Credit Card Declined, or how I was prevented from buying my flight from Istanbul to Doha

I've never had my credit card declined before, so thankfully this first time was online with no one watching. But I'm still not really sure why.

I need to get from Istanbul to Doha before the 5th of January. There is a flight from Istanbul to Sharjah, then from Sharjah to Doha on January 4th on Air Arabia. So I go to the Air Arabia site, find my flight, enter all my information, am taken to a secure site where I enter my credit card information and...

"Processing..."

Declined? What? Maybe I typed my card number incorrectly, so I go through all the screens again. No luck. Maybe it really is declined, because it is a foreign charge. I call my credit card company (putting a travel warning on my card for later, which I had to do anyway) and ask, but the charge isn't showing up. No luck there either. Maybe it is because, at the home screen, I put my country in as "Qatar," and there was that weird thing about no selling one-way flights from Qatar. So I try again, saying "UAE." Still no luck.

I've sent an e-mail to Air Arabia. Maybe they can come up with a solution. Otherwise, I suppose I will make an international call with Skype or something and do it with an agent.

Otherwise, I'll be crossing the Arabic Peninsula some other way.

One Winter Jacket, or why I haven't decided what to pack

I checked the average winter temperature for Istanbul. It's on the order of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the coldest it will ever be my entire semester anywhere, by probably 20 degrees.

Which begs the question... how little warm clothing can I bring to get myself through that single cold patch? Since I'll be traveling, and have substantial weight restrictions, my baggage is already going to be very, very limited.

I'm thinking a few long sleeve shirts stacked with a scarf should do the trick... right?

So many things to be thinking about!

The One Way Question, or the reason I haven't bought my flight to Doha

I was reading the fine print at the end of an Air Arabia flight, and it said, "One way fares exclusive of taxes and surcharges. Standard terms and conditions apply. Not valid for sale from Qatar."

That last bit mystifies me. I can't buy one way fares in Qatar? I can't buy a flight from Qatar? I can't buy from Qatar? The ambiguity of the sentence is too much to bear!

I also am having trouble deciding between my options: January 2nd or January 4th. (I have to be in Doha by the 5th.)

January 2nd:

• Pros: cheaper by $30, less than 2 hour layover, arrive at 9am
• Cons: leave earlier in the week (only spending 3 full days there), leave at 1am on the 2nd

January 4th:

• Pros: another 2 days (spending 5 full days there)
  
• Cons: more expensive, 10 hour layover, leave at 1am but arrive at 6pm

I mean, the really good news is that AirArabia is pretty cheap regardless.

I'm still a bit scared about the one way bit. Does that mean that I'll have to buy a roundtrip ticket to get out of Qatar (when the time comes)?

If you have any suggestions, comment away!

Time Travel, or how I bought my plane tickets

The first round of plane tickets are bought. I am freaking out because I just spent $1000 dollars. And I have to use them now. Which means it is real.

I've been researching how to get to Doha for weeks now, and going the direct route seemed silly, since I am staying for an extra 3 weeks after my classes end. So I looked into going through Dubai or Bahrain, but, though they are bigger hubs, the flights there weren't any cheaper than going straight to Doha.

So Tuesday night, with two days left in the British Airways fare sale, I still didn't know where I was going. I looked at the cheap transatlantic flights; flying into London or Madrid or Frankfurt did nothing for me, since the money saved was less than the flight from there to Doha. Finally, finally, Istanbul caught my eye.

So Istanbul it is! I'll be there over the New Year, leaving Seattle on Dec. 28th, then returning home on May 26th (I know, happy birthday Dan and Rosie). I think it is pretty funny, but getting back from nearly half way around the world only takes "6 hours." I'll leave at 14:00 and get back around 20:00. That isn't as amusing as a flight I saw between Sharjah and Doha which takes 0 hours, leaving at 12:55, and getting to Doha at 12:55.

Whew.

My next step should actually be looking up flights from Istanbul to Doha. (Anyone know anything cheaper than the $270 ticket I found through AirArabia?)

Holes in Both Arms, or how my bloodwork is preventing me from buying plane tickets

I have been researching tickets to Europe/Middle East for weeks now, and I promised myself I would get them bought by Monday, the last day of fare sale at British Airways. However, then I discovered it lasts until Thursday, and that promise ended.

One of the requirements for entering Qatar is to be HIV and TB negative. I finally went to Health Services today and got blood drawn and a little bubble of dead TB put under my skin. I'll be going back on Thursday to get the results, and, being the irrational worrier I am, I'll buy the tickets after that.

I've decided that going to Istanbul on the 28th, then taking a plane to Doha a week later is my plan of attack. Slightly cheaper than going straight to Doha and back, and could provide more flexibility and fun. (If you really want to know the breakdown, it'll be about $1100 to go to Istanbul, then $270 to get to Doha one-way, versus $1600 to roundtrip Seattle to Doha.)

This post feels a bit drab. I'll spice it up with a picture of myself!

Poking the World with a Stick, or how this blog was titled

In high school senior year English class, we read an essay entitled "Loss of the Creature" by Walker Percy. This philosophical work argues that worldly influences cause us to lose "sovereignty" and we begin to base all our experiences on expectations. In the essay, a boy finds a dogfish on a beach and pokes at it, learning more about the dogfish than a student in the classroom.

The point of this diatribe is that I want to explore the world with a sense of wonder. I have expectations of all the places I am going, heavy research into what to do, where to go, where to stay, but when it comes down to it, all I should be doing is poking it with a stick.


I've also previously posted in both my personal blog and a Europe trip with friends. Check those out too!