Comments on: Excuses excuses excuses

By: Siobhan

Siobhan — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:37:13 +0000

My luggage was stuck in Paris one time while they took their strike and I waited at home with 3 outfits for eight days. We were gone for almost a month, so like any self-respecting woman, I took everything I owned.

Love the tag! How blissfully annoying! Oh, and btw, I recently learnt they don’t say ‘rucksack’ here at all, not even in the context of Scouting and Orienteering — come to think of it, do they even call it ‘orienteering’?

By: Carole Lanno

Carole Lanno — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:03:43 +0000

I love it ! Two classic moments .

United is the worst airline ever. It took me 12 hours to get to Toronto from Chicago with them, a flight that should take less than two hours. Why? because I was stuck in a huge line at their check out for two hours and missed my flight.
Then there was the time with American Airlines that it took me two days to get home from Dallas,a three hour flight. Long story.

Continental Airlines always makes sure when you only have an hour to catch a connecting flight, that the departure is at the opposite end of the airport from were you arrive. When they lost my luggage they asked me to draw a picture of it !

By: Trixie Trouble

Trixie Trouble — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:04:23 +0000

‘im indoors who is 1/2 and 1/2 (US/Brit dual citizen) always loves to say in his ‘American voice’ “Why walk when you can drive?” – he claims that he has even heard people say this!

When we lived in Chicago, I would walk to the local stores, which were no more than
15 minutes away on foot, and people would stare at me from their cars and from homes en route!

By: Sven

Sven — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:59:46 +0000

I’ve never had a bag lost. Perhaps I shouldn’t be writing that till my furniture shows up. *touches wood furiously*

By: Silverback

Silverback — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:12:57 +0000

I’m no Alan Wicker but have crossed the old pond a number of times now and only once has an airline managed to lose one of my cases.

This was at Detroit and my friends were driving me 3 hrs back to their home so I was not a happy bunny. The airline (I forget which) immediately gave me $100 limit to spend on ‘necessities’ and said they would deliver my case as soon as possible.

I was hard pushed to buy $100 worth of necessities as you can only justify so many electric toothbrushes and Chanel No.5 on a claim form but in any case, they paid up AND my case was hand delivered to the door 24 hrs later. Well impressed.

As you said though, it’s quite amazing more cases don’t go AWOL considering passenger numbers and the fact that most of them take half their home contents with them when they fly.

By: Milo

Milo — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:37:11 +0000

Only in America…

By: fishwithoutbicycle

fishwithoutbicycle — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:08:38 +0000

Ha, that’s a funny one, although I’m sorry you had to feel the pain of your bag going astray.

I’m also with you on the lack of public transportation in the US..and worse, the complete lack of footpaths in some cities. Walking anywhere seems to be completely discouraged. The car is king in much of the US unfortunately.

By: Expat Mum

Expat Mum — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:03:53 +0000

It gets really bad at this time of year. We fly United most of the time (air miles) and we have actually seen them pull away to the runway with half the bags still on the tarmac, including ours. We got to our ski destination with no luggage (twice) because they didn’t want to lose the take-off slot. Now, my kids all take their pyjamas in their hand luggage because they don’t want to sleep in their underwear.
It also makes me wonder how much it costs them to taxi all the luggage round when it finally arrives at the end point.