Long Rant of a traveling Pakistani:
Booked flight 2 months in advance through #PIA out of patriotism (and owing to my cheap nature). The return flight was from Copenhagen to Karachi through Islamabad and Oslo. First shock: automatic luggage transfer is too revolutionary an idea..
Booked flight 2 months in advance through #PIA out of patriotism (and owing to my cheap nature). The return flight was from Copenhagen to Karachi through Islamabad and Oslo. First shock: automatic luggage transfer is too revolutionary an idea..
.. for #PIA and Civil Aviation Authority. So one has to collect all the luggage, get out of the airport, re-enter and go through check-in and security (2 times) for each domestic transfer plus 4 (yes 4) immigration/passport control checks for international transfers in addition..
.. to FIA checks. If you’ve been through airports in Pakistan, it is exhausting both physically and mentally because your experience is often reliant on the mood of the staff that you interact with. Shock number 2: #PIA changes my flight times WITHOUT INFORMING ME. Consequently..
.. I’ll be arriving at Islamabad after my domestic flight to Karachi leaves. Small problem, easily fixable.. IF YOU INFORM THE GODDAM PASSENGER IN ADVANCE. Shock 3: another change of plans, now my flight from Copenhagen will be flying through Lahore (not Islamabad). But nobody..
.. bothered to change the domestic flight through Islamabad. Consider flying to one airport only to be informed that your SUPPOSEDLY next transfer flight flew 3 hours ago, that too from a different city. Confused and overwhelmed? Wait there’s more..
..Shock number 4: now that my control freak nature made me check daily and resolve all of these issues in advance, #PIA changes the flight time once again leaving no room for a same-day transfer. So in the short 3-week visit, I was now bound to waste 2 nights in cities I had no..
.. affinity with. Now don’t bring your hate for my ignorance to Islamabad and Lahore’s offerings, but when you visit your parents after >18 months, you’d like to spend more time with them and less time in a 2-star shady hotel room alone and angry. I am not done yet.. Last shock..
.. during one of the domestic transfers at Lahore, I am informed BY PASSPORT CONTROL that my total cabin luggage (incl. laptop bag) is over-weight by 2.5 kgs (9.5 instead of 7). Main luggage has 5 kgs room but I can’t use it anymore because it’s already on its way to the..
.. flight. ‘Pay 30 USD per kilo or leave your hand luggage behind’. Why was this not done at the first airport that I flew from or at LHR check-in counter is beyond me. Anyway after a long and fiery debate, I pay the fee (BRIBE in my dictionary) and settle at the boarding gate..
..start venting on Twitter using the airport WiFi. That’s my revenge. My nerves are calm now, and I have promised myself not to use #PIA again. Last point: the only positives were the nice friendly people (outside the airport) that made this experience less troublesome. Rant over
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