Tonga Bound...

Wish I was...but I'm not. Long story short, due to work, I needed to stay back. Last week or so my dad's younger brother Epeli passed away in Australlia. I guess they found out it was due to a hole in his heart. This uncle of mine, I've never met. We did have plans to fly out to Australlia last year, but that didn't happen. Epeli passed away single and no kids. So my dad's family decided to fly his body back to Tonga to be buried.

My dad wasn't sure what to do -- send the money he would spend on a ticket or go to Tonga for the funeral. His younger sister Sinai would be flying in from New Zealand. That would just leave him.

On Sunday evening we were at their house and he had decided he was going to send the money. By this time Haloti and Soni were set to go. I voiced my opinion and told my parents that it would be a good opportunity for him and all of his siblings to be reunited. It's been decades since they've all been together. No amount of money could ever replace that. Well, Sunday evening dad decided he was going to Tonga. Yay!!!!

Fast forward to today...okay more like last night. We gave my dad a buddy pass to use for his flight from SLC to LAX. Dad paid full fare for his ticket and Soni and Haloti went stand-by on Air New Zealand from LAX to Tonga via Apia. I flew with them from SLC to LAX. We get to LAX and as they leave the gate where we flew in, I was giving Haloti the rundown on what to do. (Yes, this would be his first time traveling overseas without me going stand-by.) As I'm giving him the rundown, Soni is asking to see his passport. This is Soni's second time going to Tonga, but the last time he went, he was only 2. So the kid was pretty excited to see his passport. Haloti reassured him that it was in his backpack. I told Haloti to pull it out as well as the vouchers. Well, he pulled out the passports, but guess what? He couldn't find the vouchers. The vouchers that are needed in order for him and Soni to fly. He left it at home.

What to do? What else was there to do but purchase another set of tickets. Dilemma? Of course 'cause the account his charge card is set up to didn't have enough. It would require transferring money over from savings. Easy right? Well, not if you don't have the account number and the only way for me to do it is through the web. But yeah, since I was just flying in and back, left my laptop at home. And my flight back to SLC was in 15 mins. I told them to go and pick up there bags and check with the agent if they can print another voucher or if he would need to re-purchase new ones. In the meantime, I would head over to my gate, wait for my flight and see if I could get a hold of someone who can log into our account and transfer the money over so he can buy another set if he needed to. Got a hold of sister Silia and she was able to do it for me. In the meantime, he was down at the ticketcounter figuring out what to do. Luckily they had hours before the flight from LAX to Tonga.

I hopped on my flight. Got in to SLC and called to check on them. He had to purchase new vouchers. Luckily the vouchers are refundable. But with the four vouchers purchased, let's just say it's enough for two full fare tickets. Key is to remember to get the un-used vouchers reimbursed. Well, as I write this, they are enroute to Tonga. I have to week not to worry. They return next Tuesday, so let's hope they don't lose the vouchers or passports so they can return home. LOL.

Here's a few pics I snapped of them on our way to LAX: