There are plenty of nuisances while traveling. Just recently I experienced a brain-fart delay of 2.5 hours. Why? Malaysia Airlines has a culture of being late. On top of that, I was late again coming back to Thailand.
If we talk about other annoyances, lost luggage could be the absolute worse one. Sitting here typing this and still sweating from the problem I had 11 years ago with Southwest Airlines torments me in my dreams. Well, not really….I got my luggage back after five days.
Now, how can you prevent the silliest things from happening? Can I say fly Emirates from New York to Los Angeles? Absolutely not…because Emirates doesn’t fly domestically in America. It’s all about doing research on the airline. Southwest Airlines apparently is the most notorious for lost luggage with a whopping 400,000 complaints having been filed in the last calendar year. Which is the best domestic Airline in America? Apparently United. UNITED! Is it worth the risk? Nah, I won’t be evil.
Personally, I can go on with stories, but out of all the years I’ve flown, my luggage, going from Las Vegas to Phoenix, was lost for five days. Apparently it went to Chicago. That feeling of being at the conveyor belt and it suddenly stopping…I knew I was in it, and not to win it, either.
Since that happened, every time I go to the conveyor belt, I sway from side-to-side biting my knuckles. Shame on you, Southwest! Flying internationally and losing your luggage along the way could be the worst feeling ever, but it’s never happened to me before. So, let me just give you some simple steps.
- DON’T FLY! Ship it!
I’m kidding.
2. Identification for your bag! Yes, it could be a microchip or just filling out the basic information in the side panel of your luggage. For example, I bought a wonderful bag tag and strapped it up to my luggage with my name, email address, and international phone number. If my luggage disappears, they just have to email me and that’s the end of it. Look how easy THAT IS!
3. Double-check the check-in counter. That’s right, I wait until they print my ticket to see if it has the correct arrival destination acronym on it. If I’m going to Thailand, I better see BKK. Since doing this, I never lost my luggage again and I’ve never even seen a misprint. Please, it doesn’t hurt to look on the belt and see her strap it on…securely.
Podcast if you want the audio version and the funny stories…….
4. Take photos! It’s not that difficult. When you’re done packing, take a photo of the size, width, and everything dimensional about the luggage so you can send them an email of what it looks like.
5. Get a FREAKISHLY ugly color. No one gives a damn about what color suitcase you have; and if they do, it’s none of your damn business – quite frankly. I have……an off brown Bonny luggage and a gorgeous chocolate brown with lime green stripes type of luggage for my dispersion. Yes, they’re way different from the standard and ridiculous black one you see coming out one-by-one. Get a “viva Las Vegas” luggage. Hell, I recently saw a shocking yellow – National Geographic one. Stand out from the rest so no one dares to put hands on yours.
6. Check-in right when the gate opens and avoid short layovers. These hilarious stories are on my podcast….so tune in, damnit!
Get ready for handful of blogs and podcasts coming soon from my Maldives trip!
Arsenio's ESL Podcast 
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