January in Ghana

Well, we're off to a bit of a rocky start.  The courier service that was supposed to FedEx our visas overnight mail messed up the label and didn't check Saturday delivery.  So now our visas and passports are sitting at a FedEx hub in Indianapolis waiting to be delivered by Monday.   We've been using Judy at Palace Travel for our tickets.  She has been very helpuful in getting us a good price and rescheduling for us. 

On the upside Victor has been amazing in helping us plan.  A friend of his has set us up with an apartment in Accra.  This is really lucky because the city is booked up with people visiting for for the African Cup of Nations, the tournament that qualifies teams for the World Cup.  The city will be buzzing with all the energy of the soccer fans.  Hopefully, we'll get to go see a game. 

His mom has also set us up with a volunteer organization that is doing some great work.  They are called Tongu Youth and Children Evangel (ToYACE).  We will be volunteering with them for a week before Kristen shows up. 

Monday Morning

We were able to rebook the tickets but KLM is charging us a huge fee.  Boston got a bunch of snow last night.  Hopefully, we won't have too much trouble flying out tonight.  Time to call the courier service and try to get some money out of them for screwing up our visa delivery.

Monday Afternoon

KLM canceled the ticket for some reason and will not give us our money back.  I can't figure out yet if this is their fault or the travel agent's.  We're trying to book on another carrier.  Who knows when we'll get our original money back.   

Monday Afternoon Part 2.

The travel agent, Palace Travel, purchased the tickets through a consolidator.  The airline tried to help us but cannont because they can't change the reservations of consolidators.  Beware of these type of tickets.  They have extra restrictions put on them by the consolidators that the travel agent should inform you of.  Now our money is locked up with this consolidation company.

Ok, looks like I'll be flying out on Saturday.  It cost me an extra $500 to rebook but at least I don't have a useless credit with this company.  I just wish I had known the risks of booking this type of ticket.  The agent did not do a good job of informing me of the restrictions and fees.  If you are going to book a discount ticket make sure to get the travel insurance.   It costs about $120 for insurance that will cover most any situation from changing the tickt to emergency medical in the country.  An extra $120 still makes the ticket cheaper than buying a full fare ticket.  If you don't want the ticket insurance the emergency medical coverage cost me $32.