My friend came back on  the line to briskly inform me that I would be able to change my ticket for no fee. When I then asked how full the flights were, in other words, did I need to rebook today, or could I wait a day, she went into a long teutonic explanation (meanwhile I am paying for the phone call still) about how she couldn’t guarantee the rate, blah blah blah.

A simple “I can’t make any promises, but it looks good” would have been fine. But that would have been too friendly.

Thankfully I go back to the states in 2 weeks. I love Europe, and I love my European friends, but I need some customer service and some friendly faces!