Travel

Where’s my suitcase

by Kirstin Fuller

Has your luggage ever been misplaced or flat out lost? Would you be able to give a detailed list of what's in your suitcase? According to the Department of Transportation, 2.7 million pieces of luggage were reported lost, damaged or delayed in 2005. Well, its 2007 and I can add 1 suitcase to that figure, mine! I can say that I experienced this frustrating dilemma while traveling from Syracuse, NY to Maryland earlier this year.

After serving on an entrepreneurship panel at the 'Sisters Empowering Sisters' conference at Syracuse University, I boarded a flight from Syracuse, NY to LaGuardia. From Laguardia I was supposed to fly directly into Thurgood Marshall (BWI) airport. Once in LaGuardia, I volunteered to give my seat up and take a later flight because my flight was overbooked. Okay…Fine… I am now booked on an Us Airways flight from LaGuardia to Reagan National. This is where my dilemma begins.

My luggage is still on the original flight and arrives at BWI before I even land at Reagan National. The booking agent (at LaGuardia) assured me that my luggage would be waiting at the US Airways office at BWI. Okay…Cool… After riding in a cab forever, I finally get to BWI and the attendant at the US Airways office informs me that my bag has already been picked up. Huh?! When she sees the horror on my face, she realizes that someone has walked off my suitcase. “All the black bags look alike.” Hmmm. That sounds too familiar. LOL

Stop… Hold the Press!…What did you say?!!!
I am sorry Ms. Fuller, but your bag is gone! Ah! Ah! Ah! Count to ten, Relax, Relate, Release (Thanks Whitley!) The attendant then gives me the speech and says that 99% of all luggage is eventually returned. Eventually! With my luck lady I will be that 1% that is never recovered.

Then I remember what's in that suitcase! My beloved Maxima full length leather trench coat (so what that its 10 years old… I still love it!), my Versace suit jacket (I could only afford the jacket people!), a mink scarf, my brand new chocolate 3” leather Italian boots that I purchased on Overstock.com, my favorite Avon pajamas and… more importantly my recently filled blood pressure prescription! Great!

Then the perky attendant snaps me back into reality and reassures me that they will find my suitcase but if they don't, they will compensate me for the contents of the suitcase. A whopping $2,500 dollars. Gee, Thanks! That should cover three of my items. And let's not forget that Avon doesn't sell my pajamas anymore! LOL What she doesn't tell me, and most airlines won't, is that the luggage that is never returned or unclaimed is sold. Yes, I said sold! Companies like Unclaimed Baggage Center buys unclaimed luggage from airlines and sells its contents in their stores and online. Long story short they found my bag and it was safely returned to me with all contents intact.

So from this day forward I am going to follow a few travel rules to ensure that I can give the airline an account of what's in my suitcase and it can be returned quickly, if it is lost.