Damn damn damn damn damn!

I have just thrown away several hundred dollars, and no-one to blame but myself.

It all started last week when I got an e-mail from an Australian friend, Sonia Stavreff, inviting me to her 23rd birthday on the 30th of April. Sonia and I met a couple of years ago when NSW Young Liberals hosted the participants from the IDU Young Leaders Forum held in Sydney. I was worried that being from NZ, the locals would find me very boring compared to my colleagues from Argentina, Canada, Germany etc so I sort of said I was from Estonia. My friends elaborated on the story and said I was in fact the deposed Prime Minister who had been toppled in a communist coup. Sonia has eastern European ancestry and started talking about the local area, and later that night I finally confessed I was from NZ not Estonia, and for some reason have been friends since 🙂

Anyway the invite was very well-timed as I had some air points expiring on 30 April, and loved the idea of having an excuse to spend a few days in Sydney. Quickly checked with Sonia, and booked tickets over. Cost me $400 of airpoints and $150 in taxes and levies.

Only some days after booking the tickets did I recall that on 30 April I have an InternetNZ Council Meeting. And one which I absolutely can not afford to miss, as several key issues I have been strongly involved in such as the business plan and communications plan are being considered. The meeting was in my diary, I knew it was on, but in my excitement I just plain forgot about it. Damn!

So I now have two choices:

a) Write off the $550, and don’t go to Australia at all

b) Pay $150 (by end of Wednesday) to change the tickets to another date. However I have to be certain I can make the other dates as will cost $150 each time to change. Also if I then travel, I will probably have $400 to $500 of hotels, taxis and meals.

So do I write off the $550 and get nothing or spend another $550+ to get a few days in Sydney where I can visit a few people, shop and dine out? What would others do?