Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

July 26, Thursday was definitely the worst day of my life. It was my and Xianelle’s flight back to Doha. Our flight was at 1645 via Qatar Airways. Everything was going as planned. We arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 2pm which gives us more than enough time to check in get through the Immigration. This time as it was last year, my husband went back here a month ahead of us giving a total of 40 kilos, that is 20 each for me and Xiane. Being a Privilege Club member, we were also entitled to 10 kilos (each) extra. My sister-in-law and her husband who’s a UPS employee, were able to accompany me inside the NAIA. Being employed at UPS, he could avail of visitors pass although it was for a fee of Php 50 or roughly QR4.

There were long queues at the weighing counters. Before it was my turn, we were able to talk to Kabayan (fellow Filipino) whom I noticed was carrying only 1 luggage and a small hand carry. I asked if he could accommodate 1 of my baggages my trolley, that was just my back up plan, just in case I get an excess baggage. The Kabayan was kind enough to do me a favor. I thought everything would be fine then it was my turn to have my baggage weighed. It turned that I Xiane couldn’t avail of the 10-kilo extra from her Privilege Club membership because she was just an extension of her dad’s membership, that she didn’t have mileage. I even had to call Tian long distance just to tell him the situation. I had to explain that Xiane was an extension that’s why the mileage does not appear in her account. I even had to talk to the ground crew supervisor only to get the same response. In short I had an excess of 6 kilos. I couldn’t pay $60 as I was just bringing money for the terminal fee which by the way increased from Php 550 last year to Php 750 this year. Luckily I still had extra money for it. I only had one choice and that is to remove some items from my baggage. I was already starting to sort out which items to remove when the Kabayan who had agreed to take my trolley came back to me, telling me that he couldn’t check it in because his destination was Kuwait and he also couldn’t hand carry it because it was over 7 kilos. I was still talking to the guy and thinking of what to do, when this ground crew overheard us. To make matters worse he started asking if I knew the guy, I told him I didn’t. Then he just blurted out that what I was doing was illegal. Then I got riled up by what he said, truly very inconsiderate! Here I was looking for ways to accommodate all my items then he arrogantly tells me that I am doing something wrong. I was so angry, I kept talking, I was yelling all sorts of things. I remember saying that it was the first time I ever had a hard time leaving and they’re not helping at all. Finally, I was able to resolve the problem by taking 4 kilos off my baggage and taking 7 kilos more as hand carry. I thought the drama was finally over. We checked but we just still got one more stop before going to the Immigration. We had to say goodbye to my father-in-law who sent us off.  For us Filipinos, one can never leave without saying our goodbyes to our loved ones. So we tried going out just to bid them goodbye but this airport security wouldn’t let us, saying that once we’ve checked in, we couldn’t go out of the premises anymore. I told the security that my father-in-law was just arm’s length away from where I was standing, just behind the railings, behind the sliding doors. Still the he didn’t let me through. I don’t know why people can be so inconsiderate. Once again I got so angry because these people at the NAIA weren’t there to make our lives any easier. I admit that I created a scene at the airport. I was screaming and shouting. I was saying something like “I couldn’t believe this airport”, “I hate this airport”. My sister-in-law who was still with me also got emotional. We didn’t care anymore if people were looking at us. There was also this woman who wanted to go out but had the same fate. Just like us, she was so upset with the situation. When things happen, they really get to you. I mean, you won’t get to see your family for a year or so and yet people won’t even give you extra consideration. I wonder if these people have ever experienced being away from their loved ones. When my sister-in-law and I said our goodbyes, we were so emotional that we really cried. We were crying because we were so upset with the situation and the people plus the fact that we were already so stressed out.

I got to the Immigration at 4pm and it was already the start of boarding time. Thank God everything went smoothly from there. Before reaching the boarding gate, I had to go through several xrays and inspections which were understandably for safety reasons. Then there was a final inspection at the boarding gate. The inspector was wondering why my hand carry was so heavy. Well fortunately I was smart enough to put all the 4 kilos that I took away, back into my hand carry.  If they were not helpful enough to make my life easier, this was my way of getting back at them. I just shrugged my shoulders, she couldn’t do anything more since I got passed the check in counter. But there was this one Filipina who exchanged words with the same lady inspector who was actually part of the airline security. The Pinay (short for Filipina) was angry because the inspector confiscated her 50 ml bottle of perfume and some lotion. She was fuming mad because the bottle is half full meaning there was barely 50 ml of perfume left in it. She insinuated that they were confiscating it for themselves. At first the lady security asked the ground crew to keep the Pinay from boarding but later on she was allowed to proceed already.

I don’t understand why the NAIA fares so badly compared to other international airports. My last departure just proved how inefficient and how unfriendly people in NAIA are. They weren’t placed there to make traveling any easier. They are there to make our live miserable. I have had a negative experience at the customs in 2001. Tian and I were arriving from Saudi but we had a five-day stay in HK. So we were bringing so many items. This lady from customs was asking why we had so many items. The nerve of these people! What do they care, as long as you’re not bringing anything that’s prohibited by the law. What’s worse is that they couldn’t even ask politely. I have been traveling since 2001, I had experienced these airport horrors personally and have had 2nd hand experience as well. I have been to the airports of HK, Dhahran in Saudi, Bahrain and Qatar but I’ve never experienced any of these things in these airports. I wonder now what’s wrong with NAIA. I couldn’t believe how our fellow Filipinos are there to make things harder for us. I pity those who are new in this league. The first time OFW’s. If people at the NAIA can be so rude to people who are frequent travelers, how much more to these first timers. I wish someone from NAIA gets to read this so they would realize how inferior our own international airport is, not just infrastructure-wise but most of all in terms of human relations, to other international airports. I hope that you stay true to your name, that is being an international airport and more so bearing the name of a national hero, Ninoy Aquino. Well Ninoy gave up his life in the service of his country. I don’t ask you to do the same, only be decent enough to serve travelers most especially your fellow countrymen, after all, we pay a whopping Php 750 each time we use the airport. I suppose you should better make it worth every centavo that we are paying for.