Delays, missed connections or lost baggage
By maximax8
@maximax8 (31046)
United Kingdom
February 5, 2011 6:12am CST
Have you ever had a flight delay?
Did you ever miss a flight connection?
Has any of your baggage been lost by an airline?
I took my three year old disabled son and my 20 month old daughter on a trip from London to Cartagena De Indias in Colombia via Madrid and Bogota.
We stayed over night at a hotel close to the London Airport because we needed to check in at 05.00. We caught an overnight bus over to the airport. We checked in my large backpack and two holdall bags. We kept our hand baggage with us. We got on the plane at London and one announcement said that there was fog in Madrid. The plane sat there with all the passengers on board for two hours. Then it just took off into the air with no announcement at all.
We arrived in Madrid after our connecting flight to Bogota had departed. We had the awful experience of seeing the airline's desk. It had hundreds of angry passengers around it. After a lot of upset we were told to go to a another airline and we would be put on the waiting list for no shows. I was so nervous waiting to find out if we would get on that flight. Amazingly we got two seats right at the back of the plane. It was a lovely plane compared to the airline we were meant to be on. We arrived at Bogota after the ten hour flight close to the time of the last connecting flight to Cartagena De Indias. After more upset we got put in a hotel overnight at midnight and had to get up at 04.00 to fly off to Cartagena De Indias.
The next day we finally arrived in Cartagena De Indias. Our baggage had gone missing and so we discussed this with the airline's office. They managed to track that it was on a flight from Madrid to Bogota. We went off by taxi to our hotel with only our hand baggage. I was running out of drinks for my kids and my son's catheters. The airline kindly brought our luggage over to our hotel but missing were two sun shades and a double rain cover for my kids buggy.
1 person likes this
13 responses
@thaMARKER (2503)
• Philippines
18 Feb 11
i'm not much of a traveler type but as far as i can remember, have never missed a flight but experienced delays though, hours of staying in the airport. never lost a baggage but my sister who travels a lot, experienced that..
my last fly was back in July of last year. i remember, i almost missed it cause i went out the night before and got home so drunk. haven't prepared things that i have to bring. but thank goodness the cab driver knows the shortcuts so i got there just in time. 
i like flying but i don't like road trips. maybe better if i'm the one's driving..
i like flying but i don't like road trips. maybe better if i'm the one's driving..
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
11 Feb 11
All of that...
Trip to Bahamas - my bag showed up a day late.
Flight delays - many times.
Missed a connection - coming back from NY, missed one in Chicago, caught the next one an hour later.
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
6 Feb 11
maximax8,
Having been traveling for more than a decade, I can assure you flight delay, missing connecting flights and/or delay baggage is no stranger to me. Fortunately, I have yet to experience lost of baggage and I am not looking forward to it.
For me, I never like connecting flights and as such I would always look for direct non stop flights to my destinations. It is quicker and less chance of "loosing" our check in baggage due to many circumstantial factors like airport inefficiency, labor strike or insufficient connecting time. Now, I know for a fact that this type of choice is not ideal for traveling on a budget but that does not mean we cannot avoid such inconveniences.
For one, we will need to do our homework with the choice of airline we travel with and where the connecting city. We cannot afford with airlines who have a reputation of unpunctuality, loosing passengers' check in baggage and high risk connecting cities which are contributing factors of today's travelers' problems.
Then, there's the need to take up a travel insurance where it will cover us when we come across such contingencies not forgetting coverage for other unforeseen circumstances like hospitalizations, medical treatments and not forgetting expensive air evacuation during emergencies.
I must admit that your travel to Columbia is challenging and I marvel your resolve and effort here. I really hope that all of you had a wonderful trip.
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
6 Feb 11
I've never lost any luggage. I've had a couple of flights that were late taking off because of some minor problems. I've never traveled outside of the USA, although we live in Hawaii right now and it feels a lot like Asia with all the different cultures around us. I'm not sure what I would do if they lost my luggage, I guess I'd just have to wait it out.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
6 Feb 11
I had a delay once in Michigan. It was actually due to unexpected airplane maintaince in Los Angelos and it caused me to miss my flight out of Michigan to home. I had to stay overnight but the airline comped me a room and a couple of vouchures for dinner and breakfast. I was glad that I wasn't on a tight schedule and didn't have to be anywhere.
@bounce58 (17385)
• Canada
9 Feb 11
I once missed a connecting flight from Chicago's O'Hare airport. I was coming from Milwaukee, but our plane couldn't take off because there were heavy winds at Chicago. So, we sat on the plane, on the tarmac for a few hours.
When we finally got into Chicago, I already missed my flight home so I had to stay in Chicago overnight. Luckily, the company I visited in Milwaukee paid for my all of my expenses. Even the stay in the windy city.
@kykidd (6812)
• United States
6 Feb 11
I have had things missing out of my luggage before, and it was on an international flight as well. It was expensive to me, although to some wealthier people, it probably would not have been that big of a deal. It was a wireless USB port for my computer. I had taken it along in case I needed it in the hotel where I was staying. Funny thing, that was the only bag that had a note in it, as it had been inspected by the TSA. Guess the security personnel for the TSA aren't to be trusted. That's really sad.
The only other experience similar, was when I picked my nephew up at the airport. He was in the Marines, and just came home for a visit. Since he was surprising his mother, I was the one who picked him up at the airport. When he went to get his bag, it didn't show up. Funny thing was the same situation as yours, he had to be routed to a different plane. Good news though, the airport drove to his mother's house and arrived at Midnight with his bags...which included his uniforms, even though he lived a good 50 miles from the airport. We thought that was great!
@amirev777 (4117)
• India
5 Feb 11
Hi
Yeah, I have faced many delays, and the only flight that i missed was a connecting one, i was flying from Aberdeen, back home, via London. the flight from Aberdeen was delayed because of volcanic ash had erupted. and since it wasnt our fault the airline was gracious enough to give us a hotel stay at London. So we could get the flight back to home only the next afternoon.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
5 Feb 11
Sounds like you had an awful time getting there and on top of that they lost your stuff
.
Years ago when my mom came visiting me from Germany they lost oe of her suitcases that had clothe in it that were for me including a nice leather jacket.
They never found it and once she got home she had to fill out a stack of paper work with all the items , where she bought them and how much they cost.
She got some money back but not nearly the value that it was worth.
.
Years ago when my mom came visiting me from Germany they lost oe of her suitcases that had clothe in it that were for me including a nice leather jacket.
They never found it and once she got home she had to fill out a stack of paper work with all the items , where she bought them and how much they cost.
She got some money back but not nearly the value that it was worth.
@beamer88 (4259)
• Philippines
5 Feb 11
I'm very fortunate that I haven't experienced losing any of our luggages when we travel, although I've only been to Singapore and Hong Kong, and they were short distances. Less than 4 hours of flight time. But I had experienced departure delays in my domestic travels. What's irritating is that on two occasions, the delay was caused by the late boarding of politicians and their entourage.
@marguicha (223720)
• Chile
5 Feb 11
Hi Maxine,
I have experienced all that in some flights so now there are important items that I carry with me. My meds are important so I bring them into the cabin with a doctor´s order for them. If the attendants want to keep it with them during the flight, I don´t mind. I just don´t want them to get lost. You should do the same with Leo´s catheters. Sun shades are not important but the catheters could be something difficult to find in another country with another language.
I was delayed years ago when we were going to spend New Year with my parents at Puerto Rico. The kids were small and we got stranded in Venezuela the night before New Year. Fortunatly, but after a lot of discussing, they gave us a wonderful room in an expensive hotel and a voucher to go from the airport to the hotel and back. The suitcases went on traveling alone and when we finally got to San Juan the next day we found out that we had no luggage nd nothing was open so as to buy at least underwear. My mom had to lend us something to change. You should have seen Claudia, then 3, with her grandma´s blouse as dress and a giant pantiesknotted so they would not fall down
@GorgeousCloris (2)
• China
5 Feb 11
I am luckier than you if we must compare this with each other. I lost my wallet three times. But except maybe it was thieved at the first time, they were back finally at two times.Because there were my personal information in my wallet.It can be as clue for kind people to put the wallet back to me. I lost my mobile phone at the end of last year. It was thieved instead of being lost. I can borrow others' phone to my family and I don't worry I will be missed connections due to not too far distance between the place I was at that time and my home. I have never lost my baggage in travel. I am always so circuspective in travel. Of couse this doesn't including little things such as a napkin.
@doggydimon (1369)
• Philippines
5 Feb 11
This is a nightmare to most tourists or anyone that has to travel! And it was a nightmare for me also to be called at 2 or 3 am in the morning just to have learned that my client's crew had missed their flight due to some delays in flight. I used to work in a travel agency that deals with seaman. This kind of news is frightening. As you know if we are to send seamen off, they must arrive at the exact or close to the time of the original flight. It will cost them big amounts of money if they don't. And yeah, you mentioned London. Did you know that most of my clients' lost baggage cases are from London? hehehe... I dunno if its a coincidence or there is something really wrong with their baggage handling system.
