Free buffet breakfast, yogurt, cereal, lots of breads, juice, coffee, sliced meat and cheese and hard boiled eggs.

 

I clean my gear and hang it out to dry.  Some of it I’ve been wearing for 5 or more days since I didn’t have my luggage.

 

I contact Expedia to change my flights using my iPhone.  I know the fee will be high, but I need to change the flights.  First they take 10 minutes to determine that I have to contact LAN directly to change my flights and there should be only a $50 change fee.  Then they take 10 minutes to determine that only Delta can change my flights with a $250 change fee and then they transfer me to Delta.  Delta changes the flight in under a minute.

 

The LAN office is just down the street from the hotel, so I go there and meet a guy from Pennsylvania who is originally from Argentina.  I take a number and he says to just come up with him or I’ll be there all day.  Plus he’ll translate.  LAN refuses to allow the $50 change fee because “they don’t usually offer that to US purchasers and don’t know how I got it”.  But it’s on my ticket and on their computer.  They refuse.  The other option is to take a $50 all day bus ride to Chile tomorrow and pay Chilean Immigration entry fees and hope that nothing goes wrong and I make my Delta flight, but that sounds unappetizing to me (besides, it’s not like anything would go wrong, would it).  After 30 minutes of arguing, I’ll have to buy a $310 round trip ticket, cheaper than one way.  I don’t want to spend my whole free day arguing.  I figure I’ll fight this when I get home, which I do…every agent I talk to sees the $50 change fee for my ticket on their computer and can’t understand why they wouldn’t allow the change, but the representative who authorizes refunds says it doesn’t exist and refuses me any relief.  Is anyone surprised?  

 

Wait, you don’t think that’s the end of this trip do you?  Surely, nothing else could go wrong.

 

I have lunch at McDonalds (I can’t help it), they misunderstand my order and don’t super-size.  Then I go shopping for a few nicer T-shirts.  

 

I spend the afternoon sunning myself and reading by the pool.  I go to dinner and have a salad, steak with french fries and a bottle of Malbec.  The whole meal cost $16.