I have taken innumerable flights in last 2 decades.
Different Airlines . Domestic and International.
There have been great, good &
bad experiences in all areas from ticket booking, refunds, delays , flying time to
food. In fact one is never prepared for all these experiences and can never
plan. All one does is to hope that next flight experience be better than last one. With Low cost carriers one has become quite used to bare
necessities’. No lounge, Cold food and lucky to get your choice of seat
(without a charge).
There is one area though I have
always planned / prepared myself. I believe we should all prepare. Loss /
Misplaced Check-in Baggage. It never happened to me, although I meticulously pack,
just in case I am not left stranded when I making important Business Visits.
Did I say never Happened to me?
Well they say "Never Say Never" . It finally did in Nov 12. Travelling from Jaipur to
Kolkata. I waited at carousel till the last bag arrived and then nothing. The
flight took off for Gauhati too and yet no sign of my bag on carousel.
When I went to Airline booth at
Airport to lodge my complaint, in few moments I realised that all I have has no
value. It has depreciated so much that I should be discarding them. I felt
poor. The feeling of lost baggage is unexplained. You curse yourself for
check-in, thinking you could have carried baggage in cabin. Thinking you could
have worn that costly shoe or Jacket. Thinking why the hell did I leave my
laptop in check in baggage. While you do that, you also start calculating the
cost of replacing them, running in to
few thousands rupees. Nightmare. Unexpected expenses make one dizzy. You look
skywards and say “why me “.
As I trooped out of Airport calculating the
damage , after good one hour of search , adding zeros to that figure , I got a
call from Airline Manager, asking me to come back as a bag has been relocated ,
which looks like mine. Relief. Hope.I got back and saw that it was
indeed my bag smiling at me. Suddenly I realized that Airline has saved me few
thousand rupees. Rather than being angry with them for misplacing my bag, Profusely
thanking them I got out with my bag.
Thereafter I have again taken few
flights. I have tried to avoid baggage check-in. But you cannot manage that for
long journeys. So whenever I check in , I make a small prayer. When I get down
and wait at carousel, I am still saying my prayers. My joy is unbounded when I
sight my bag. I almost scream with Joy. I think I should not scream out of joy
at airport. It is not a good manner, especially when people around are saying
their Prayers.
One last tip. When you approach
the airline, they will ask for make, size and color of the bag. Men are mostly color blind and have no sense of size. So guys one suggestion. When you check
in Baggage, take a picture of it on phone and retain it, so that you can answer
the airline, if your worst nightmare ever comes true.
If you are lucky, you may delete
the picture, till next time you take the flight and check-in your baggage.
