Match 10 - The Sixth Hundred Dollars' Not Years' War
England v. France
After yesterday’s incredible match, and with no Brazil - Argentina iconic matchup in the cards, I impulse bought tickets to go see England - France. Pricy, but YOLO. I’m fond of both of these teams, and I decided I would wear both kits, and switch dependent on where my seats were.
Tonight was colder than any other night in Qatar, it looks like a rare drop in temperature, and the locals seemingly were ready, layered with their mall purchases that don’t make any sense. The match wasn’t particularly thrilling, though I wish it went to Extra Time and Kane had scored his penalty. I suppose me yelling out, “‘Arry, you’re a wizard ‘Arry” to the amusement of a handful of people who understood the reference, didn’t help.
I’ll be glad never to go back to Al Bayt Stadium again. It’s the most unique design (the bedouin tent), but it’s just so inefficient to get there. It is awful. Ebrahim and his wife left with plenty of time to spare, and still couldn’t get there on time. Let’s chalk it up to a loss, I’m just not going to like Al Bayt.
I met the Saudi Arabian guy sitting near me, incredibly proud of his sign. He loved football and was such a kind nice man. I didn’t have the heart ( or willingness to communicate) to explain to him that his push for Saudi Arabia to host the 2030 World Cup wasn’t going to happen because there’s a rule that it has to be hosted on a continent that hasn’t hosted either of the previous two… then again, maybe he has access to an amount of capital that throws rules like that, out the window.
Match 10.5 - Auto-Cancelled Booking v. Confirmed Ticket Number
I’m currently stuck in customer service purgatory. Caught between Capital One (my travel booking agent) for a flight from Doha to Cairo and Qatar Airways (the airline I’m flying supposed to be flying on). My advice, never use booking websites (I got suckered in by a travel points scheme) and always just do it directly with the airline. Second piece of advice, never change your flight unless you have to. You’re just adding risk for failure. I attempted to move my flight up 6.5 hours, thinking I’ll just stay up late, grab some z’s on the plan and meet Mattos earlier in Cairo. Instead, I have no tickets for any flights, I’ve missed the intended flight, I’ve gotten no sleep, and I have no outlook other than to spend more money to fly to Cairo today.
Doha - Cairo originally cost me $190.64. It cost $60 to change my flight to the earlier one. Now that it was cancelled, in frustration I assumed I would just buy a ticket at the gate, and deal with Capital One to get a refund later for their mistake. A $250 risk that seemed worth avoiding this insomnia-ridden headache. Ahh, but the flight is now $535.60. Of course it couldn’t be that simple.
And we return to the battle. With me in the middle and available seats on the plane that just left. Capital One claims they had a confirmed new booking, as the email in my inbox states. Qatar Airways claims they cancelled the booking, but did issue a ticket, and did email me a booking confirmation, but never sent me an email about any cancellation. I have emails from everyone stating that I was supposed to be on a flight that has left, and no one will let me go on it. Been to all the help desks in the airport, been on the phone for over an hour. Mostly with jazzy hold music. Hey, does anyone know why they don’t use multiple songs, and only use the same one over and over again? It feels purposefully rude. Like if it was a radio station or just a Spotify playlist of calm music, then at least it’s something. It feels purposeful to try and drive someone insane by playing a song on repeat for them. Strike 2 for the Middle East. First Fly Dubai’s Struggle Shuttle, and now the Capital Qatar Conflict. If we get to 3, then I quit the Middle East.
At some point it’s worth $500 to me to escape this. I left an excessively soft bed at the Victory / Victoria Hotel for the area before the check-in counters. A space I have never hung out in and never understood why anyone would. Well now I know these people’s pain. Next time you’re at an airport, pity them as you glide by with real tickets to planes that haven’t left. Oh and yes, the hotel I was staying at for the past few days, doesn’t seem to know its name. It is listed both online and in person as Victory and Victoria. I’m hoping they literally have never recognized the difference, and some of the staff thinks it’s Victory while the others think it’s Victoria.