Day 74 & 75: Trying to get to Costa Rica
Here begins our crazy adventure trying to get to Costa Rica.
On Sunday morning, we got to the airport bright and early to catch our flight to San Jose. When we reached the check-in counter, Angela wasn't permitted to fly because she didn't have a yellow fever shot/certification! Also, she was told that even if she got one, she couldn't fly for 10 days after getting the shot. At first we were really confused as to why she needed the shot because Isabel had been to Costa Rica a few years back and she didn't need the shot. The agent then told us we needed it to leave Ecuador, but this also confused us since Dan was in Ecuador and we were wondering if he needed it, and she said no. We didn't really understand what was going on, but bottom line was, Ange wouldn't be able to fly. After much talking, we decided that I'd go ahead to Costa Rica and she'd ask them to try and reroute her to D.C.
So when we got back to the counter, I checked in my bags, and we were in the process of trying to get Ange to D.C., when another Copa Airlines agent came up to us to try to help us get to Costa Rica. They needed two volunteers to be offloaded from the flight. They said that we could try to get a yellow fever shot the next day (we couldn't the same day since it was a Sunday and the clinics were closed) in the morning, and then fly out in the afternoon. They told us which clinic we could go to, and to ask the doctor to stamp on the certification that she got the shot 10 days ago. Apparently, people do it all the time. (They should really have advisory notices on their website.) So they booked us on a flight to Costa Rica for the next afternoon, and in case Ange wasn't able to get the shot, they would book her on a flight to D.C. for no extra charge. It was a win-win situation for us since we really didn't have anything to lose by trying, so we went for it. Since my bags were already checked in, they had to get them off the plane. Thankfully they were able to do so before the plane took off, though it took me a while to actually get them back.
This all happened before 9 in the morning (!), and we were really hungry so we had a huge breakfast at Friday's before heading back to the city.
Ana's family was happy to take us in for one more night, but we just spent the day at home relaxing and recouping. I took the time to write those postcards I promised people (still haven't sent them out though :P).
The next morning Pancho dropped us off at the clinic with our bags. We were there before the clinic opened so we were one of the firsts to see the doctor. The doctor was much more helpful in explaining the whole scenario. In short, we needed the yellow fever shot because we were entering Costa Rica from Ecuador; it was one of Costa Rica's requirements for those entering the country from Ecuador.
From the clinic we went straight to the airport. We were slightly early; check-in desks weren't open yet. So we just waited til noon and then we were able to check-in for our 3pm flight. After checking-in we had a big lunch at Johnny Rockets before heading to our gate.
And then came a loooong afternoon of waiting as our flight was delayed. We were worried that we wouldn't make it to our connecting flight in Panama at 6pm. But then the Copa Air agent said that the connecting flight in Panama was delayed to 7pm and in case we didn't make that flight, there was another flight at 9. So we were okay.
I forgot what time we finally boarded the plane, but we landed in Panama after 7, meaning we had missed our connecting flight. We were directed to a desk where we spoke to the Copa Air about getting another flight to Costa Rica. At first, the lady said that we would have to fly out the next morning (that's what they were telling all the other people who were on the same flight as us and missed their connecting flights). We told her that we couldn't stay in Panama because we didn't have a visa to enter the country, and we asked her to put us on the 9pm flight which the agent at Quito said we could take. So she proceeds to check her computer and then tells us that we're not in the system and according to their records, we never left Quito(!!!). She was being pretty useless saying she couldn't help us, so she directed us to another customer service desk.
The line at the customer service desk was pretty long, and there was a man handing out immigration entry cards. We explained our situation to him, and thankfully he was much more helpful than the other lady. He was able to get us on the flight at 9pm. So we had to wait for the flight, then boarded. It was a good thing Ange and I boarded early cause after I was seated, another lady comes up and her boarding pass has the same seat as mine! I didn't get up, though the stewardess came to look at my boarding pass. They also collected several other people's boarding passes, as there were several other people who had boarding passes but no seats. Thankfully there was no problem with my boarding pass, and we were able to depart. We landed in Costa Rica past 11pm but we were grateful that we made it safely (and thankfully our bags arrived too).
And that was our crazy two days trying to get to Costa Rica. We were really happy with Copa Air for finding a way to help us out on the first day, but flying with them on the second day was one of the most stressful flights I've been on.
On Sunday morning, we got to the airport bright and early to catch our flight to San Jose. When we reached the check-in counter, Angela wasn't permitted to fly because she didn't have a yellow fever shot/certification! Also, she was told that even if she got one, she couldn't fly for 10 days after getting the shot. At first we were really confused as to why she needed the shot because Isabel had been to Costa Rica a few years back and she didn't need the shot. The agent then told us we needed it to leave Ecuador, but this also confused us since Dan was in Ecuador and we were wondering if he needed it, and she said no. We didn't really understand what was going on, but bottom line was, Ange wouldn't be able to fly. After much talking, we decided that I'd go ahead to Costa Rica and she'd ask them to try and reroute her to D.C.
So when we got back to the counter, I checked in my bags, and we were in the process of trying to get Ange to D.C., when another Copa Airlines agent came up to us to try to help us get to Costa Rica. They needed two volunteers to be offloaded from the flight. They said that we could try to get a yellow fever shot the next day (we couldn't the same day since it was a Sunday and the clinics were closed) in the morning, and then fly out in the afternoon. They told us which clinic we could go to, and to ask the doctor to stamp on the certification that she got the shot 10 days ago. Apparently, people do it all the time. (They should really have advisory notices on their website.) So they booked us on a flight to Costa Rica for the next afternoon, and in case Ange wasn't able to get the shot, they would book her on a flight to D.C. for no extra charge. It was a win-win situation for us since we really didn't have anything to lose by trying, so we went for it. Since my bags were already checked in, they had to get them off the plane. Thankfully they were able to do so before the plane took off, though it took me a while to actually get them back.
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| Yay, thanks for helping us out, Copa. |
This all happened before 9 in the morning (!), and we were really hungry so we had a huge breakfast at Friday's before heading back to the city.
Ana's family was happy to take us in for one more night, but we just spent the day at home relaxing and recouping. I took the time to write those postcards I promised people (still haven't sent them out though :P).
The next morning Pancho dropped us off at the clinic with our bags. We were there before the clinic opened so we were one of the firsts to see the doctor. The doctor was much more helpful in explaining the whole scenario. In short, we needed the yellow fever shot because we were entering Costa Rica from Ecuador; it was one of Costa Rica's requirements for those entering the country from Ecuador.
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| Ange was scared haha |
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| Doctor gave her a lollipop after |
And then came a loooong afternoon of waiting as our flight was delayed. We were worried that we wouldn't make it to our connecting flight in Panama at 6pm. But then the Copa Air agent said that the connecting flight in Panama was delayed to 7pm and in case we didn't make that flight, there was another flight at 9. So we were okay.
I forgot what time we finally boarded the plane, but we landed in Panama after 7, meaning we had missed our connecting flight. We were directed to a desk where we spoke to the Copa Air about getting another flight to Costa Rica. At first, the lady said that we would have to fly out the next morning (that's what they were telling all the other people who were on the same flight as us and missed their connecting flights). We told her that we couldn't stay in Panama because we didn't have a visa to enter the country, and we asked her to put us on the 9pm flight which the agent at Quito said we could take. So she proceeds to check her computer and then tells us that we're not in the system and according to their records, we never left Quito(!!!). She was being pretty useless saying she couldn't help us, so she directed us to another customer service desk.
The line at the customer service desk was pretty long, and there was a man handing out immigration entry cards. We explained our situation to him, and thankfully he was much more helpful than the other lady. He was able to get us on the flight at 9pm. So we had to wait for the flight, then boarded. It was a good thing Ange and I boarded early cause after I was seated, another lady comes up and her boarding pass has the same seat as mine! I didn't get up, though the stewardess came to look at my boarding pass. They also collected several other people's boarding passes, as there were several other people who had boarding passes but no seats. Thankfully there was no problem with my boarding pass, and we were able to depart. We landed in Costa Rica past 11pm but we were grateful that we made it safely (and thankfully our bags arrived too).
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| All the chaos at the Copa Air gates |
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