money thru western union and they were directed out to a place... once they passed thru they were not allowed to come back... so i was stuck on the airport side w/ my 2 kids (ages 4 and 8) along w/ another minor and another person.. ha ha ha... so after playing phone tag at the information centers... we all decided it was best to be in the same place regardless.... so we came out.. we're just chilling near the baggage area....

Trying 2 be on the bright side.. i told my sister to go track down our luggage!! it's not supposed to go on with out us (violation of international law) so if we can get our outfits... then i'll dance on the street for euro's :P adn all things considered.. if we can find a hostel or camping place.. i won't mind... i might get a little cranky if i dont' eat soon (dont' know how long the 7 of us will have 2 stretch our euros') and if i start 2 get skinny then yeah i might get crabby lol jk

[WhoMe]

paul g is not on line yet or who me
both of these men travle out of the country so thay might know what else you can do,

ballin,

Here is the phone number for the Canadian Embassy:

Canadian Embassy, The Hague: +31 (0)70 311 1600.

Tell the person who answers the phone that you are stranded in Amsterdam by Northwest Airlines and to connect you with someone at the embassy who can help you out.

Once you reach this individual, you can explain what is going on in detail and ask for advice.

Also who is your sponsor? They should be handling this situation!

I hope this helps.

[chazziff]

dang ... sounds like the major run around ... but ya jus keep your head up and you will be home .... soon

[ballin_n_shawlin]

ballin,

Here is the phone number for the Canadian Embassy:

Canadian Embassy, The Hague: +31 (0)70 311 1600.

Tell the person who answers the phone that you are stranded in Amsterdam by Northwest Airlines and to connect you with someone at the embassy who can help you out.

Once you reach this individual, you can explain what is going on in detail and ask for advice.

Also who is your sponsor? They should be handling this situation!

I hope this helps.

we let our hosts know... and they got the money together to pay our fee... i'm not sure what happened.. but the money was wired last night about 7pm to the travel agency that booked our flights in the first place to make the payment to northwest.... but NWA keeps saying they havent received it yet...
they had us booked for aflight today ... but wouldnt' tell us anything because we hadnt' paid the money yet. then notified us at 5 minutes to and said we hadnt' paid...so they were going 2 rebook. thats been the story of the day...now the earliest they can get us out is on the 6th i believe!!

we're all together againand stranded together instead of separated lol... adn if any pictures show up on a post card of a native working at the red light district.. i swear it wasn't any of us!!! ha ha ha

[ballin_n_shawlin]

we contacted our "great" american embassy... lmao... they "can't" do anything......


sorry just updating as i'm sitting here

[Amandajoy]

we let our hosts know... and they got the money together to pay our fee... i'm not sure what happened.. but the money was wired last night about 7pm to the travel agency that booked our flights in the first place to make the payment to northwest.... but NWA keeps saying they havent received it yet...
they had us booked for aflight today ... but wouldnt' tell us anything because we hadnt' paid the money yet. then notified us at 5 minutes to and said we hadnt' paid...so they were going 2 rebook. thats been the story of the day...now the earliest they can get us out is on the 6th i believe!!

we're all together againand stranded together instead of separated lol... adn if any pictures show up on a post card of a native working at the red light district.. i swear it wasn't any of us!!! ha ha ha

How come your hosts aren't helping you at this point other than sending fee for flight i think in my opinion they should at least put u up somewhere until the 6th that is a long time to be out on the street? geez what kind of hosts i know i would take care of my visitors till they reach home! yah think!

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

wow im praying for yall ,maybe the airlines will put yall in a hotal with cab fair tooo,i think thay should ..its happend in the states when somthing like this happends ,maybe some one should talk to them about this need .im belive the best out come for you and your family .
really ask for hotal and cab vocher untill this is straighten out

[2lineCarrandMorgan]

oh we were thinking a like kind of alike Amandajoy,