Kia ora Ross

An otherwise benign and pleasant greeting that opens each communication we receive from Air New Zealand, only now we experience escalating panic and a sense of dread every time we see these words heading up an email or SMS.

It all started in mid-November when we happily booked our return flights to Christchurch and I spent hours booking all our accommodation and car hire... only to receive the first Kia Ora message the very next day to say the airline had cancelled the direct Christchurch-Perth return flight. After much frustration and a long letter of complaint submitted to the airline, we were re-booked on an alternative flight and all good to go.

With departure time set for 7am tomorrow morning, I am busy packing my suitcase for the trip when another Kia Ora missive pings into Ross' inbox. Our flight in the morning has been cancelled. More expletives and gnashing of teeth as Ross gets on the phone and we are re-booked on another flight departing in the evening. It means a much detested overnight flight and arriving exhausted in Christchurch on Monday morning. It also means losing our first night's hotel accommodation which is booked and paid for but it is too late to cancel now without penalty. 

I channel my rage into another written complaint to the airline... and then go about with the rest of my Saturday. We're both on the verge of cancelling the whole trip entirely as it has been nothing but fraught, and we haven't even left yet.

Hmmmm.