If you missed the first half of Jason’s interesting trip to Spain, you can catch up here. It may have taken him forever to get from Springfield, MO to Madrid, Spain, but that wasn’t even the worst of it, yet. He may have finally made it to Madrid, but his luggage? Well…
Final Destination – Madrid?
When you finally get to Madrid, stand at the baggage claim for ages, and finally admit that your luggage isn’t coming, what’s a guy to do? You guessed it: back on the phone with United Airlines’ help desk (Call #5). Unfortunately, because United handed me over to Turkish Airlines in Chicago, all United could confirm was that my luggage made it back to Chicago, but after that, they couldn’t see anything in their system. Trying to be helpful, they gave me the number for Turkish Airlines’ lost luggage desk and transferred me over.
Once the line connected with Turkish Airlines, the person at the other end told me that I needed to file a report at the airport (fortunately, I’d already gotten in the line to do just that) and the number I called could only give updates/information about previously filed reports. Fine. So I waited in line, and when I get to the desk, I explain my situation and that I’m missing my bag. Surprisingly, the agent said he had no record of me being on the flight, either from Chicago to Istanbul or from Istanbul to Madrid. Curious, I thought, as I had ticket stubs for both flights. After a few minutes, he confirmed that I’d been on the flights (was there another option?!) and took my information to file a report. A few minutes later, he circled a number on the report copy he gave me, saying if I hadn’t heard anything in two days to call it for more information. Until then, I was out of luck. Cool.
Sometimes, you just admit defeat
Exhausted and nearly delirious, I finally left the airport, found a cab, and headed to the hotel for some much needed rest. This was Monday night, around 11 pm in Madrid, and I’d been on the go since 6 am the prior day, Springfield time. For those keeping track, that was nearly 34 hours of travel time, including the time difference.
Mercifully, the check-in process at the hotel was as smooth as could be. The front desk person even handed over a few toiletries not usually in the rooms, because, as you’ll recall, mine were in my bag that was, as of then, unaccounted for.
A new day, a new plan
After a night of restless sleep, I woke the next morning and promptly called the Turkish Airlines (Call #6) lost baggage number to get an update on my report. As I’d expected, no update existed, since the report had been filed less than 12 hours previously. At this point I again enlisted Tasha’s help, as she was state-side and able to contact people more easily than I could from Madrid. Wasting no time, she called the United help desk (Call #7) and asked the agent to figure out where the heck my bag was.
After some looking around and a call to the lost luggage desk at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the agent sounded confident my bag was still in Chicago. Frustrating, but at least we had an answer. The agent also said it was on the next flight to Madrid and gave Tasha the flight number and arrival time, so I knew when to expect my bag. Excellent. Except, when I tracked the flight number (it was another Turkish Airlines flight), it said that flight was going from Istanbul to Madrid the next morning. Istanbul?! That meant my bag made it all the way there with me and, when I had my longest, least complicated layover, that’s where they ‘misplaced’ my bag? Doesn’t make any sense to me either, but so long as it got to Madrid the following morning, I didn’t really care.
I really needed some fresh clothes…
So, as I’d been in the same clothes (yes… all of them) for the better part of 2.5 days, I headed out to get items to hold me over until my bag arrived, if it even got to me. I met up with some colleagues in Madrid for lunch, and then dinner, before calling it a night for more restless sleep. The next day – we’re now to Wednesday for those trying to keep track – I went out exploring and met up with the same colleagues for lunch. When I got back to the hotel, Tasha had tracked my bag and it said it had landed in Madrid. Yes! Except, we’d seen that message before when I originally landed and, as I explained earlier, there was no bag. So, I wasn’t convinced, but went to the front desk to ask them to call the airport number I’d been given in my lost luggage report (for whatever reason, I couldn’t get it to connect from my room).
Reunited and It Feels So Good
As it turned out, the front desk had my information on a sheet of paper. Huh? They’d been trying to call me, because their colleague at the airport had my bag in their possession and was wanting to know whether to deliver it to the hotel or if I was going to come get it. Thankfully, the front desk agent had taken it upon themselves to have my luggage delivered, and it was supposed to arrive between 2pm and 5pm that day. I told them I was heading up to my room to get some work done, but to please let me know when my bag arrived, and I’d come get it. About an hour and a half later I heard a muted knock at my door and, after opening it up, was greeted by a hotel clerk who, amazingly, had my long-lost luggage. Eureka!
As I spun my bag around assessing its condition and looking for damage, I noticed there was not one, not two, but five separate bar code stickers on various places on my bag. These are the stickers the check in agents pull off the larger baggage tag and stick on your piece of luggage for the other folks to scan so you can keep track of it. No wonder no one knew where it was. And now, at last, my travel was complete. Finally. Oh and yes, two of the wheels on my bag are broken. Guess I know what I want for Christmas.
Important Lessons
I’m the first to admit this was a complicated itinerary from the beginning; that much, I knew. But the multiple cancellations, delays, and rerouting made it even more complicated and frustrating. This was compounded by involving multiple airlines. Still, there are a few key lessons to take away from this:
- Go for simple itineraries. I honestly can’t remember why I picked this itinerary, but let’s assume I had my reasons. Of course, in retrospect, knowing this would have been anywhere near as complicated as it was, I’d have chosen differently. Picking simpler itineraries just makes sense: fewer stops means fewer places where things can go wrong, at least in theory.
- Be nice. Was I frustrated? Sure. More than I’ve been in a long, long time? Oh yes. Was that at least partially because I hadn’t slept well the night before I left and just wanted to get a confirmed itinerary to Madrid? Also, yes. Still, when I spoke with the United folks, I have to think saying ‘please,’ ‘thank you for your help,’ and staying polite – even when frustrated – helped move things along. Remember: the support agent didn’t cancel my flight, nor did the gate agent. Not their fault, so it’s not fair to take out my frustration on them, which plenty of people were doing (those same people happened to be sitting in the Louisville airport as I boarded my flight back to Chicago).
- One isn’t always the loneliest number. Usually when I travel, Tasha is with me. That complicates things because if there are cancellations, it’s almost always more difficult for the support agent to find two open seats on a new flight. That I was traveling by myself this time made things easier and allowed me to be more flexible.
- Watch your checked bags. As we’ve said multiple times, we usually only travel with carry-on bags, and this is no small part a response to the concern about having them ‘misplaced.’ However, because I was going to be gone so long (just over a month) in multiple countries with different climates, I decided to check my bag this time. Because there were so many cancellations and new itineraries, that meant it was important to make sure I knew where my bag was and where it was going. Not always easy, but you should be able to track your bags on your airline’s website or app.
- Have fun and enjoy it. Yep, it’s frustrating. But you’re still traveling, even if it does end up taking you a little longer or if you find yourself in places you didn’t need/want to go. I’ve wanted to go to Turkey for a long time, and while this wasn’t the way I wanted to get there, I was still in Istanbul, which is pretty neat. No, this doesn’t count as an official visit to Turkey, and I’m still bummed I didn’t get a passport stamp.
- Know your policies. When I realized my bag wasn’t with me in Madrid, I knew of two different policies that should help get me through until my bag arrived.
First, because the airline ‘misplaced’ my bag, they should reimburse me for anything I needed to hold me over until its arrival. This ended up being a little more complicated because the Turkish Airlines agent, while wanting to be helpful, had an accent that was hard for me to understand. That meant I wasn’t able to get the information I needed to file a claim to get reimbursed without heading to their website.
Second, I purchased my flight with my United Explorer Club credit card, which has a delayed baggage insurance policy. When I called their help desk (Call #8, if you’re still keeping track), they were super helpful and quickly gave me the information I needed about what I could spend and how to file my claim. Fortunately, everything I had already purchased would be covered by that policy. So, in the end, know that you’re not alone when things go wrong: there are lots of people there to help, but you need to know how to contact them to get help.
And with that, I was ready to start my time in Madrid, albeit a few days later than I had originally expected. I’m just thankful I didn’t have to re-prep my class because yes, my class lecture notes were in my checked luggage. I know, I know…
Always remember: the travel experience is part of the fun, even if you have to look a little harder to find the fun in it.
