The other morning I dropped off Mama Manoogian at the Airport.
The airport experience was different this time and I attribute it to the change in ownership.
First thing I noticed was that one can no longer park on the departure level (except a couple of fancy imported cars from the ministry of Defense). They have the old parking spaces blocked off and even when unloading your luggage, the passangers have to come out on the drivers side as the things blocking the old parking spaces prevent you from opening your door. I guess there are some unloading spaces, but like I said, the ministry of Defense cars were using them for parking.
I unloaded the bags from the car and found a baggage cart, which I wanted to use, but some older guy seemed to be attached to it, so I figured what the heck, I�ll let him load the bags on the cart, which were each exactly 32 kilos. Well I guess the guy had a bad back and he let me do all the heavy work. I left my mom with 1,500 dram for a tip to the guy with the bad back and parked the car.
Parking is now 500 dram (use to be 200 dram) and they now give you a receipt which has a contract written on it that says that the owner of the car is responsible if anything is lost from the car. When it was 200 dram, you were paying that for someone to watch your car and make sure such things didn�t happen. The contact is written in Armenian and English. I guess Russian readers could sue if something happened, but maybe only Americans do such things, thus the English.
I went inside the airport to find my mother and on the way up, I was thinking that I would find the guy with the bad back who pushed in the luggage cart, disputing the tip with her as not being enough. When I found my mom, she reported to me that as she was coming into the terminal with the guy with the bad back and a policeman walked up to the guy with the bad back and told him to get lost and that luggage carts are free of charge.
I left my mom to go take a look around for Raffi�s dad, who I found sitting with his doctor friends having juice and muffins. I told Raffi�s dad that I would call over my mom, who was within eye sight and waving me over for some reason. I went over to find the guy with the bad back talking to her about giving him money, I guess to get his back fixed or something. I asked him in not so nice a way if he had a license to work in the airport and then told him that it would be a good idea to leave us alone or I would call over a policeman to deal with him. He asked if that�s the way it�s going to be? I said yes and he walked off.
We joined Raffi�s dad and his friends until his flight was ready to depart.
We then went through check-in and being that my mom had a 3rd piece of luggage, we had to pay an additional $110 (which we knew about in advance and were prepared to pay for). I had the money ready and when I wanted to offer it to the check-in people, I was told that I have to pay for it in their office and that they don�t take dollars and only drams. I said I don�t have drams and was told in their office in Yerevan that it was $110 and for that reason I brought dollars. If I had known, I would have exchanged the $110 into drams. The woman said that it�s okay, I can exchange it in the airport. I asked if their exchange rate corresponds with the exchange rate in the airport? She said no, the rate in the airport is lower. I asked if that�s the case and since British Air wants $110, then they should exchange the dollars into drams so it will be fair. My mom didn�t want to spoil her great trip with some stupid exchange rate argument story and told me to just pay it. So I asked how much drams $110 will be. She did the calculations and multiplied $110 by 581.92 drams which came out to 64,010 drams. I looked to see how much I had in drams and was short by 12,000 drams. So I went to the exchange, gave him $100 and told him I needed 12,000 in drams and the rest in dollars. His exchange rate was 551 drams to the dollar. So since I didn�t have a calculator, I trusted the exchange guy near check-in 5 and he gave me 12,000 drams and was to give me according to his calculation $78, but asked me if I would take 75 Euros instead and told me that the dollar and the Euro is now the same rate. I believed him and took $3 and 75 Euros. I took the 12,000 drams to the British Air people.
Mom and I finished the check-in process really well I thought and sat and talked as we waited for her flight to be called for boarding.
They called her flight and she started to boarding process and was sent back because her 21 days visa had expired and she was over by 4 days. No big deal, we paid $8 for the 4 days at the Ovir and sent mom on her way.
She told me to tell everyone that this was the first trip to Armenia that she left really well rested and all around happy about her experiences.
I went back to Yerevan and took the time to exchange money and the Euros and calculate my losses.
To begin with, the Euro is worth 10 dram less than the dollar. For that, I lost 750 drams. On top of this the guy shorted me 122 drams as $22 times 551 is 12,122. Then we move over to the British Air exchange rate of 581.92. On Gomidas, which is the place you find the highest rate, the rate that morning was 577. So British Air charged me 4.92 drams more than the highest rate I could find in Yerevan, meaning 541.2 drams. On top of this, I had to exchange $22 of the $110 at a much lower rate, meaning I lost an additional 30.92 drams to the dollar. That�s 680.24 drams. All in all, my total losses due to British Air and the dishonest airport exchange guy came out to 1,985.2 drams.
So I don�t feel so wronged, I�ll subtract the 1,500 I was planning on giving to the guy with the bad back, and had a total loss of 485.2 drams which is 84 cents when calculated with the real exchange rate. Such a loss is still big here in Armenia, but I guess I'll get over it as soon as I fly the next time and exercise my right as a passenger and use all the little soaps and toilet supplies from all their bathrooms on the plane within the first hour of flight so they have to refill them a few times. In fact I'll do it in both directions to be sure they understand that they should not trick people, especially me. As for the dishonest exchange guy, I wish that all his teeth fall out, all but one and for that one, may he have a tooth ache that keeps him up at night.
So what lesson can the inexperienced traveler learn from this?
1. Luggage carts in the airport are free.
2. Don�t exchange money with the guy near check-in number 5 and if you have to, count how much he gives you.
3. Euros are not yet worth the same as dollars, but I bet they will be worth more one day.
4. When British Air tells you dollars, have drams ready in that amount that you exchange in the city and increase it by 5 drams, as their exchange rate is higher. In fact, to get the best rate, go to their office in Yerevan and exchange your money there.
5. Don�t go to the airport on days that the minister of defense people are sending off someone as there will be no luggage drop-off area and room for your poor passengers to get out of the car on their side. This also means that you could end up with a ding on your car door if they try to open their door.
6. Make sure you lock your car and leave no valuables in it, as your 500 drams are paid for rent on the space your car is using and not for security.
7. Don�t worry about getting your visa extended, as the Ovir people at the airport are really nice and move you right through (I think this is because the guy that stamps your document is a Manoogian and us Manoogians don�t like to waste time).
My return to Martuni was really smooth, though the weather was very foggy from Goris to Stepanagert. None the less, I made Stepanagert in less than 5 hours, which is considered good time in good weather. I guess my car is good for taking those hills at a normal speed.
I got a call from Mama Manoogian the next morning, telling me that she got back to the states safe.
I see that comments are back. This should be interesting.
The airport experience was different this time and I attribute it to the change in ownership.
First thing I noticed was that one can no longer park on the departure level (except a couple of fancy imported cars from the ministry of Defense). They have the old parking spaces blocked off and even when unloading your luggage, the passangers have to come out on the drivers side as the things blocking the old parking spaces prevent you from opening your door. I guess there are some unloading spaces, but like I said, the ministry of Defense cars were using them for parking.
I unloaded the bags from the car and found a baggage cart, which I wanted to use, but some older guy seemed to be attached to it, so I figured what the heck, I�ll let him load the bags on the cart, which were each exactly 32 kilos. Well I guess the guy had a bad back and he let me do all the heavy work. I left my mom with 1,500 dram for a tip to the guy with the bad back and parked the car.
Parking is now 500 dram (use to be 200 dram) and they now give you a receipt which has a contract written on it that says that the owner of the car is responsible if anything is lost from the car. When it was 200 dram, you were paying that for someone to watch your car and make sure such things didn�t happen. The contact is written in Armenian and English. I guess Russian readers could sue if something happened, but maybe only Americans do such things, thus the English.
I went inside the airport to find my mother and on the way up, I was thinking that I would find the guy with the bad back who pushed in the luggage cart, disputing the tip with her as not being enough. When I found my mom, she reported to me that as she was coming into the terminal with the guy with the bad back and a policeman walked up to the guy with the bad back and told him to get lost and that luggage carts are free of charge.
I left my mom to go take a look around for Raffi�s dad, who I found sitting with his doctor friends having juice and muffins. I told Raffi�s dad that I would call over my mom, who was within eye sight and waving me over for some reason. I went over to find the guy with the bad back talking to her about giving him money, I guess to get his back fixed or something. I asked him in not so nice a way if he had a license to work in the airport and then told him that it would be a good idea to leave us alone or I would call over a policeman to deal with him. He asked if that�s the way it�s going to be? I said yes and he walked off.
We joined Raffi�s dad and his friends until his flight was ready to depart.
We then went through check-in and being that my mom had a 3rd piece of luggage, we had to pay an additional $110 (which we knew about in advance and were prepared to pay for). I had the money ready and when I wanted to offer it to the check-in people, I was told that I have to pay for it in their office and that they don�t take dollars and only drams. I said I don�t have drams and was told in their office in Yerevan that it was $110 and for that reason I brought dollars. If I had known, I would have exchanged the $110 into drams. The woman said that it�s okay, I can exchange it in the airport. I asked if their exchange rate corresponds with the exchange rate in the airport? She said no, the rate in the airport is lower. I asked if that�s the case and since British Air wants $110, then they should exchange the dollars into drams so it will be fair. My mom didn�t want to spoil her great trip with some stupid exchange rate argument story and told me to just pay it. So I asked how much drams $110 will be. She did the calculations and multiplied $110 by 581.92 drams which came out to 64,010 drams. I looked to see how much I had in drams and was short by 12,000 drams. So I went to the exchange, gave him $100 and told him I needed 12,000 in drams and the rest in dollars. His exchange rate was 551 drams to the dollar. So since I didn�t have a calculator, I trusted the exchange guy near check-in 5 and he gave me 12,000 drams and was to give me according to his calculation $78, but asked me if I would take 75 Euros instead and told me that the dollar and the Euro is now the same rate. I believed him and took $3 and 75 Euros. I took the 12,000 drams to the British Air people.
Mom and I finished the check-in process really well I thought and sat and talked as we waited for her flight to be called for boarding.
They called her flight and she started to boarding process and was sent back because her 21 days visa had expired and she was over by 4 days. No big deal, we paid $8 for the 4 days at the Ovir and sent mom on her way.
She told me to tell everyone that this was the first trip to Armenia that she left really well rested and all around happy about her experiences.
I went back to Yerevan and took the time to exchange money and the Euros and calculate my losses.
To begin with, the Euro is worth 10 dram less than the dollar. For that, I lost 750 drams. On top of this the guy shorted me 122 drams as $22 times 551 is 12,122. Then we move over to the British Air exchange rate of 581.92. On Gomidas, which is the place you find the highest rate, the rate that morning was 577. So British Air charged me 4.92 drams more than the highest rate I could find in Yerevan, meaning 541.2 drams. On top of this, I had to exchange $22 of the $110 at a much lower rate, meaning I lost an additional 30.92 drams to the dollar. That�s 680.24 drams. All in all, my total losses due to British Air and the dishonest airport exchange guy came out to 1,985.2 drams.
So I don�t feel so wronged, I�ll subtract the 1,500 I was planning on giving to the guy with the bad back, and had a total loss of 485.2 drams which is 84 cents when calculated with the real exchange rate. Such a loss is still big here in Armenia, but I guess I'll get over it as soon as I fly the next time and exercise my right as a passenger and use all the little soaps and toilet supplies from all their bathrooms on the plane within the first hour of flight so they have to refill them a few times. In fact I'll do it in both directions to be sure they understand that they should not trick people, especially me. As for the dishonest exchange guy, I wish that all his teeth fall out, all but one and for that one, may he have a tooth ache that keeps him up at night.
So what lesson can the inexperienced traveler learn from this?
1. Luggage carts in the airport are free.
2. Don�t exchange money with the guy near check-in number 5 and if you have to, count how much he gives you.
3. Euros are not yet worth the same as dollars, but I bet they will be worth more one day.
4. When British Air tells you dollars, have drams ready in that amount that you exchange in the city and increase it by 5 drams, as their exchange rate is higher. In fact, to get the best rate, go to their office in Yerevan and exchange your money there.
5. Don�t go to the airport on days that the minister of defense people are sending off someone as there will be no luggage drop-off area and room for your poor passengers to get out of the car on their side. This also means that you could end up with a ding on your car door if they try to open their door.
6. Make sure you lock your car and leave no valuables in it, as your 500 drams are paid for rent on the space your car is using and not for security.
7. Don�t worry about getting your visa extended, as the Ovir people at the airport are really nice and move you right through (I think this is because the guy that stamps your document is a Manoogian and us Manoogians don�t like to waste time).
My return to Martuni was really smooth, though the weather was very foggy from Goris to Stepanagert. None the less, I made Stepanagert in less than 5 hours, which is considered good time in good weather. I guess my car is good for taking those hills at a normal speed.
I got a call from Mama Manoogian the next morning, telling me that she got back to the states safe.
I see that comments are back. This should be interesting.
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