RING, RING

Hello?

Oh hi Kath. It’s Allyson.

Hey! How are you?

Not bad. Listen, I’m just calling to tell you that I heard on the news that Zoom has filed for administration.

Administration?

Yeah, you know, bankruptcy protection.

Oh no. No no nonono.

Thus began the lead-in to our much-anticipated European Vacation. Not exactly what we were hoping for a mere 48 hours before our scheduled flight.

No, not so much.

But not to worry. After 6 hours of phone wrangling, we have initiated the refund process for our canceled Zoom Airlines tickets and have secured seats on British Airways flights on the same days (if a few hours later).

Thank you, Amazing Race! As die-hard fans, we knew that it was the teams who were prepared with a back-up plan who prospered in times of stress. And that knowledge sure helped, as we were on the phone with BA as soon as we heard the news about Zoom. And they – amazingly – agreed to hold our 4 tickets for us for 48 hours, free of charge.

Once we got the whole VISA situation sorted, we called over to BA to confirm our booking. Except that the agent we spoke to the second time around couldn’t get the same rate. Oh no, not at all. Not even close. She explained that the reservation was merely to hold the seats, not the rate. While the BA agent was checking with her supervisor, I was checking the Air Canada website (they agreed to offer special rates to former Zoom passengers). In the end, I needn’t have bothered. The nice folks at BA agreed to let us have the seats at the originally quoted fare: a mere $500 more than our original discount rate on Zoom.

Thank you, British Airways!

And just while I was composing this post, we got an email from our host in London:

I have been checking the situation over here with Zoom and the national news (bbc radio) have been saying that all zoom flights are suspended and that anyone booked on them should make alternative arrangements as their flights will not be operating with immediate effect. There was someone talking from Calgary who is booked on the same flight as you and she said that she had looked at other airlines and that they were putting their prices up so fingers crossed that BA will honour the tickets you have reserved. Have got my fingers crossed for you guys.

See? That lady would have been the last to arrive at the pit stop. We, on the other hand, will be on the first flight out of here…fast forward all the way.