Chad’s Blog
Pragmatic Technologies for Life and Business Success®
This past Monday my wife and I started our trip to Monaco. Since we could not resist American Express’s (AmEx) great business-first incentive on Air Canada, that’s where we ended up. “Even though your last segment from Paris to Nice is with Air France, we, at Air canada, can check your luggage all the way through to Nice,” said the gate agent in Cleveland. “Sounds like a winning proposition,” I quickly replied.
So there we were on the quick flight from Cleveland to Toronto, followed by the just over 6 hour segment from Toronto to Paris where we landed next.
Do you know this dreaded feeling when the conveyor belt stops moving, all the passengers on your flight are already gone and you are the only one left and your luggage is nowhere to be seen? That’s right, alone we stood looking at each other when my wife said: “I think they’ve lost our luggage!” to which, me, the optimist Chad said: “perhaps it is on its way to Nice saving us the shlepping of the luggage.” A quick check with the Air Canada agent confirmed that my thinking was right.
Several hours later we landed in beautiful Nice and the Paris experience seemed to repeat itself. That’s right, no luggage there as well. So we filed our lost luggage report with the Air France agent who assured us that they will take care of us.
I’ll spare you the details, but neither Air France nor Air Canada had any idea where the luggage was or able to track it. The experience of attempting to contact them was unpleasant and what I found most surprising was the fact that in our age of great technological advancement, they could not report the progress to us.
Luckily, after exhausting my patience, energy, and that of the hotel concierge, I decided to call the AmEx global assist program. They could not have been any nicer. They immediately took control of the situation, started the process of contacting the airlines, tracking the luggage and most importantly, staying in touch with me to advise of the progress. I give AmEx my complete endorsement for this great service and could not thank them enough for bringing this to a happy conclusion.
In the end, we have no idea where the ball was dropped and where our three bags spent the last 36 hours. We were just happy to receive them, intact, with all their contents. Now, let the vacation begin!
© Chad Barr 2012. All rights reserved
What a lot of people don’t realize is that baggage is not handled by the airlines on hub airports, to me it is no surprise they couldn’t tell immediately where your baggage was. The airlines typically don’t track your specific bag on board of an aircraft. It is simply to expensive and most travellers are not willing to pay for the cost. I am confident that AmEx talked to the handlers directly, however they don’t do this for anybody. To ensure a smooth transfer select a hub which is known for a reliable service. In Europe Schiphol Airport (Amsterdan, NL) the handlers use leading edge technology to transfer baggage within a short interval even under high load. Enjoy your stay in Nice!
Chad, I know the feeling! Enjoy the holiday!