Bargain Gone WRONG!!!

We are finally in Uruguay! It was a VERY difficult journey , but we made it! Here is a quick synopsis of what transpired in the first 48 hours of our trip:

- We received an email the night before our scheduled flight to leave. It read "We are sorry to inform you that Pluna Airlines has ceased all operations and all flights after July 9th will be cancelled. Please make alternative arrangements to get to your destination."

- We went into a panic and were on the phone with "Cheapoair" for 2 1/2 hours trying to make "alternative arrangements".They said it would be no problem they would just give us a refund. We told them we didn't want a refund , we just want to get to our destination. They said it would cost us an additional $2500. We asked them for other options and they told us they couldn't help us until 9:00a.m. when the airlines opened. (We originally had made all of our travel arrangements online through "Cheapoair.com". It is a budget travel site that compares all the airlines and finds the best quote based on your travel dates. We did save hundreds of dollars by booking through them. The only catch is that we had 3 different legs and 2 layovers with a total travel time of 20 hours. To most people this itinerary would be grueling and avoided at ALL cost. But for us, having an active 21 month old, it was strategically planned. He would have several breaks off the plane to run around in the airport. The final leg of our flight would be from 10:30p.m. to 8:30a.m.,this way he could sleep through the longest flight of the trip. It would of worked out perfect for what we wanted.)

- By 10:30 a.m. the next morning "Cheapoair" had booked another flight and everything was OK.
- 7:30p.m  We arrive in Miami with a layover till 10:30p.m
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-At 8:30p.m. we check in at TAM Airlines for our 2nd Leg. The TAM Supervisor informs us that "Cheapoair" booked us on a connecting flight in Brazil and we cannot fly on this flight because we don't have Visas.

-At 9:30p.m. Tam Airlines says they booked us on a flight with American Airlines and everything is OK.We are scheduled to leave at 11:15p.m.We are super relieved and thankful to TAM.

-At 9:45 p.m. we are at the American Airlines desk trying to check in for our flight scheduled to leave at 11:15. The American Airlines representative informs us that we are not in the system, at all.The reservation that TAM had made never went through to their system. We ran back to the TAM desk and no one is there. It appears that they are closed for the night. We run back to the American Airlines desk pleading with them to help us. No one can help us . We run back to the TAM desk and find one TAM guy named Guillermo to help us at the American airlines desk. Because they are competitors, the computer systems don't overlap and they have a hard time finding the tickets they had purchased for us. They finally find the information they need to get us on the plane,but it is too late. The plane is closed!!We are really mad at TAM!

-At 10:30 p.m.we have a new flight booked with American Airlines for tomorrow night. We asked the TAM guy if they could get us hotel since they screwed up our flight. They do the right thing and Comp our hotel and food for the next day. Evidently the supervisor that messed up our flight was in the back office the whole time. She tells us to look for the van that says"Regency" on it. We're feeling better, we're staying at the "Hyatt Regency" and we're going to eat well. Everything is OK.

-At 11:15 p.m. we're standing in line waiting to check into our room for the night. We are third in line and there is only one guy behind the counter. We wait patiently.

-At 12:00a.m.. the lights flicker for a second. The power has gone out and now the hotel's generator has kicked on. The computer system is down and we cannot check in because this is not the"Hyatt Regency" just the "Regency" and they have no computer backup system. Meanwhile, the hotel lobby fills up with a busload of people from the Dominican Republic.

Here's a picture of our 3 boys in their chair of choice in the lobby of the "Regency":

-At 2:15a.m. the computer system is back up and running and we can check into our room. We proceed to our room, apprehensive to ride the elevator.Considering the way our evening has gone,it would only be natural for us to get stuck in the elevator. We make it to our room ,open the door ready to dive into our beds for the night. There is one king sized bed and five of us. We consider drawing numbers to see who is going to sleep on the chair and on the floor. We call the front desk and ask for a cot, they don't have one. We ask if there is another hotel we can go to that will accept our comp. They tell us the "Doubletree" will , and they will drive us there.

- At 2:45a.m. we are at the "Doubletree Hotel". Everything is OK. We see promo posters that show them giving you hot, homemade chocolate chip cookies with your keys. The Chinese family in line in front of us , get there key and chocolate chip cookies. We proceed to the front of the line, check in, get our key, but no cookies. We ask if we can have our cookies and they inform us that they are out of cookies. Of course they're out of cookies!

-At 2:55a.m. Everything is finally OK and we are ready for bed.