Australia, Day 1: The Longest Flight
A small story before the departure.
“Due to engineering requirements your flight JQ62 09/02/2018 from Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney is delayed. Your flight is now expected to depart Ho Chi Minh City at 6:30pm on 09/02/2018 and arrive in Sydney at 7:10am on 10/02/2018.”
Because I was at the home airport, there’d be no reimbursement from Jetstar even though the delay time was 14 and a half hours.
Then I contacted Liberty Insurance. I’d bought travel insurance twice with Liberty before this trip, but this was the first time I experienced the claim process. Yesterday I called the hotline, and they sent me an email with instructions. Then my sis sent the documents for the delayed trip via email.
Today, they replied with this part, “Regarding the claim for a delayed trip incident from 2:00 pm on February 9, 2018 to 18:30 on February 9, 2018 in Ho Chi Minh City, the Claims Department regrets that this issue is not covered because delayed trip benefits are only considered when the insured person is abroad.” (My own translation as they wrote in Vietnamese).
The streets were so crowded with people prepping for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) that we hardly book a Grab car in the early afternoon. We had to walk a bit from home to get in a cab. Luckily, as I had known of the traffic, we got the airport on time.
This was my longest flight ever, around 8 and a half hours. After searching for the free entertainment on the plane in vain, I filled in the Incoming Passenger Card then took a rest.
I found it very difficult to sleep sitting on the plane though I had a neck pillow. I had music and ebook but they couldn’t get me tired enough.
And I found it very cold in the middle of the journey. My legs needed to be straight for a rest so I put them on my sis’s.
I kept checking the screen in front of me and felt like the plane still had a long way to go. Why was I not excited at all?
