Well, I'm back in Moscow (and not quite as tired as I look in this picture). Before I start with the current round of exploits, I have to start with the tale of getting here. As you might recall from a previous entry, before you can apply for a business visa from the Russian Embassy or Consulate, you might first obtain a Letter of Invitation (LOI) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow. The American Express office in Moscow handles the paper work for us, and I duly filed my paperwork with them (as I did back in January).
Not quite sure why, but for some reason, it takes longer to process a multiple entry visa than it does for a single entry visa (even though the only difference on my part is which box I checked on the application form): the advertised duration is 15 to 20 working days. Much to my surprise, on the lower end of the scale, I got a message from Amex informing me the LOI was in their office - now I just needed to arrange for pick-up.
But I'm thousands of miles and eight time zones away! Since Amex overnighted the LOI to me back in January (and that is a bit of a misnomer as it actually takes 3 days for the package to arrive), I asked them to repeat the process. However, true to form, there was a recent change in some rule or regulation, and Amex can no longer ship LOIs.
I called the local shipping department at work, and they informed me I should contact UPS. However, UPS in the States told me they can't arrange for an international pick-up and I need to call the Moscow office. Rang up UPS in Russia, and after putting me on hold, they hung up on me.
Decided to call the IBM office in Moscow (figuring they had a vested interest in my arrival in Moscow) to see if they could help. Unfortunately, IBM Shipping would not respond to any of my instant messages or notes, so I have to drag the secretary for lab director of software developers into the fray. After a few more exchanges with the secretary as the intermediary, Shipping finally got UPS to pick-up my LOI, and this was on March 21st.
A few days went by, and still nothing arrived at my house. On the 23rd, I asked the secretary for the tracking number (because Shipping would not communicate directly with me), and eventually I got a number. However, when I tried to locate the package, the UPS web-page stated the number was not valid. Due to the time difference, I had to wait until Monday, the 26th before I could contact Moscow again. The secretary informed me that after they gave me the original tracking number, they realized it was the wrong one and then she gave me the correct one. And it was still not valid (according to UPS.com).
Now I was beginning to get a bit anxious as my intended departure date was Monday, April 9th, and I still needed a couple of days for the consulate to process my application. I contacted the secretary again, and she got in touch with Shipping and they insisted UPS picked up the package. The secretary was getting frustrated (but not as frustrated as I was), and asked what more could be done.
"Well, if Shipping believes this number is valid, then ask them to track the package!"
The next day, the package finally showed up in the UPS web site (with a pick up date of 3/26). Finally, some progress.
Alas, the joy was not to last long. The following day, I got a note from the secretary informing me there was a problem with the package; for some reason, Russian Customs was holding it at the border. That seemed odd, but there didn't seem to be anything to do about that.
A couple of more days went by, and the status on the web-page changed; now the package was being held for non-payment. This completely perplexed me. Turns out, IBM and/or Amex was in the custom of sending LOIs to their destinations COD, and some recipients have not paid their bills. UPS decided to hold my package hostage until IBM (or Amex, I am still not clear on this point) paid an outstanding bill of over $2,000.
I contacted a few more more senior people in IBM Moscow, and the best advice I got was to start the whole process all over again, and this time, they would either send the LOI with a different carrier or they would ask someone heading over to the States to put it in the US Mail to me once they got to America. Back in January, I asked Amex if I could apply for a multiple-entry visa at the same time I had an application in the works for a single-entry visa, and the answer was an emphatic, "No!" So I doubted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would let me file for another LOI when the first one was never completely process.
While all this was happening, a situation arose at one of a customer installation (I'll omit the name, but they are located in Arkansas - that should be enough of a clue to figure out their identity). I was really hoping to make it through my career at IBM without visiting north west Arkansas, but given my LOI was still in UPS's possession in Moscow, I had to respond to this request for an on-site visit.
(As a side note, the trip to Bentonville really wasn't that bad. Then again, it wasn't the typical engagement either. However, that is a different story).
Just before I left for Arkansas on April 9th, I just happened to instant message with a co-worker in Moscow. He asked when I was scheduled to return to Russia, and I explained how UPS was holding my LOI as a hostage. Not sure how he did it, but they next day, he asked me, "If I pay UPS the equivalent of $50, they will deliver your letter. Is that OK?"
"Of course!" was my immediate response. Oleg paid the money, and while I was in Arkansas, my LOI finally arrived at the house. I assumed Oleg must have relatives or a close friend at UPS, but that's not the case. According to him, he went to the UPS office (which is not far from his house) and explained to the agent that IBM was not going to pay the $2000 bill just because this one letter was held hostage. Somehow he convinced the clerk that it was more practical to pursue the issue of non-payment with IBM and allow him to pay for this parcel. Still amazed that I ever got this LOI.
Anyway, back from Bentonville and armed with my LOI (and the rest of the application materials), I applied for the visa. I just had to change the dates of the trip from 4/9 through 4/26 to May 14th through June 1st.
While waiting for my passport to come back, I contacted American Express (here in the US) to change the flights. As it turns out, the original flights I booked for the April 9th departure was actually two separate tickets. For some reason, it was cheaper to book the NYC to London leg (on American Airlines) as one segment and the London to Moscow (on British Airlines) portion as another segment. What I didn't realize was that when I had to cancel/postpone that trip, American Airlines gave me a credit, however, the British Airlines' ticket was non-refundable, non-changeable, non-anything; BA simply kept my (OK, IBM's) money!
Now I had two reasons for despising Heathrowe - not only do they only allow one piece of carry-on luggage, they don't refund tickets!
Since I had to use American for part of the way (to use my credit with them) and I didn't want to go through London, I opted for FinnAir and Helsinki. The big shock came when the travel agent priced the new ticket. The relatively short hop from Helsinki to Moscow costs almost as much as the big leap across the Atlantic from JFK to Finland! Amazing. Also, for some reason, the first leg was booked as an e-ticket, but the Helsinki to Moscow leg was a paper ticket.
Eventually, the day of my departure arrived and it was time to schlep out to the airport. The night before, I stayed in NYC, so I opted to take the subway out to Jamaica and then the AirTrain to the terminal. I hopped onto the subway with plenty of time to spare, so even when we get stalled for a few minutes in Queens, I didn't panic.
Rolled my new luggage (thanks again, siblings!) through the terminal and over to the check-in counter. A bit of a line, but I had a book and I was just chllin'. To the front of the line, I produced my passport and paper ticket for Helsinki to Moscow, and the agent generated my boarding pass and handed back my documents. And I still had almost 2.5 hours until boarding.
Wandered around the terminal for a bit, got a bite to eat, wandered around a bit more and then finally went through security (with over 90 minutes still to kill). The Finns should really complain about their allotted space in JFK - what a grungy little section of the airport. First of all, it is isolated from the rest of the gates, and the only services available on the other side of security is a little newspaper stand and a poorly stocked coffee shop. Finally found an outlet and decided to power up the ThinkPad for a bit. (I should have started writing up this note then, but, true to form, I am doing this the day before I return!)
About 45 minutes before departure and just 15 minutes before boarding, I pulled out my documents and took a look through them. "Humm," I moaned to myself, "this is a bit odd. I only have 1 boarding pass. With only a 40 minute layover in Helsinki, I don't think I'll be able to get the boarding pass for the next leg while in transit."
Decided to pop over to the counter and I explained my situation to the agent. She asked for the claim ticket for my bag, and that's when I noticed my luggage was only checked as far as Helsinki! So much for being a "world traveler" - what a rookie mistake! You always check your boarding passes when you the agent checks you in. Oy.
The agent made a few calls and put an alert on my back. However, the way FinnAir can handle a 40 minute layover in Helsinki is they put the bags for Finland in one set of containers and the bags for Moscow (and the other destinations) in other containers. When the plane lands, all they have to do is move the large container from one plane to another. She said she would try to get my bag moved from one container to the other, but given I checked in so early, my bag was already loaded on the plane. So much for arriving early!
Sure enough, when we touched down in Moscow just after noon, the other bags went round and round the carousel, but my bag never showed up. Being the optimist, I waited about 30 minutes before walking over to the Lost Baggage area to file my claim. They already knew about my bag and informed me it would be on the Aeroflot due in at 10pm. I left the address of my hotel, and they said a courier would deliver it.
Humm - maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all?
When I checked in at the hotel, I told the receptionist I expected my luggage to arrive sometime after 10pm, but I didn't expect to still be awake. And sure enough, the next morning, the red light on the phone was blinking and my bag was waiting for me downstairs.
OK - I think this is enough for the one.
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