Date: December 19, 2022

After nearly 3 years of COVID-19, I was itching to fly international again. I hadn’t seen my girlfriend in so long that when Philippines announced in May 2022, that they would re-open the country to tourism, I began my planning. I finally decided that I would fly before Christmas to spend the New Year and celebrate both our birthdays together in January.

But when it came time to plan and book my tickets, I realized many carriers hadn’t resumed their pre-COVID schedules. Options for daily connections were mostly limited to Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines, and Singapore Airlines — and their return ticket prices were very high. Understandably so. After all, I was flying right before Christmas to a majority Catholic country and this was the year end.

So in order to save money, I booked my onward journey on Thai Airways and then split my return ticket with flights on Air Asia and IndiGo, flying back to Bangalore after a few days spent in Bangkok.

Upon arriving in Bangalore airport, I did run into an issue with security. After clearing immigration, I had to pass my bags through the scanners and the security staff marked my bags for inspection. Since I packed my drone in my carry on bag, the security personnel informed me that I cannot carry drones in my carry on — only check-in luggage! I told them the reason why I place it in my carry on is because I wished to declare it with customs, because that’s what I used to do pre-COVID. The security officer then informed me: “oh, actually customs has moved downstairs and you have to declare goods before you check-in bags”.

The whole experience was frustrating as they had to call a Thai Airways staff member, who had to herself clear security just to get to us, talk to customs, deal with security personnel… long story short, I got fed up and told her I will just place my drone in my check-in luggage (which Thai Airways staff had to retrieve). A lot of time was wasted on this but oh well, lesson learnt!

Fortunately I had plenty of time as my flight was slightly delayed. After boarding, I just watched some comedy shows until meal was served.

After having my preferred drink when flying – gin and tonic – I tried to get some sleep.

Once I got to the transfers area, I couldn’t find my Manila flight on the digital display. I went to the Thai Airways customer service desk who informed me of my gate but told me the connecting flight was also delayed. So I decided to use my Priority Pass card to access a lounge so that I could eat breakfast and sit somewhere properly.

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