Flying through Chicago the day before Thanksgiving

[RGoltsch]

I finally made it home last night around 7:00PM, after leaving my hotel at 4:00AM for a 30 minute flight, followed by a 90 minute flight. I got to LaGuardia and found that my bags didn't make it with me. I had to visit the always joyful folks in the baggage office.

Now, let me say that the folks there have a tough job, always dealing with unhappy people that are missing their bags, so their attitude can be a little rough. Add to that the normal NYC, "I don't give a rat's a**" attitude, and boy, what a treat it was dealing with Ramon, my baggage handling specialist.

He asked for my claim tickets. He looked at them and snapped, "You know your bags were checked to Newark? Why are you bothering me?" (I was originally scheduled to go to Newark, but no flights were available after my originating flight from Appleton, WI was delayed by 5 hours due to fog in ATW and ORD).

I know I am LaGuardia; you guys are having a lot of issues in Chicago, and could only book me through to here. They assured me my bags would be rerouted.

And you believed them?

Yup, just like I am going to believe you when you say you care about my bags. I know it is a rough day for all of us; can we just file the missing bag claim so I can go home?

He filed the claim and I headed home. I received and email from United a few hours later that they found one bag, and it would be delivered soon. A few moments later, I received a Damaged Bag Report, uh oh, that cannot be good.

This morning, I woke up to find a pair of bags on the front porch; one is mine….the other? Now that is not my bag. I checked my first bag, and it looked ok. I opened the second bag and found all the stuff from my second bag. And inside that bag was a plastic bag with my old second bag. I pulled it out of the plastic ad it had a giant gash in the side of it, and was covered in grease and oil. I guess it got caught in the conveyors.

So, the final result is that I got my bags delivered within 12 hours of my arrival, on Thanksgiving, and I got a new bag to replace the damaged one. And the bag that was damaged was a $9.99 special at Wal-Mart that I bought a few years ago. The new bag is a nice, big, high quality rolling duffel bag that Sara wants to take on tour next year. Not a totally bad trip. Plus, I got to make a bunch of people laugh in Chicago by wearing a silly hat.

Happy Thanksgiving all………

[RGoltsch]

PS: Here's the Chicago hat story from yesterday.....

Had an unusual incident boarding the plane in Chicago. With the plane being packed, the gate agent was limiting everyone to their one carry on and a personal item. As I walked up with my roll-aboard, laptop bag dangling from my shoulder, and a small shopping bag, he stopped me. He said I couldn't take three items on the plane.

So I calmly opened the shopping bag and took out the single item in it. A genuine Green Bay Packers Cheesehead I picked up as a present for my daughter's friend. I put it on my head, crumpled up the bag and stuffed it in my pocket......I looked him in the eye and said, "Will this do?"

He and the crowd around the gate just broke out in chuckles. I wore it down the jetway and onto the plane.

Now I know why I love traveling.......

[RGoltsch]

Here's a picture I took of Chicago yesterday late morning.

[bodega]

Glad you made it home in time for Thanksgiving! Having had my first experience with no luggage showing up at the carousel and getting to deal with the lost baggage desk, I can't imagine this on the business day of the year. Glad it all worked out despite the glitches! Enjoy the day!!

[tdew]

Ron, I'd like to see the picture of you in the hat instead of foggy Chicago.

Don't you wonder where the extra new bag came from? Is someone still hoping it will show up eventually?

Thanks for a fun story. I like happy endings.

[Ned]

I'd like to see that photo too Terry. I think the new bag is the replacement from the airline for the bag they destroyed.

Originally Posted by tdew

Ron, I'd like to see the picture of you in the hat instead of foggy Chicago.

Don't you wonder where the extra new bag came from? Is someone still hoping it will show up eventually?

Thanks for a fun story. I like happy endings.

[tdew]

Originally Posted by Ned

I think the new bag is the replacement from the airline for the bag they destroyed.

So, you don't think it was an extra that they had hanging around that was never claimed? You think they bought a supply to have on hand for just such needs?

[AaronK]

I can tell you first hand that at least Southwest has a supply of suitcases available as replacements. I once flew home from Vegas, and arrived to pick up my cracked hard shell. I reported it to the Southwest baggage office, and they swapped bags with me. I got a new one, they took the broken one.

[tdew]

Aaron, that's nice to know. Thanks.

[RGoltsch]

The baggage folks at United left me a message on my work cell phone the night I flew in (I turned it off until this morning). The guy said that my bag had been "dropped in some dirt", so they replaced my bag with something they had in stock...and since it wasn't an exact match, they gave me the next best available that they had in stock.

I had to laugh at their definition of "dropped in some dirt." The bag was covered in grease, and it had a hole in it bigh enough to put a basketball through. I had one pair of pants that had a bunch of grease on them, but they were getting kind of old anyway.....

My daughter has already claimed the new rolling duffle for her next trip.

And to answer the other query about a picture of me in a Cheesehead........never happen. I am a Jets fan (Although I shouldn't say that too loudly after the way they played on Thursday).