Pics coming soon. Maybe.
Technical difficulties with iPhoto.
iPhoto can put where the sun never shines.
So as most of you know, we got some pretty cheap tickets over to the continent. Our flights to get into Europe were:
LAX to Phoenix,
Phoenix to Orlando,
Orlando to Washington Dulles,
Dulles to Brussels,
Brussels to Copenhagen
Copenhagen to Brussels (no, that is not a typo).
Every single one of those flights was delayed.
So the hitch was that we couldn't check the bags all the way through to the last Brussels - ostensibly because it was on the itinerary twice. The (stupid) United Air computer wouldn't accept the request.
But, we HAD to get those bags checked through or we would miss our last flight back to Brussels, causing the entire itinerary to be cancelled. So we came up with a Plan A and a Plan B:
Plan A: Check the bags in only to Brussels #1, and during the 90 minute layover, run down to the baggage claim, get them and go through customs, run them out the door and turn left to get to the airport lockers, get them all locked up, run back upstairs and catch the two last flights: Brussels to CPH and then CPH back to Brussels. Then we go back to the lockers, and oia-la! done! Into the rental car and off on our adventure.
Plan B: In the case that the 90 minute layover is shortened due to delays, don't go to baggage claim, don't claim the baggage and just let it get gathered with the lost luggage to be retrieved later that afternoon. A little paper work, and extra half-hour or so, and into the rental car, off on our adventure.
We were forced to go with Plan C because the flight from Dulles to Brussels was delayed.......90 minutes. Plan C entailed begging anyone associated with the airline to fix the ensuing mess, the domino effect of that late flight on the next flight, which we were barely going to catch. We were the first ones off the plane, even before first classers, and made a run for it, only to be stopped by a gate agent with a new pair of tickets for us for the next leg. The airline cancelled our original ticket, and, well.....suffice it to say that things were crucially bad at this point. So we ran all over the airport on a wild goose chase trying to set things right, and eventually recruited the floor manager of Brussels Airport, one Bert Van Wenkte, to help us (yeah, I have a way of finding the right people when things are rough). I cannot begin to tell you how much intense bargaining I had to part take in to get "my way", which was of course the only way, and then we were forced to go with Plan D, which was not a good plan at all.
Plan D: We never did fly up to Copenhagen. Instead we tra-la-la'd down to baggage claim thinking we had won, only to find that our three checked on suitcases were missing.
Yup, you read correctly.
All three.
Missing.
No one knows where they are.
That would include.....everything.
We have no clothes, no toiletries, no shoes, no bikes, no nothing but the clothes on our backs and the chapstick and passports in my purse. And the carryons, one containing the turkey jerky, Gu, fruit leathers, and the other books and electronics.
Someday you can ask me in person what happened after that. Suffice it to say that I wore my Aunt's clothes (and wore out her telephone) for a few days, and Julian just looked like:
The suitcases were delivered to my aunt and uncle's doorstep at 19:30 (that's 7:30 PM) on Thursday, June 18.
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| If you ever find yourself without your checked on baggage, you will become very familiar with and sick and tired of this website, which does nothing but document what you will yourself already know. |
PS- scary: the guy who worked with us at Brussels Airport (which is called Zaventem) filled this out incorrectly. Notice my new name. The delivery address in Velbert had some extra weird stuff in it and the zip code was wrong.
On top of that, my cell phone number was missing a number.
It must be a terribly negative job to have, working with people from around the world who are beginning their much anticipated vacations without their baggage, but one could still do it right.
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