HELP a fellow ozbargainer stuck in Shanghai getting home!!!

Zarcady on 23/07/2014 - 06:18
Last edited 25/07/2014 - 00:45

Okay long story short, airasia delayed their already late departure time (1.30am), and I dozed off, waking up in horror to find that I have missed my flight. Noone to blame here but me as its my responsibility. So im stuck in shanghai right now at 4am, with no place to stay and noone to help me and with no cash left. Im willing to sleep at the airport for a week if I have to…pretty desperate situation I have gotten myself into and pretty silly too.

Can any ozbargainers find me a cheap flight back home to australia? Dates are pretty flexible as I just need the cheapest ticket out of here. Preferrably to land in gold coast/brisbane but right now ill take anything.

Searched airasia for the cheapest of around $300 leaving in early august but maybe someone can do better.

Airasia flat out refused to help me with anything and certainly its within their right to do so but ive flown with china eastern and korean air who was able to help me in a similar situation before with absolutely no hassle. Certainly I dont feel as though im entitled to any help since it was my fault but some generous goodwill would have gone a long way for me to be grateful.

Anyway I would really appreciate some help from the power of ozbargain!

Thanks in advance

Tldr update
Ozb community came through thanks to tonka and Airasia rescheduled a flight for a small fee and thus I dont have to be a hobo at burger king in pudong airport!!! What an awesome community we have here and something im very proud of being a part of! Thanks everyone

Travel

Comments

    • GnarlyKnuckles on 25/07/2014 - 20:43
      +1

      Wise words tike.

    • Wyzard on 29/07/2014 - 03:09

      Your outlook is spot on :)

  • Hotpotcorn on 24/07/2014 - 20:14
    +5

    waiting for selfie!!!

    • IanC on 24/07/2014 - 21:25
      +3

      Don't hold your breath

      • yaziyo on 25/07/2014 - 01:16
        +5

        Give it about two weeks

  • Juice08 on 24/07/2014 - 21:04
    +11

    Wow amazed this worked! Tonka you're a legend and a very kind soul. This is OzBargain and it wouldn't be if we all didn't want the cheapest deal we could get so good on OP for asking and getting help and a great deal!

  • docpol on 24/07/2014 - 21:30
    +7

    Heh good read with a happy ending. Happy for the OP and kudos to tonka :-). I admit that I'm a bit of a skeptic myself at this day and age but good to know that there are still people who are willing to trust and help a stranger in need. More power to you, tonka. The world will be a better place with more people like you. Pay it forward, OP.

  • tonka on 24/07/2014 - 21:36
    +9

    Good stuff OP. Thanks for the backup everyone. We can add a new dimension to the 'Ozbargain Professional' tag.

  • Natt on 24/07/2014 - 21:41
    +33

    I vote for a new badge to celebrate - "no ozbargainer left behind" :)

  • Murdrum on 24/07/2014 - 21:43

    Spent an hour following this, so good! Now you have a story to remember :)

    A thanks OB selfie would be an awesome way to bring this to a close lol.

  • Clementt on 24/07/2014 - 21:47
    +9

    Thank you everyone for liking tonka post to make this possible. An individual can move an item, a group can move a mountain. Also, everyone make a mistakes and no one is perfect so do not blame Zarcady anymore as he has admitted his fault. No one wanted to ask for help until they need help and I bet he is reluctant to ask for help until the last resort as this is pretty embarassing. Anyway, thank you everyone and tonka as well as AirAsia. Please like my post to show appreciation to AirAsia as I have try to put in good words for them for what they have done.

    Also, Zarcady, please take this as a lesson to have contingency plan and never make this mistake again. Luck doesn't strike twice and Welcome Back to Australia.

    • munya on 24/07/2014 - 22:17
      +7

      Agree, I know it took Tonka's Facebook campaign to get this result and I know an initial delay contributed to this situation, but kudos to AirAsia for covering the flight in the end. Some have bagged AirAsia in this thread, but I've had plenty of good flights with them, and I can think of a few low cost carriers who I don't think would have given a free flight for someone missing a flight, even with a Facebook campaign.

      • CheapCoffee on 24/07/2014 - 22:29
        +1

        Yep, definitely a lot of kudos to AirAsia :)

  • Zarcady on 24/07/2014 - 21:58
    +1

    Sorry im struggling to post the selfies…not knowing how to link photos properly and using a mobile phone to upload in china = going nuts!
    Give me a second!

  • Zarcady on 24/07/2014 - 22:09
    +79

    Selfie!
    My bed
    My hotel

    • Juice08 on 24/07/2014 - 22:12

      Can you seriously sleep there?

      • Zarcady on 24/07/2014 - 22:24
        +19

        Actually you would be surprised that this is the norm everyday. I spent the night here when I first came to shanghai because I arrived at 2.30am and the metro was closed for the night and taxi drivers were trying to charge me triple the price to get into the city. Figured I might as well wait until the morning when the metro started again so I came here for a feed then realised people were sleeping everywhere in this place. A couch for 1 person…
        Then I looked around the airport and realised that if there was a space to sleep, it was most likely taken by someone already having made a bed there.
        It was like the whole place was full of ozbargainers…I felt at home (kind of).

        Naturally when I missed my flight, I came here as I knew I wouldnt get frowned upon for doing so. But I think I took it a step too far by actually living here haha…

    • alwaysis on 26/07/2014 - 06:47
      +4

      Wheres the selfie gone? Only the bed and hotel are loading

      • Zarcady on 27/07/2014 - 00:58
        +1

        It will be reuploaded soon!

        • skeptik on 27/07/2014 - 03:48

          After a shower methinks ;)

  • CheapCoffee on 24/07/2014 - 22:20
    +11

    This guy. You are my new OzBargain hero :) If you ever come down to Melbourne, wanna grab a lunch together? My treat :D

    • Zarcady on 24/07/2014 - 22:39
      +14

      Can I sleep at your house too? Haha jokes im actually from melbourne too~

    • Luminary on 24/07/2014 - 22:56
      +8

      Haha, can I join? Let's grab Korean and some soju to celebrate. :P

      • donga100 on 24/07/2014 - 22:59

        Nadu!

        • CheapCoffee on 25/07/2014 - 00:40
          +5

          OzB meet up? :D

        • juventino on 25/07/2014 - 01:33
          +2

          CJ Lunch bar anyone ? :p

        • Luminary on 25/07/2014 - 03:47
          +1

          ChangGo!

      • gummibears on 25/07/2014 - 00:53

        You're not half Jap by any chance are you taniiah?

  • [Deactivated] on 24/07/2014 - 22:31

    Excellent!

  • JayM on 24/07/2014 - 22:34
    +5

    I like how this post has had a happy ending. kudos to Tonka for getting stuff started with Airasia.

  • humdogg on 24/07/2014 - 22:39
    +19

    i'm not sure how i feel about this whole post. Very up and down.

    Initially angry at your stupidity.
    then pleased with your humility.
    Gladdened by the community kindness.
    a bit bewildered by what you were wanting.
    happy you are getting home?

    Right now, im at: I think everyone lovess a good interwebz to the rescue story. I'm not sure if your circumstance fits the mould tho. I'd rather the ozb community come to the rescue of someone who really *needed it a bit more.

    But still one of the most entertaining posts in a while. so meh

    • Zarcady on 24/07/2014 - 22:51
      +6

      hats fair enough, although there was an option available for me to come home in early august, im extremely grateful for the help I received that allowed me to come home.
      Maybe not every story is the perfect fairytale, but nonetheless I would have been more miserable had I been stuck here for longer than I have.
      Even in the last couple of days, the hope that tonka gave me kept me in a positive state of mind, instead of state of despair. I guess is why religion serves as a fundemental part of people's lives.

    • johnno07 on 26/07/2014 - 16:50
      +2

      This. Zarcady you're like a soapie character that everyone thinks is a bit dumb, dislikes somewhat, then understands the motives of and comes to like. Well done on providing an entertaining story!

  • donga100 on 24/07/2014 - 22:40

    Have you got a flight back to TSV yet? I might be able to help with that.

  • sal78 on 24/07/2014 - 23:16
    +1

    good travel tale to look back on later! glad ozbargain came through for you and kudos to air asia!

  • WatchNerd on 24/07/2014 - 23:25
    +37

    I have contacted A Current Affair.
    Tracy Grimshaw, Australia's top interviewer according to CH9 is going to meet you at the Airport when you arrive to do a World Exclusive Interview.

    • Zarcady on 24/07/2014 - 23:33
      +9

      Haha will I be known as the sleeping burger king traveller? How embarassing!

      • andyken on 24/07/2014 - 23:38

        another 48 hour but i am happy for you

      • juventino on 25/07/2014 - 01:38
        +2

        remember to splash that Tonka and Ozbargain banner across when you have the chance :)

      • abh_gup on 25/07/2014 - 09:43

        if you get the opportunity to speak, you can highlight conditions or issues you think may be important other travelers should know in similar situations, the effects of delayed flights, or that loyalty to little brands do little good, consequences of flight delays, that Air Asia has no contact phone number or call center, tips on how you could get by, contacting whom is most effective, if there should be an emergency line for such situations, collaborative efforts still work, etc.

        • Adam Yahya on 25/07/2014 - 13:23
          +3

          AirAsia do have contact centres.

          http://www.airasia.com/my/en/contact-us/call-centre.page

        • GnarlyKnuckles on 25/07/2014 - 21:01
          +4

          If you get the opportunity to speak, whatever you do you should not say anything bad about AirAsia at all. In fact you should thank them. I'm going to put a post at the current "end" of this thread in a minute, elaborating on why I see three "heroes" in this humorous saga:

          1. Tonka
          2. Burger King (funny that no one has slung any kudos their way yet)
          3. Air-Asia

          In that order. See later post for full details/my 2 cents worth…

        • ThadtheChad on 27/07/2014 - 18:21

          @GnarlyKnuckles:

          Completely agree. I think it's important to note that AirAsia was not really obligated to help out in this manner and they responded to the (awesome) efforts by Tonka and fellow OzBers in a positive manner. :)

          Also, Burger King, the silent hero in all of this. Really nice of them as well.

    • jackofspade on 25/07/2014 - 11:51
      +21

      He's also wanted for the next episode of 'An Idiot Abroad' :)

      • GnarlyKnuckles on 26/07/2014 - 00:09
        +1

        Heheheh, hilarious bro! Funny show too. :-) This thread just keeps on giving!

    • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2014 - 02:08

      Not sure if serious… lol

  • 2real4u on 24/07/2014 - 23:30

    :)

  • yeezuspls on 24/07/2014 - 23:49

    cries so beautiful

  • eneloop on 24/07/2014 - 23:49
    +5

    Dude while your there bring me back some cheap cigarettes

  • Lucky13 on 24/07/2014 - 23:54
    -5

    Air Asia Shanghai-Sydney $576 on 1/8 (or earliest was $1573 on 29/7) and then just bus/train it from Sydney. And backpackers til then.

    Also says here you can get the airport taxes part of your ticket refunded. Application form is in link - http://www.airasia.com/ask/template.do;jsessionid=9D02013BAD…

    Also thing that worries me is that you said youve been in this situation before, hate to lecture but should try and learn from mistakes.

    • smpantsonfire on 25/07/2014 - 00:06
      +8

      You are so late. Read the thread, it's pretty awesome.

      • jackofspade on 25/07/2014 - 00:27

        OP should update the description with tl;dr

        • matt_will_fix_it on 25/07/2014 - 07:24

          Jackofspade should read full thread.

        • jackofspade on 25/07/2014 - 12:01
          +3

          @matt_will_fix_it:
          I have. The tl;dr is for people like Lucky13 so they don't waste their time trying to find cheap fares.

  • morphio on 25/07/2014 - 00:25
    +2

    Wow! What a thread!

  • jacknthebeanstalk on 25/07/2014 - 00:53
    +1

    I love ozbargain.

  • [Deactivated] on 25/07/2014 - 00:55
    +54

    I vote Tonka for 'OzB's Most Helpful Member of the Month'.

    :D

  • yaziyo on 25/07/2014 - 01:21
    +3

    Zacardy, you are an absolute pancake. I'm glad you have your flight home now lmao. You should get Tonka a souvenir from Shanghai Airport. ;)

    • juventino on 25/07/2014 - 01:41
      +4

      does anyone have Chinese burger king hacks :p

  • ironplus on 25/07/2014 - 02:51

    Nawwww I love everyone here too

  • squall3031 on 25/07/2014 - 03:09

    Zacardy, You better damn make sure you take a shower somewhere before boarding the plane. :D
    Anyway, I applaud for your perseverance. I hope you get home safely!

  • NGPriest on 25/07/2014 - 05:58

    I can get you a % off the ticket?

    Can you email me at [email protected] ?

    And hope i'm not too late? :S

    • frewer on 25/07/2014 - 09:26

      He's on his way home ! Thanks to the kindness of AirAsia and Ozbargainers

  • gstfree on 25/07/2014 - 06:53
    +2

    What a good news. No ozbargaoner is left behind. This is an example of all ozbargainers work together:)

  • abh_gup on 25/07/2014 - 09:30

    :) glad your on your way

  • lehboy on 25/07/2014 - 10:02
    +4

    Glad that this had a happy ending. Tonka should get a super badge or something from OzB

  • SupeNintendoChalmers on 25/07/2014 - 10:12
    +4

    Tonka for PM!

  • sleet on 25/07/2014 - 10:46

    I would have paid the extra to go home early, or taken a loan from family/friends. You can earn that money back and more compared to staying till August.

    But luckily OB kicked in.

  • ebayer007 on 25/07/2014 - 11:25
    +3

    @Zarcady – you are a legend mate for sitting there for so long. @Tonka – appreciate your kindness to help someone without being judgemental. Great qualities to have.

  • Love a bargain on 25/07/2014 - 11:40
    +4

    @Zarcady: Glad to hear that you're coming home before August. Ignore the negative comments. No one has the right to critise you for wanting to live within your mean and to get home with the money that you have. Only you can decide your priorities.

    @Tonka: Wish there are more kind-hearted people like you.

  • altomic on 25/07/2014 - 11:59

    this is an awesome post.

  • moo on 25/07/2014 - 12:02
    +10

    Awesome outcome! Kudos to Tonka for helping a stranger out.

    • Ps. PLEASE NOT NOT FALL ASLEEP ON THE 27th BEFORE YOUR SCHEDULED FLIGHT HOME!
  • yannyrjl on 25/07/2014 - 12:12

    wow, what an epic !!

  • JepunK on 25/07/2014 - 12:27
    +2

    Best post ever…

    Welcome home dude…

    Well done Tonka!!

  • superm86 on 25/07/2014 - 12:47

    Haha - awesome read! Deserve a short news story at-least.. lolz.
    Sad that I did not saw it when it was all happening!

  • pastapins on 25/07/2014 - 13:01
    +3

    This totally deserves an SMH article! Great work people

    EDIT: Infact, just submitted the story idea to News and SMH. Let's see if they find it newsworthy. Some positive PR wouldn't hurt

  • Gorodemon on 25/07/2014 - 13:49
    +20

    @ Tonka: dude, I don't know who you are but you just taught me a lesson about constructive criticism. I really admire your approach on the issue - instead of wasting time criticizing Zacardy, you offered to help. That shows you respect other people's choice and I think that's a very rare quality these days. Thank you for showing me this!!!

    • tonka on 25/07/2014 - 15:04
      +23

      Thanks mate. To be honest I jut did what I thought made sense.
      This thread is really interesting to read , you can really see the critism vs constructive critism at play and the big difference between the two and how they can affect someone.

      What is really awesome is seeing so many unreserved kind and generous comments.
      A couple of people remarked this wasn't the right forum to look for the generous, glad it's not true.

      • MarkB4 on 25/07/2014 - 19:07

        Well done …

  • Cluster on 25/07/2014 - 14:56
    +5

    I hope AirAsia gets a bit of nice publicity about this. They came to the party and helped get a stranded traveler home.

  • getlinkvn on 25/07/2014 - 15:00
    +1

    Awesome thread, congrats OP and kudos to Tonka.

  • mikeymike on 25/07/2014 - 15:46
    +3

    Very good outcome for the OP, and well done Tonka!!!!
    On the way home could always start writing a eBook on surviving at an airport the tightass way :)
    from where to sleep, eat, connect to wifi, power devices… etc…. :D

  • zan5hin on 25/07/2014 - 16:19
    +2

    I have come to this thread late, but next time, you should have asked for help on couchsurfing.org - you could have at least gotten help from people inside Shanghai who would have given you somewhere to sleep and then you could just eat street food to survive much more comfortably.

    But yeah, the moral of the story is don't travel if you don't have enough cash to buy your way out of any situation.

    • Luminary on 25/07/2014 - 16:30
      +2

      I think he was already inside the airport and couldn't get out because you need a visa to get back in. And he could have gotten out but just decided to get out the OzBargainer way. XD

  • darknnation on 25/07/2014 - 19:50

    great job tonka

  • itchyscratchy on 25/07/2014 - 20:11

    Heart warming outcome and great to see that people do care.

  • GnarlyKnuckles on 25/07/2014 - 21:31
    +21

    This was a thoroughly entertaining saga, and three main "heroes" are apparent in it. They are (in order of merit, IMHO):

    1. Tonka. Selfless, clever, resourceful, compassionate, patient, eloquent, and beyond all that; inspiring, as is clear from the amount of people who've posted in the thread saying they have learned something from Tonka's whole approach to this. Not only clearly a "gentleman and a scholar", but quite a bit more than that to boot.

    2. Burger King. I find it odd that no one has yet pointed out what legends they were about this whole thing. Try living at any FF joint in Australia for 24 hours, let alone well beyond that, and see what happens! To my mind they were absolute legends about this, in that they did; well, nothing, if you know what I mean. None of this would've been possible, including Tonka's valiant FB-led rescue, without the compassion/tolerance that Burger King showed this dude, including their provision of free WIFI and electricity. I know Tonka won't accept anything from Zarcs at all, but I reckon it would be a nice gesture if he gave a small donation to that Burger King (say, to cover WIFI/electricity/toilet-maintenance-costs etc.). If for no other reason than it would mean they might be equally as tolerant to the next poor luckless sap that ends up needing their, erm, "extended services".

    3. AirAsia. Sure, they only came to the rescue after Tonka cleverly rallied enough troops to bring Zarco's predicament to the attention of someone at AirAsia who was in a position to do something about it. But actually that is not the point. It should be remembered that as a budget airline, they had absolutely no obligation to cut Zarcs any breaks at all. I guess IF they had any empty seats they could've offered to put him on the next one that came up, but we don't know that they did, nor are they actually obliged to direct any of their resources (staff-time/admin/etc.) towards doing that. The bottom line is they evidently expended a lot of effort/ perseverance to make contact with Zarckers, despite international barriers to communication, offered to refund his ticket which they were not obligated to do at all, and when Zarkimon boldly declined that offer (which frankly, I was a little stunned by), they kept on the case and eventually pretty much just flew him back for almost nix! WELL DONE Air Asia, and I would go so far as to suggest that anyone who has put a bad comment about AirAsia in this thread might consider editing it, at least by way of adding an "-Update- … (etc.)" to the end of their comment, acknowledging that AirAsia actually went above-and-beyond their obligations on this case, in the end.

    So that's my 2 cents' worth.

    I'm very glad you're safely on your way home Zarcs, and thanks for the entertainment! :)

    • Zarcady on 25/07/2014 - 22:34
      +20

      Update: i have checked myself into a motel and just had about the deepest sleep in a long time!

      Rest assured I will haul my ass onto that flight, whatever happens.

      Thanks for the overwhelming support from everyone!

      I just feel like being generous to randoms strangers in need :)

      • GnarlyKnuckles on 26/07/2014 - 01:09
        +30

        "… the deepest sleep in a long time!"

        Erm, even deeper than that time you- oh nevermind! ;-P

        • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2014 - 02:14
          +7

          LOL

          Now this is reminding me of the Seinfeld episode where the Jean-Paul the marathon runner slept in and missed his race in the Olympics, and Jerry goes all Tonka on him to make sure he doesn't miss the race coming up…

          Youtubey

        • deal seeking missile on 27/07/2014 - 00:52

          Hahahaha, that ending was classic

  • ployer on 25/07/2014 - 23:34

    Really glad this situation worked out for you man.

  • apey2000 on 26/07/2014 - 00:35
    +3

    Interesting read. Not sure what to make of this overall, but one thing's for sure…

    Tonka.. if Aus was ever at war.. I'd wanna be in the trenches with you! Well done mate for looking after a complete stranger in need of help.

    This is what the world, in general, needs more of - humanity!

    PS. Glad things worked out Zarcady and hopefully you get back home soon! :)

  • pauper on 26/07/2014 - 10:25
    +3

    Tonka… You have given me new belief that there are still good people in this world. I hope to meet you someday.

    And zarcady, a honest mistake from you. There was a lot of criticism about you not sucking it up and taking the next flight home. But I feel that you made a choice to try to live within your means and nothing wrong with that. I was not sure where it was headed though.

    Happy to read the good news and kudos to Air Asia for coming to the party. If you are a little sensible and have a contingency plan budget airlines are not as bad as they are made out to be. Of course customer service and courtesy may be lacking but that is something that I acknowledge before I book with them.

    The last time I was this interested in what was going to happen next was while watching Breaking Bad!

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