... was – well, yes – interesting.
According to the scale, I had 48kg in my two bags and of course “some” books in my trolley, which was not weighted. Thanks to the wide network of friends of one of my former colleagues, there was one gentleman, who was supposed to help me out, i.e. ensure that I had not to pay the excess luggage. Unfortunately, the person at the check-in counter was not informed about this pre-arranged deal. So I had to start negotiating with him.
If you wonder why, I did not want to pay the extra luggage: 1 kg cost 22.67 USD, so 28kg more cost “only” 634.67 USD. I guess, it is understood that I was not willing to pay that much, although I still had not used my moving allowance by then.
It was not really a negotiation because after the exchange of few arguments, he fully concentrated on my tickets and suddenly he waived me to him and he whispered: “Okay, sir, I understand you. Give my 200.00USD and I let you through.” I thought: “Well, this is not okay, but let’s give it a try – it is the first bribe I pay.” But I had not finished my thought, when he said: “Oh, our supervisor saw me. Now you have to talk to him”. No wonder! It took him ages to hand over the boarding passes.
Well, then I started negotiating with the supervisor. After the usual part, when I refused to pay at all, GTZ has a 40 kg luggage allowance on Emirates, pretended not to have any dollars/shillings, only credit cards, etc., I admitted, that I had some dollars left, which I intended to use in Duabi (I thought I could appeal to his company loyalty but in vain). He demanded those (he still wanted me to pay 635 USD). I said, well, sir I do not have that much money with me… I could only offer 300 USD against receipt. By that moment I realised that my initial excitement about bribing my way through was wrong! I needed a receipt. There would be no reimbursement without any receipt! So I was in desperate need for a receipt. He said, that that would go without saying but he had to insist on more dollars. I said how much, and he replied 500 USD at least for I had 28kg more than allowed but I was Skyward Silver Class member. I agreed on paying 350 USD by threatening him with no shopping in Dubai… It went back and force until he clearly marked an end to our discussion by insisting on more: “340 USD. Sir, you must at least pay 340 USD.”
Okay, this is time to take a breath. I offered 350 USD. He demanded 340 USD. What is wrong? It was like my negotiation of my previous rent, when the Indian manager demanded less than I was willing to pay. It must be something, which only Ugandans will understand.
So, I paid 340 USD, he gave me my receipt. Everything was fine, I thought. But unfortunately, I forgot about the other gentleman, who was supposed to guide me through the check-in procedure, without any troubles… He was still there and insisted on guiding me to the gate. If you now Entebbe International Airport, you know that there is no need for any additional guidance. But since that gentleman works for the handling service company, I could not be impolite without risking “losing” my valuables in my checked-in suitcase and bag. Therefore, I was prepared to pay him a “service fee”, which he kindly accepted, when we sat on the bench… Man, I was sweating! Was it enough? Did I embarrass him? Was my luggage on its way into the plane? Would everything arrive safely in Germany?
The stewardess from Entebbe to Nairobi was pretty and we were flirting until she had to get off the plane… Ah, bad timing and bad accent. She was Australian.
The flight to Dubai was okay. There was an idiot in the seat next to me, who preferred to stick his elbow into my side. I made him understand to not doing that…
In Dubai we parked again far away from the airport building. Therefore, there was not much time for shopping. I hurried to the watches and asked the shop attendant for three specific watches, which were all out of stock. Having saved a lot of money, I hurried to the gate, where this young lady stroked through my reserved emergency exit aisle seat and instead wrote down another seat number. I was annoyed until I learned that I was just upgraded to business class!!!
And business class was really a treat of its own. I love it…
I arrived in Germany very relaxed and it took me only 35min to get out of the plane, collecting the luggage, withdrawing EUR from the ATM, finding a taxi and arriving home.
Now I am looking forward to flying back to that wonderful place...
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