How many of Tony's uncharmed trips with lost luggage were two-stoppers?
ski-air travel stories
- Thread starter jimk
- Start date
As noted before, three of them were nonstops, two to Calgary and one from JFK to Rome. Most were one stop because that's what's necessary for me to get to the Alps from SoCal on SkyTeam affiliates. IIRC only two were two stoppers:
1) The infamous Lyon-CDG-Cincinnati-SLC in 2008 with all luggage delayed 3 days.
2) LAX-JFK-GDG-GVA in 2013, booked less than a month ahead with specific arrival time to meet Liz' Diamond Dogs trip. Skis made it but regular luggage arrived in Zermatt after 30 hours.
I accept that there is random good and bad luck. I've never lost a bag going the other direction across the Pacific. I suspect what's not random are ski bags. They are bulky and I'd guess that if luggage compartments are getting full, they might be targeted for not being put on the plane. I'd minimize putting anything critical in a ski bag vs. even regular checked luggage. Also the TSA opens ski bags for hand inspection almost every time, leaving their calling card.
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I think it was 90 minutes which we have done before many times stopping in LA to go to Salt Lake. We did have to claim luggage and to be honest we had forgotten about that because the last time we had to do it was before covid. The only other time we've gone to the US since then was with Air Canada flying into Portland. From memory the bags went straight through that time.
If there were any warnings my wife would not have made the purchase as she is frustratingly not a rule breaker or risk taker of any type.
Sure. But something must be up with that model plane because all five of us had the same problem going over and returning to Oz.
tseeb
Well-known member
Will be interesting to see how our September SFO-Santiago de Compostela (SCQ- SW Spain) and October return work out.
My wife was going to do a high-end Baiona-Santiago 121 Km walk, part of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago with her sister and brother-in-law. The single supplement was E600. She decided to take me for my 70th. I was going to book minimum days flight so we could reduce time we leave our elderly dog without us. Lucia was going to spend a couple of days on Madrid on way there. Then it was going to be only one day in Madrid so she decided to fly with me and I insisted the whole flight needed to be part of same booking/ticket from too much time spent here.
When we went to book in early May, Iberia showed 3 seats on SFO-O'Hare (American with IB flight no/2 hr 12 min layover) to Madrid (Iberia/almost 4 hr layover) to SCX (Regional Spanish airline with IB flight no). But when we went to book for ~$2550 (each! including a checked bag), there were no seats. We called Iberia on the weekend, then again on Monday without getting any help, before escalating to someone who could help and book it (through a third party?) for $2950 each.
Our tour does not start at SCQ until ~24 hrs after we arrive so we are renting a car and spending a night at Vrbo in Fisterra to give us a chance to see sunset from the end of Europe (or at least Spain - our tour also takes us there, but I think we go back to Santiago before sunset for dinner). My wife's sister thought she could book for ~$1500 RT from El Salvador, but that did not work out. They arrive SCX a night before us and we will pick them up in Santiago and take them to Fisterra for a night.
Our return has a 1 hr layover in Madrid and 1:30 in Dallas before American flight that arrives SFO at 23:45. Wondering if I need to leave my car there as that is getting too late for BART/Caltrain to my son's apartment in Santa Clara. Will have to compare parking vs. Uber cost.
Tour: https://www.peregrinandoconmaria.com/el-camino-de-santiago-de-compostela and you may need to translate to English.
My wife was going to do a high-end Baiona-Santiago 121 Km walk, part of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago with her sister and brother-in-law. The single supplement was E600. She decided to take me for my 70th. I was going to book minimum days flight so we could reduce time we leave our elderly dog without us. Lucia was going to spend a couple of days on Madrid on way there. Then it was going to be only one day in Madrid so she decided to fly with me and I insisted the whole flight needed to be part of same booking/ticket from too much time spent here.
When we went to book in early May, Iberia showed 3 seats on SFO-O'Hare (American with IB flight no/2 hr 12 min layover) to Madrid (Iberia/almost 4 hr layover) to SCX (Regional Spanish airline with IB flight no). But when we went to book for ~$2550 (each! including a checked bag), there were no seats. We called Iberia on the weekend, then again on Monday without getting any help, before escalating to someone who could help and book it (through a third party?) for $2950 each.
Our tour does not start at SCQ until ~24 hrs after we arrive so we are renting a car and spending a night at Vrbo in Fisterra to give us a chance to see sunset from the end of Europe (or at least Spain - our tour also takes us there, but I think we go back to Santiago before sunset for dinner). My wife's sister thought she could book for ~$1500 RT from El Salvador, but that did not work out. They arrive SCX a night before us and we will pick them up in Santiago and take them to Fisterra for a night.
Our return has a 1 hr layover in Madrid and 1:30 in Dallas before American flight that arrives SFO at 23:45. Wondering if I need to leave my car there as that is getting too late for BART/Caltrain to my son's apartment in Santa Clara. Will have to compare parking vs. Uber cost.
Tour: https://www.peregrinandoconmaria.com/el-camino-de-santiago-de-compostela and you may need to translate to English.
Your wife is very different from my wife.
To be honest she balances me out to a degree. So it mostly works.Your wife is very different from my wife.
The discussion above about airlines allowing you to book an itinerary with dangerously short layovers makes me wonder -- what is the longest scheduled flight itinerary that you've traveled in one shot from your departure city to landing in your destination? Don't include what it actually ended up being due to delays or if you stayed a day in a layover city.
Mine is pretty small potatoes: British Airways from Capetown to Newark with a three-hour layover in LHR: 22.5 hours. Memorable due to my early morning airport meal where I first had baked beans for breakfast. I'm not sure how I wasn't aware of this bracing culinary tradition!
Mine is pretty small potatoes: British Airways from Capetown to Newark with a three-hour layover in LHR: 22.5 hours. Memorable due to my early morning airport meal where I first had baked beans for breakfast. I'm not sure how I wasn't aware of this bracing culinary tradition!
sarahontrack
New member
Longest one for me was Sydney to Geneva: SYD to DOH (Qatar), 3-hour layover, then DOH to GVA, just over 24 hours total. I remember feeling like I crossed into a different dimension by the time I landed!