Amsterdam-London-Shangh.... no...Rotterdam
AFC called me this morning at 02.30. "Pack your bags, because you have to be in Shanghai by Friday", was what they told me. Standby for a phonecall from staffco (staff control) with the flight details.
Let me explain... during this whole ordeal of AFC Holland closing down, work continues as usual. We have teams in the exterior as we speak. Anyway AFC United Kingdom has a project going on in Shanghai for a British tour operator called Virgin Holidays, part of the Virgin Group, who owns Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Cola etc.. But one of the AFC'ers (Jane W.) had to return to London immediately, because her Mom got ill. Because there was no one out of London to replace her, they turned to the back-up station, which is Holland. My Chinese visa is still current and because I am a Lead Consultant (as was Jane), I had to go to replace her. They were there with a group of 4, but no one that had the lead.
So look at me at 03.00 in the morning packing a suitcase. I was so damn sleepy! After I made sure everything was packed, I went back to bed. At 07.00 sharp I phoned AFC Paris to take some instructions and then called AFC London. I then called Ricardo at his home and told him that I wouldn't be in, because I was off to China. I didn't really mind, because I needed to take time to clear my mind and China is one of the greatest countries I've been to in Asia. Love it!
I called my parents, R. and some friends to let them know I would be gone. I didn't know for how long. Staffco phoned met at 08.30 and told me to be at Schiphol within 2 hours. A ticket would be waiting for me at KLM Ticketing for London LHR. There AFC would brief me and give me the necessary papers and staffco in London would give me a ticket either with China Eastern, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic to Shanghai PVG. So said, so done. I took the metro to R'dam Centraal and then the train to Schiphol. There I picked up my ticket, checked in at the Self Service Check-In (SSCI), dropped my luggage off at DOP (Drop Off Point) and then headed to the gate.
My flight
The flight to LHR took exactly 45 minutes and when I was in the jetway, someone from KLM Ground Services was waiting for me and escorted me to their airport office, where Gregory T., a Managing Consultant, was waiting to brief me. Briefing took about 40 minutes. After I understood what everything was all about, I headed to Starbucks Coffee to get a cinnamon role and a capuccino. I heard my name called over the PA system and it told me to head to the KLM Service Desk. So I did and there the lady handed me a ticket to PVG with BA. I had to think about Lesley immediately! Lol!
I had 3 more hours to wait, so I just did some work on my laptop at a juice bar. I had one more hour to go, when my cell rang.... it was AFC Paris. Long story short.... PVG is cancelled. Someone from Paris who knew more about the project would take my place and would be departing in 40 minutes to PVG on AF from Paris CDG. I was bummed! What a waste of my time, effort and day! Ugh!
I went back to KLM and saw that their next flight was a Fokker F-50 to Rotterdam RTM. Great! I purchased the ticket with my AF-KL American Express credit card and within 45 minutes I was on my way to RTM, arriving at 19.30. I took the bus/metro back to my house, unpacked, put on my sweats and jumped in my bed. Now I am up at 03.00 in the morning, but hey... what to do?
And so life goes... Anyway, let me see if I can catch a few more zzzz's, before heading to work tomorrow.
Ciao!
Let me explain... during this whole ordeal of AFC Holland closing down, work continues as usual. We have teams in the exterior as we speak. Anyway AFC United Kingdom has a project going on in Shanghai for a British tour operator called Virgin Holidays, part of the Virgin Group, who owns Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Cola etc.. But one of the AFC'ers (Jane W.) had to return to London immediately, because her Mom got ill. Because there was no one out of London to replace her, they turned to the back-up station, which is Holland. My Chinese visa is still current and because I am a Lead Consultant (as was Jane), I had to go to replace her. They were there with a group of 4, but no one that had the lead.
So look at me at 03.00 in the morning packing a suitcase. I was so damn sleepy! After I made sure everything was packed, I went back to bed. At 07.00 sharp I phoned AFC Paris to take some instructions and then called AFC London. I then called Ricardo at his home and told him that I wouldn't be in, because I was off to China. I didn't really mind, because I needed to take time to clear my mind and China is one of the greatest countries I've been to in Asia. Love it!
I called my parents, R. and some friends to let them know I would be gone. I didn't know for how long. Staffco phoned met at 08.30 and told me to be at Schiphol within 2 hours. A ticket would be waiting for me at KLM Ticketing for London LHR. There AFC would brief me and give me the necessary papers and staffco in London would give me a ticket either with China Eastern, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic to Shanghai PVG. So said, so done. I took the metro to R'dam Centraal and then the train to Schiphol. There I picked up my ticket, checked in at the Self Service Check-In (SSCI), dropped my luggage off at DOP (Drop Off Point) and then headed to the gate.
My flight
The flight to LHR took exactly 45 minutes and when I was in the jetway, someone from KLM Ground Services was waiting for me and escorted me to their airport office, where Gregory T., a Managing Consultant, was waiting to brief me. Briefing took about 40 minutes. After I understood what everything was all about, I headed to Starbucks Coffee to get a cinnamon role and a capuccino. I heard my name called over the PA system and it told me to head to the KLM Service Desk. So I did and there the lady handed me a ticket to PVG with BA. I had to think about Lesley immediately! Lol!
I had 3 more hours to wait, so I just did some work on my laptop at a juice bar. I had one more hour to go, when my cell rang.... it was AFC Paris. Long story short.... PVG is cancelled. Someone from Paris who knew more about the project would take my place and would be departing in 40 minutes to PVG on AF from Paris CDG. I was bummed! What a waste of my time, effort and day! Ugh!
I went back to KLM and saw that their next flight was a Fokker F-50 to Rotterdam RTM. Great! I purchased the ticket with my AF-KL American Express credit card and within 45 minutes I was on my way to RTM, arriving at 19.30. I took the bus/metro back to my house, unpacked, put on my sweats and jumped in my bed. Now I am up at 03.00 in the morning, but hey... what to do?
And so life goes... Anyway, let me see if I can catch a few more zzzz's, before heading to work tomorrow.
Ciao!
posted by Traveller at 2:58 AM
2 Comments:
Nou, dat noem ik idd een verspilling van je tijd. Maar ja, hoe vaak stond ik ook niet in een kist op weg naar Verwegistan als er door slecht weer of technische shit de vlucht zo lang vertraagd wordt, dat je weer naar huis kan omdat we dan uit onze uren dreigen te lopen.
In andere nieuws heb je waarschijnlijk van de VNC vs. KLM gehoord. Zal me niet verbazen als we net als onze Franse collega's (jou baas!) gaan staken. Ik ben benieuwd hoe ver het zal gaan. Maar wat KLM wil kan echt niet! Vooral de A330 crew is de dupe van de hele shit.
Lies
Wat gaan we dit weekend doen, gozer? Heb je al plannen?
Tommy
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