I could have known… An hour before the plane should leave to Vienna, my flight was canceled. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My whole plan about arriving and getting to my hostel just collapsed in front of my eyes. The gate was already boarding an other flight.
The transfer desk didn’t know anything, but when more people were complaining, they start calling. We had to collect our luggage and go to a desk outside the zone to reschedule our flight. Just at the moment customs was on strike… After explaining the situation (and showing my uniform) they didn’t checked me.
There were only two desks available for people from the canceled flight, so I stood in line for about 3 hours… In the end they even closed one desk! Thanks Austrian Air!… The solution was to get another flight to another airport in Tokyo. That was not what I had in mind. So there second solution was to catch a flight to Frankfurt, transfer to a second place in Germany I can’t remember and than transfer to Tokyo. It sounds like a long trip, but it could work, so I took my chances. She got me a diner voucher, where I hadn’t got time for, and a brochure about my rights, which I already got from the internet. Thanks so far.
A second time though the same security check and the guy even recognized me! But he still wants to recheck my luggage, again. What they didn’t told me was that they put me on standby for the flight to Frankfurt. By the time I got to the gate, the flight was overbooked, so no flight for me. After talking to the guy at the gate, he transferred my flight to a direct KLM flight. I couldn’t be unhappy about that decision! I thanked the guy for his work and headed to the international terminal. My only doubt was about my luggage. They say they transferred it too, but after today, missing your luggage is only a minor detail…
My flight would leave on 17:55, so I even got time to use the dining voucher I got earlier today. After having a decent meal, I went to the gate and got on my flight. I calmed down after an hour of sleeping and got back to the normal Rogier again. The flight was a smooth one.
Customs was not a problem and even my luggage was ready and waiting! Outside there was even a camera crew waiting for me! They made a program about people coming to Japan, but they needed a translator because they couldn’t speak English ?. I will look up the interview, if they even published it at all.
Collecting my new simcard was also easy. Only showing your passport at the post office and they got you your package. Catching the train took some time, but in the end I got the one to my hostel. Now I’m tired and will sleep till tomorrow.