Travel companion for Parents
Recently my mom was scheduled to travel to Mumbai from San Francisco on Lufthansa flight. I was looking for some companion on same flight. Someone to stop by her seat a couple of times during the flight and make sure that she is being taken care of. She doesn’t speak English, which creates a big challenge for her to get to correct gate on transit.
I tried all sorts of options to find companion:
1) Asked all friends to check if someone was traveling by same Airlines.
2) Registered with Travel companion websites like: sulekha.com, safarsaathi.com, humrahi.net.
3) As a backup I requested wheelchair option although my mom is fit & fine.
4) Posted emails on mailing list at work place and local temple community.
Nothing worked for me.
My mom was stressed out whole month before flight since she was nervous to travel alone. I was worried too, however I kept saying to my mom that “It cools! You will be OK!”
On the day of flight we went to airport early and waited close to Check in queue. As soon as we see some Desi guy or family, we would smile, go next to them and ask “Are you guys heading for Mumbai?”
Third person we spoke to turned out to be a couple with a 3 year old kid who were there to fly Mumbai. We explained our situation and requested if they would help us by making sure that Mom gets some company. They were more than happy to help my Mom.
This couple was of big help, next day I spoke to Mom after she reached Mumbai and she told me about how helpful that couple was.
I promised myself next time when I am traveling to India, I will look around for Parents, smile and just check with them if they needed any help.
Tags: desi, desi air tickets, humrahi.net, safarsaathi.com, sulekha, travel companion for parents, US India flights
September 5th, 2009 at 10:37 am
So sorry to hear that safarSaathi didn’t work for you.
I started the website for the exact reason that you cited - my MIL was traveling and I had a hard time finding someone. I’m hoping that the site will be more and more effective as the number of posts goes up.
Glad you found someone to accompany your mum.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:05 am
i fly almost twice every year, when at airport in india, while filling up immigration form, i always come across someone( most of them flying to middle east) who dosnt know how to write english and wants us to fill up their form. i will end up filling 3-4 of them. out of curiosity , i ask them , wht they do and how they feel staying away from india.