Wednesday 19th October

We took our time getting up, did some final packing rearrangements and set off for the nearby Post Office to mail the Ibuprofen tablets which Kenan had brought to Stefania. MAC had wrapped the box and after some to and fro with the lady at the Post Office managed to get the package on its way. Then we drove to the airport, stopping for gas on the way. We returned the car and completed the formalities regarding the lights damage which it had sustained during our month-long rental. The AVIS people were very nice and even gave us a $40 discount for completing a survey for them. Then it was on to check in for the flight which was with Swiss (the new name for Swissair). After quite a wait we go to the check in desk and they told us they had no record of the our Rome/Zurich leg. This was pretty disturbing. The flight was originally booked with United. Then the nightmare began. I stood in front of the long-suffering check in girl talking to United for nearly an hour on the phone as United tried to re-issue the ticket. The Swiss check-in lady could not see the booking after three or four attempts by United to get the booking straight. Both the check in lady and I were getting very frustrated at this point. Eventually, United said that they would book us on a flight next morning which was direct Rome/Newark. This was less than ideal and meant we had to book a hotel at short notice and stay another night in Italy. Finding a hotel was not that easy, QC Terme was fully booked, but eventually we got a room at a Holiday Inn about 6 miles from Fiumincino International Airport. We took a taxi there at Eur 35 plus a Eur  5 tip. We immediately booked the airport shuttle for 8 a.m. tomorrow morning to connect with our new direct flight to Newark.

This whole affair was inexplicable and very frustrating all around. I have no idea why they could not reissue the ticket such that Swiss would have been able to honor it. We will certainly take this up with United when we get home.