Why I usually try to book direct flights...
Manually cross-posted from https://hrrunka.dreamwidth.org/452236.html
1) Connection timingss sometimes don't happen as planned.
2) Baggage needs to get from one plane to another at the interim stops
3) It always takes longer...
This latest trip just past has hammered all those points hard.
Heading for Kenya mid-June, I ended up on a journey via Doha. The flight from LHR was delayed by two hours because the inbound flight was late, and then a couple of passengers didn't board the aircraft, so their baggage had to be found and removed, and then we had to wait on ATC.
At Doha we were met by airline staff handing out altered boarding passes for a flight some 18 hours later than the one I'd booked, and I spent the day in a Doha hotel sheltering from the 45°C outdoors, and eventually landed in Nairobi in the early hours of the next day.
Coming home, the flight to Doha was delayed an hour because a couple of dozen passengers aparently didn't understand the boarding announcements in the departure lounge. Again we were met at Doha by airline staff handing out new boarding cards, but at least the flight was only an hour later than the connection I'd missed, and I was on the ground at LHR at almost the same time as my scheduled connection. A different terminal, mind, but at least in the right country and more or less on time. My suitcase, however, wasn't on the flight. Having filed the appropriate claim I was told I should have it within 24 hours. So far, there's no sign of it. Hopefully it is somewhere between Nairobi, Doha and London, but that 24 hour window is long past.
The airline's Baggage Services website is not being exactly informative. The Baggage Services Centre phone number goes straight to voicemail, and the box is full.
In retrospect, I'm very glad I didn't shove the boxers I found while checking the cupboards into my suitcase, but put them into my hand luggage instead...
Thankfully there's not much of value in the missing suitcase.
1) Connection timingss sometimes don't happen as planned.
2) Baggage needs to get from one plane to another at the interim stops
3) It always takes longer...
This latest trip just past has hammered all those points hard.
Heading for Kenya mid-June, I ended up on a journey via Doha. The flight from LHR was delayed by two hours because the inbound flight was late, and then a couple of passengers didn't board the aircraft, so their baggage had to be found and removed, and then we had to wait on ATC.
At Doha we were met by airline staff handing out altered boarding passes for a flight some 18 hours later than the one I'd booked, and I spent the day in a Doha hotel sheltering from the 45°C outdoors, and eventually landed in Nairobi in the early hours of the next day.
Coming home, the flight to Doha was delayed an hour because a couple of dozen passengers aparently didn't understand the boarding announcements in the departure lounge. Again we were met at Doha by airline staff handing out new boarding cards, but at least the flight was only an hour later than the connection I'd missed, and I was on the ground at LHR at almost the same time as my scheduled connection. A different terminal, mind, but at least in the right country and more or less on time. My suitcase, however, wasn't on the flight. Having filed the appropriate claim I was told I should have it within 24 hours. So far, there's no sign of it. Hopefully it is somewhere between Nairobi, Doha and London, but that 24 hour window is long past.
The airline's Baggage Services website is not being exactly informative. The Baggage Services Centre phone number goes straight to voicemail, and the box is full.
In retrospect, I'm very glad I didn't shove the boxers I found while checking the cupboards into my suitcase, but put them into my hand luggage instead...
Thankfully there's not much of value in the missing suitcase.