Gift Details

Recd.--July 30, 2003. Est. Value--$477. Expended for airfare. Trade Representative, Exe of certain foreign gifts: Item description and disposition

To attend the International Conference on Research of Climate Changes of the Arctic. Olsen had purchased the roundtrip ticket from Oslo to Svalbard through the travel agent for the meeting. When she received the ticket in the mail, her return flight that the travel agency booked to Oslo left Svalbard at 4 am. This was a miscommunication given that she had a series of meetings starting at 9 am in Oslo on the day of the flight. Upon arriving in Oslo, she contacted Scandinavian Airline Service (SAS) and was informed that there were other flights between Svalbard and Oslo that were available. Dr. Olsen requested the change in flight directly with SAS. The meeting organizers contacted SAS in her behalf and she was told that it was impossible to change the ticket. The Organizers of the Meeting proceeded to make a new reservation. When she spoke with the Council, she was informed that the same mistake had been made with other attendees' flight arrangements. The Council made arrangements to change the ticket and refused payment. ident Authority