Anyone have a private jet?
Can I buy a jet?
Ok, that might be a bit of a stretch, particularly given my financial situation, but at this point, it seems like the safest option to get myself to the Winter Olympics next week.
As I noted yesterday, Air France cancelled my flight from Boston to Paris, leaving me without a way to get to the Paris to Beijing flight that was supposed to take me to the Olympics. This marks the second flight I've had cancelled during this process, after my Cathay Pacific flight from Boston to Hong Kong was cancelled a few months ago. At least in that case, I had a few months to make other arrangements. The Air France cancellation happened a week before I was supposed to fly.
I made a call to the Air France customer service line this morning, but the person I talked to was not much help. First and foremost, it was almost completely impossible to understand what they were saying, not because of an accent, but because of what seemed like a bad connection or something. However, they could not find any flights out of Boston that would get me to Paris in time for the flight to Beijing that is scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon French time. They did mention a possible New York flight, but getting there is a whole other problem and adds many more hoops to jump through. And a few people have mentioned flying from Canada, which adds the same hoops.
I have also reached out to the people who I dealt with in setting up my special flights for the Olympics. They are the ones that booked me on the flight from Boston and I am hoping they can help me out. But, still no word there.
So, the private jet doesn't seem like such a bad option at this point. If only I hadn't sold my jet last year. Darn it.
In all seriousness, it truly might be the only option that works in the time frame I have at this point. Obviously I'm not going to be renting any private jet with my budget, but that's just how ridiculous this situation is. Missing out on the Olympics because of cancelled flights seems absolutely ridiculous but also seems totally in the realm of possibility.
It should be noted, that this really has nothing to do with the Beijing 2022 organizers. Yes, many of my early problems were rooted in issues I had there, but this is an airline issue. Yes, we have to take special flights in and out of Beijing, but I have one of those. That's not the problem here. The problem is getting to Paris to catch that flight.
My flight was scheduled to fly from Boston a week from today. It remains a possibility that somehow, I still wind up in Paris next Wednesday morning, but there's also a good possibility that I'll be making donuts at the Yum Yum Shop next Wednesday morning. And while I don't mind making donuts, I'd prefer to be in the airport in Paris.
So, about that private jet...
The only brand new facility built for the 2022 Olympics, the speed skating venue, is one place I hope to be seeing next week, but that remains to be seen. Photo from Olympics.com.
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