How I Survived 7 Days Without My Luggage

Last week, I left you while sailing past the Statue of Liberty and wondering if my checked bag was aboard the ship. Here’s Part 2.

The last communication from the airline was that the bag was en route to the ship and would make it before sailing.

Even though the purser’s desk hadn’t located it on board, I did still hold out hope, because 1) I know from experience that it can take a long time to get all that luggage delivered to staterooms 2) it wasn’t going through the usual checked baggage process, so might be kept in the hold until after sailing, and 3) the ship was late departing due to a customs issue so that meant more likelihood of the airline getting it to the ship before sailing.

I’m such an optimist!

Late evening, the crew confirmed that the bag wasn’t on board.

The ship’s staff were extremely helpful – especially considering it was not the cruiseline’s fault. One member of the purser’s staff, Reyna, was assigned to liaison with the airline and keep me informed. She offered an amenities kit (which I appreciated, but didn’t need) and free laundry/dry-cleaning until I was reunited with my clothes (this was a life-saver!).

I won’t go into a day-by-day, blow by blow of trying to connect me with my bag while we went island hopping. That’s a story unto itself. Let’s just say that Reyna and I became very close over the next few days! It finally showed up on the 6th day of an 8-day cruise!

Here’s how I survived. Some was good planning, some was just dumb luck:

1. My carry-on bag held two changes of clothes. I usually recommend one, but in this case, I had packed the outfit I planned to wear for the wedding plus some causal clothes for meeting up with friends my first evening in New York.
2. Therefore, I had three changes of clothes – jeans and shirt I wore on the plane, dressy wedding outfit, casual skirt and blouse.
3. All my underwear was in my carryon. This was just plain lucky. At the last minute of packing, I was “filling available space” and basically stuffed underwear in all remaining spots.
4. Swimsuit and toiletries were in carryon – this is part of the put everything in your land luggage that you may need in the first 24 hours rule!
5. Travel insurance. Yep. This was great. I went shopping in the ship’s boutique and picked up another skirt and blouse to round out my wardrobe. Of course, I could do this anyway, but it was much more fun shopping on someone else’s dime!

Here are a few things I didn’t have:

1. Formal wear – fortunately, there are always dining options that don’t require formal wear. But, for the record, Reyna told me I could eat anywhere I chose – that they would alert the maître d’s so I wouldn’t have any problem with the dress code.
2. Flip flops. I wore sandals or tennis shoes to the pool and beaches (on port days). Very stylish!
3. Dress shoes – I had some nice sandals that were OK for the pinch I was in, but I would have picked a different pair had I known.
4. Shorts. I was a little overdressed on a couple of occasions! I did check the gift shop, but they didn’t have anything I liked in my size.
5. Hat. Did I mention gift shop?

There you go - 1 night in New York and 6 of the 8 days of my cruise without my checked bag. Believe it or not, the experience was fun. Once I came to terms with my missing wardrobe, I relaxed. Never had to worry about what to wear! I learned I could make do with very little and what was important (underwear!!). Now, I have set myself a goal to deliberately take a traditional cruise with just a carryon. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Have you ever spent part or all your vacation without your luggage?

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Your Luggage Is On Its Way!

A few years ago, my brother and his fiancée had their wedding aboard ship before setting sail on an 8-night Caribbean cruise with family and friends, departing from New York City. And, yes, I was the travel planner for the event. – thank you!

My flight was delayed and then rerouted due to weather but I wasn’t particularly concerned as I was flying into New York a day early. So, while I might miss dinner or some down time with friends and family, I knew there was no problem making the sailing.

Which turned out to be true – for me. Not so true for my checked bag. I flew into LaGuardia instead of the originally scheduled JFK. After deplaning and watching the “last bag” sign make its revolution on the carousel, I proceeded to the airline’s lost luggage desk. That isn’t what they call it, but we all know that’s what it is.

My bag went to its original destination – LaGuardia. The agent assured us that the bags would be sorted out that evening and delivered or held for pick-up, depending on traveler request. I was neither upset nor concerned as I could see that bags might end up at the wrong airport due to the circumstances. I requested the bag be delivered to my hotel. No problem!

Upon check-in, I apprise the hotel staff of the situation and they assure me they’ll let me know as soon as it is delivered. Wonderful! Now I’m off for a fun-filled evening in Manhattan with friends. Later that night, when I return to the hotel, I am informed the bag has not yet arrived.

I call the airline for a bag status and get my first dose of telephone un-service. First, there is the ubiquitous prompt menus – why is it that my choice is always way down the menu? And requires two or three different menus? Then enter the claim number – and if you enter it incorrectly too bad. You get to start over! When I finally get a live person, they need my name, claim number, and promise of my first born. OK, just name and number. But, why did I enter it if they are going to ask me anyway?

I am informed that my bag went to Newark – wait, what? I thought it was at JFK. And they’ll deliver it to LaGuardia. I very politely inform the agent that no, the bag is supposed to be delivered to my hotel, not the airport. She acknowledges this is in my “record” and that yes, indeed the bag will be delivered sometime tonight.

Wedding Day. Embarkation Day. Yay! I wake up very excited for my brother and his fiancée, plus anticipating a wonderful cruise vacation. I call the front desk to have the bag delivered. Yep. No bag.

No worries – I’ve got this. I have everything I need to get dressed and ready to go in my carryon. I’m forever telling clients to pack 24 hours’ worth of clothes in their carryon, just in case. Glad I followed my own advice. All is good.

Call to airline. Prompt menu. Claim number. Hold 5 minutes. Live person. The bag is still at Newark. Umm. I’m leaving on a cruise. How are you going to get the bag to me? No problem. We’ll deliver it to the ship.

OK – now I’m starting to get a little concerned. But, I have my wedding clothes with me, so if I don’t get the bag until we’re aboard, no harm no foul.

We get to the pier and checked into the ship (early boarding for wedding party and guests) and I notify the purser’s desk of the lost bag and planned delivery by the airline. They’re very gracious, tell me not to worry, that it happens all the time and when it arrives, they’ll deliver it to my stateroom. Feeling better.

The wedding and reception are beautiful. After the non-sailing guests disembark and we complete the muster drill, I check back with the purser’s desk about my bag. No joy.

Top-side to call the airline (better cell service). Prompt menu, request for claim number, 10-minute hold, etc. This time the agent tells me the bag is on its way to the pier and will be delivered prior to departure. I’m skeptical, but hopeful.

You know what’s coming, don’t you?

One, last call to airline as we set sail. Prompt menu, request for claim number, hold, I’m losing bars as we sail. Yikes!

Have you ever sailed past the Statue of Liberty while on hold with an airline’s lost baggage department?

Well, I wasn’t going to miss this, so I hung up and enjoyed the view. And it was a magnificent one. One of my sailing bucket list items: Sydney Harbor past the Opera House, under the Golden Gate Bridge, New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty, past Piazza San Marcos on the Grand Canal of Venice. I’m lucky, I’ve hit three of the four!

Did I ever see the bag again? How did I manage without it?

Tune in next week to find out. Same bat time, same bat channel!

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What To Do If I Am Bumped

The video circulating the internet showing the passenger being dragged off a commercial jet has created a lot of commentary. And, there are a myriad of issues involved: passenger rights, legal authority, customer service matters, not to mention just plain ole “what were they thinking?”

But, the question most frequently posed to me this week was “What do I do if I’m bumped?”

First, let me differentiate between two forms of “bumping”. Voluntary vs involuntary.

Voluntarily relinquishing a seat for compensation isn’t counted by the DOT in denied boarding statistics. Usually a win-win for all. The airline gets the seat(s) they need, the re-accommodated passenger(s) are compensated in a manner they’ve agreed to and feel is fair. Frequently this is with future-use vouchers, but it is up to airline what carrot they want to dangle to entice potential volunteers. I posted a story earlier this week on Facebook about a family that received $11,000 from Delta to give up seats – probably a reaction to the week’s headlines.

I’ve known passengers who deliberately plan and buy their tickets with the intent to take advantage of this possibility. They will purchase tickets for the earliest flight on a day that has a high volume (think Wednesday before Thanksgiving) with no urgency to arrive at their final destination until late in the day or even the next morning. They’re first in line to give up a seat when the airline inevitably requests a volunteer. One couple I know volunteered twice on one day!

Usually, with the first or second offer, the airline gets their volunteers. But, sometimes there aren’t enough takers and the airline will continue to up the ante until someone accepts. This cat and mouse game sometimes provides good entertainment. Once, I was on a plane that had already boarded and they needed one seat. The auction started at $200 and a guaranteed seat on next flight which was a couple of hours later. Actually, I think that was a pretty lame offer since we were already on the plane. No takers. The bid went up to $300, then $500, and finally $1000. BINGO! Three call lights went off simultaneously.

Involuntarily giving up your seat is a different situation and happens when there aren’t any volunteers (or not enough). The airline chooses the passengers to which they will deny boarding based on the airline's policy.

There are specific rules the airlines must follow when this happens:

• If they can rebook you on another flight and get you to your destination within one hour of the original arrival time, you are owed nothing.
• If you are rebooked and your arrival window is between one and two hours of the original, you must be compensated up to 200% of the one-way fare or $675, whichever is less.
• Over two hours it goes up to 400% and $1,350.
• There are also additional criteria for meals and hotels depending on length of delay. But, the most important takeaway is that there is required monetary compensation if you are not volunteering to be bumped.

My advice if this happens:

1. Clearly ask “Am I being denied boarding?” Don’t confuse a voluntary relinquishment of your seat for a voucher with being involuntarily bumped. This also gives the airline representative a chance to be clear with their position. And, may encourage the airline to reconsider whether they’ve exhausted their possibilities for volunteers.
2. If the response is affirmative, request a copy of the airline’s denied boarding policy – they must provide it to you. Each airline’s policy is different outside of what is required by law.
3. It never hurts to ask for some amenities such as a pass to the lounge or a request for first-class seating on your new flight. They don’t have to do it, but they might try and mitigate a bad situation. The vast majority of airline representatives are friendly and want to be helpful. They probably feel regretful about the situation, albeit not as bad as you. Be friendly with requests for extras.

Hopefully, an involuntary boarding denial will never happen to you.

In fact, in my opinion, it should rarely if ever happen. If the airlines want to overbook their flights to increase the likelihood of filling the planes, they should be prepared to compensate passengers when it doesn’t work out. If that requires $1000 voucher (or more) to get someone to volunteer, then so be it.

What do you think?

Be a Roadrunner at Airport Security

 I get asked all the time if there is a trick or special sauce to get through airport security faster. While some of the process is out of our control, such as length of lines or how many security personnel are on point, there are many things you can do to speed yourself along and mitigate delays:

1) Have your ID and boarding pass out and ready to hand to the TSA agent. If you use your cell phone, take a screen shot of the boarding pass to avoid internet connection disruption.

2) Wear slip-on shoes. Unless you are 12 and under or 75 and over, you have to take your shoes off to go through the screening machines. Wear shoes that don’t require lacing, buckling, or boots that are difficult to get on/off. And on that note, I recommend a pair of socks (sans holes!) for going through screening. Change into your flip-flops or sandals after you’re finished at the checkpoint.

3) Don’t wear a belt. If you must, place it in an easy to get to pocket on your carryon and wait until you clear security before putting it on.

4) Place your liquids in an accessible compartment. There’s enough going on without rooting through your bags trying to find the little baggie.

5) Remove everything from your pockets, including loose change and place in your purse or backpack. Remove bulky jewelry and watches. If you don’t have a purse or backpack, put all loose items in one of the small baskets provided to decrease the likelihood of forgetting something.

6) If you are traveling with a laptop, pull it out and place in a bin. Or purchase a TSA approved carrying case. Otherwise, you’ll have your bag searched. If you don’t have a TSA case, place it in a bin with your shoes if they’ll fit. You’re less likely to walk off and forget it after screening. Laptops and small electronics are the most frequent items left behind at security checkpoints. And, it doesn’t hurt to tape a business card or small ID card with your name and cell to the laptop just in case.

7) If there is a long line, check out other security access points. Many airports have more than one screening area within a terminal. For example, there may be a screening area for gates 1- 15 and another for gates 16 - 30. But, you have access to all 30 after exiting the checkpoint. More than once I’ve seen lengthy lines at one checkpoint and no waiting at another. The TSA doesn’t care which one you use.

8) Get TSA Pre-Check. If you travel more than once or twice a year, this is really worth considering. It’s $85 - $100 for five years, depending on which version you select. TSA Pre-Check allows you to leave your shoes and jacket on, your toiletries and laptop snug in your bag, and a separate line that is usually shorter and definitely speedier!

And after you zip through security, you can relax, sit-back and enjoy a coffee or cocktail and watch everyone else scurry around! Beep beep!

Click here for TSA site.