So... were stuck in Korea for a bit. We went to the airport to make our flight to China where we had an 18hr lay over before our flight to Manilla. Turns out that the particular airport we were scheduled to fly to requires us to have a visa. If we went to Beijing or Hong kong it wouldn't be a problem but the Guangzhou airport specifically requires a visa. Wish Orbitz would have mentioned that.
We spent about 6 hrs in the airport trying to figure it out. I can't believe how little those airport workers knew. You would think that the immigration office, or the information box, or the airline workers would know how we could go about getting a visa. Ridiculous. The airline told us to call Orbitz and Orbitz told us to talk to the airline. We ended up postponing our flight until the 30th because there's no way we could afford to buy new tickets that route us through Hong kong or Beijing (it would double the price).
We met some foreigner on the way out of the airport who was able to answer in 2 minutes what it took 6hrs of calling and talking to the airport people. So tommorow we are going to the Chinese embassy here in Seoul to apply for Visa's.
Will update you when we figure it out. Either way its going to be about another $200-$300 per person to get to Manila. Grrr @ China.
On the up side, since we are most likely getting Chinese visas we will probably just change our tickets and spend a week or so in China!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sorry to hear that, hopefully a visa won't take 6 weeks to get like a passport does. Amazing that airport could'nt help you. What about the American Embassy? Keep your chins up. chaulk it up to another new experience i guess. Love ya, Mom
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that. Hope it all works out and you get to experience China as well.
ReplyDeleteWe had to apply for express visas (under $200 each) and it will only take two days. It looks like we're going to fly out of Seoul on Friday, and we may spend a couple of days in China as well (since we'll be there and have visas... why not).
ReplyDeleteWhy not Minot! Hope you enjoy China. There must be a reason for your delay to the Phillipines.
ReplyDeleteNo debit card yet...I'll let you know when it comes.
Heidi, Alicia and I had lunch at FFT today...yummy!
The sun is shining here in Misla today, melting the snow and ice, it's 37* out.
Well enjoy and take care.
Be careful in China.
Love Mom