Airline Rant

Wow. 2014 has finally ended. Definitely a year that I will remember for the rest of my life. Lots of things have happened in 2014 for me. Anyway, this post is not about my new years resolution or whatsoever. Just woud like to babble about my recent trip to see Abah in Montreal. It was super awesome of course, because I finally get to see Abah. Wehoo! Okay, I think I just want to talk more on the experience flying with a baby on a super long haul flight on this post. Seriously not an easy task, but still manageable. Just that I think its a bit impossible if your flying alone. To me it is. Unless your going for a 2-3 hours flight then that should be fine.

We took Turkish Airlines to Montreal, well that was pretty much my first with Turkish Airline. Just felt like trying and since the fare was quite reasonable and the transit time was less shorter than some other airlines. One thing that I can say about Turkish Airlines is that they are definitely NOT Europe's best airline, well I said that since they won that award for 2014. Wonder why. From going to Montreal to coming back to Malaysia ada je drama nye. When I booked my ticket, I chose my own seat and I specifically chose a seat where the bassinet is. And I'm sure you could guess what exactly happened as I got on the plane. Our flight route was like this KL-Turkey-Montreal. My flight from KL to Turkey, the seat that I chose turned out to be a seat behind the bassinet row. Like what the hell? This was not what they showed at the seating chart. So I just complained to the FA and it took them ages to sort it out and we finally managed to get that seat. Our flight to Turkey was a night flight so Zaara pretty much just slept throughout the flight, woke up just few times for susu and besides most of the passengers were Malaysians, so I wasn't really that worried. Okay, seating tu satu. Then FA Turkish Airline tak attentive langsung. They saw me holding a baby, the least that they could do is to help me put my bag into the cabin. Ne tidak. Tengok je, pastu siap borak2 pulak among themselves. Aku baru nak start journey dah turned off. So Zaara started sleeping an hour after we took off. Which was the time when they started serving dinner. Bolehlah Mama makan dengan tenang, eventhough the food was not appetising. Then comes more drama, when they started cleaning up the food that they have served. Ya rabbi, tak tau la memang dorang ne kasar ke apa. Dah macam bergaduh dalam pantry tu. Aku dah jeling je dekat Zaara tengok tido lagi ke tidak budak itu. Stress betul. Dahla its so hard to get her to sleep pastu dorang memekak pulak. The downside of having the bassinet seat. I don't think I have had such experience with few other airlines before. I felt like I was at the back of a restaurant or something.

Then the same thing happened to my flight from Turkey-Montreal. The same seating problem. Even worst, they were 3 babies on board and all of us were fighting for that same seat Nasib I came in early so I asked for the seat first. Lepas dah bising-bising (I didn't, the other two mothers did) then they finally settled our seat for us. The thing is, when they are other babies tau-tau la kan. When one stops crying, sambung pulak baby lain. Arghhh stress gileee. Drama tidak berakhir di situ ye tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. As soon as we reached Montreal Airport, we were told that they won't be sending us our stroller by the plane exit. We had to claim Zaara's stroller together with our bags ye So I practically had to carry Zaara, a back pack, and one hand carry walked quite a distance until we reached the passport control, lined up (no privilege for people with infants), and walked again to the baggage pick up area. And I finally got my stroller. I don't if its the airline or the airport, but seriously that have got to be the stupidest policy ever. I can't imagine doing all that alone. Do you expect me to let my baby crawl while I carry all my belongings? What is so hard with returning the stroller by the plane's exit? Ini baru trip going to Montreal. Belum lagi the dramas coming back to Malaysia. It was pretty similar to the ones coming to Montreal. Haihh. Definitely one experience I will never forget. I'm just thankful Zaara was okay in the plane. Didn't had any mengamuk moments. One thing though, have to make sure I always have snacks or fruits or baby food to give to Zaara whenever she wakes up. And tu je pretty much. And sila lah travel with a company for a long haul flight. Lagi-lagi kalau ade transit bagai. I.cant.do.it.alone.

Will post on my trip to Montreal on a separate post. Till then.