Boy did I get in trouble with British Airways (BA) on a recent trip from London to Seattle. I picked up the wrong bag at Seattle customs, despite the sign "many bags look alike."
I had recently purchased a new suitcase and even attached a lime-green fluorescent tag to make sure I recognized it. I didn't!
Worse than that, I didn't realize it wasn't "my" bag until the next morning when I went to retrieve my flat iron.
After lobbing the behemoth SwissAlps 27" Spinner onto the hotel's in-room luggage rack, I noticed that the wheel broken by British Airways on my flight from London to Athens nearly two months earlier had magically mended itself.
Bless British Airways, they breaketh and they mendeth. I spun all four of the little in-line wheels round and round in amazement. They looked brand new and worked just fine.
I was so happy that the days of lugging 50 pounds of deadweight from boat terminals along cobbled stone streets to hotels was in the past. Getting a broken wheel on your suitcase when you are touring the Greek Isles is nothing less than a death sentence for your back or marriage as my husband endured the hardship more than I. (Thank you honey.)
Unzipping my suitcase, I noticed that the TSA lock was gone. Crap, another lost or stolen lock, I thought. I flipped the top open. OMG, someone had not only stole my lock, but my new knock-off handbags and silk scarves. My husband's dirty clothes were still there, underwear and all. Wait a minute, I thought. What is this plastic bag of prescription bottles? Light bulb! This is not my bag or my husband's underwear. Eww.
When my husband emerged from the shower, I asked him "you wanna' know why it was so easy to roll my bag to the bus stop last night."
"Yeah."
"Well it was because this isn't my bag." (Won't quote in a family newspaper what he said after that.)
OK now what? I wondered. It's 6 a.m. and our flight to Anchorage leaves at 9 a.m. Quick get to the airport and go to British Airways with the hope that they have my bag and I can exchange the poor person's bag I lifted by mistake in customs.
There was no identification on the outside of the look alike bag. I had ripped off the baggage claim tags at the airport so I didn't know whose bag I had. And I just didn't feel right searching the inside for the name of the owner.
We hurried and got ready and caught the 6:30 a.m. shuttle to the airport. When we approached the BA ticket counter a sign read: The counter opens at 3:30 p.m. Now what? As if by magic, an information volunteer appeared suggesting that we go to the Customs Office since that is where she thought my bag should be. The office opened at 7 a.m. Standing outside of the door at about 7:03 a.m. a good looking young man approached with a key. "Can I help you?" he asked.
I explained what had happened and he said that Customs never, ever, ever keeps bags and that given BA was closed we should go to the Seattle Airport Port Authority's office of lost and found just down the hallway. The office had just opened when we got there, and we were its first customers.
"We don't deal with baggage," the woman said. "Why don't you try the custom's office?" After I explained that customs wasn't the right place and also that BA was closed until 3:30 p.m. and that I would like to leave the "found" bag with them for safekeeping, I was passed onto to the manager who had just arrived.
Fortunately, she was very helpful. I learned that British Airways was difficult to work with. I had already gleaned this insight after trying to get a Seattle direct number from a partner airline (American Airlines) and also after calling their 1-800 reservations. No one including American had any number other than the general reservations number that sent you round in circles with dozens of "if you need this..., push..." options.
On my third call, I was able to reach a real person after pushing the number for "our elite, elitest, bestes, million-mile first-class fliers who we really care about" option. I explained my predicament to the nice young man who said, "Gee I wish I could help you, but I don't have a number for Seattle either. All I can tell you is to wait until the counter opens."
Thanks!
Back at lost and found after asking really, really nicely and providing the morning manger with a business card of the hopeful owner that I had just found in the id slot of the look alike suitcase, she said that her office would keep the suitcase and get it to British Airways when they opened in the afternoon so that we could catch our Alaska Airlines 9 a.m. flight.
"Thank you, God. There are angels at work even in government offices early in the morning."
Then I thought, how is my bag going to get from Seattle to Anchorage since it was only checked to Seattle on BA. Before going through security, I hightailed it down to the Alaska Airlines' baggage claim counter. I was absolutely stunned, when after explaining to the agent what had happened, she said, "When you get to Anchorage go to our counter there and give them a copy of the British Airways baggage claim check and they will ensure that you get your bag." Really? Even when it wasn't checked on Alaska Airlines to Anchorage. "Yes," she reassured me. This I've gotta' see, I thought.
I arrived in Anchorage at 11:30 a.m. and did as the Seattle agent told me. She was right, the agent made a copy of my baggage claim check and told me that Alaska would contact British Airways, but that it might take a day or two as BA is very difficult to get a hold of. Like duh!
At 6 p.m. my home phone rang. "This is Alaska Airlines baggage claim. We have your bag." Are you serious? With millions of bags flying millions of miles every day, maybe even every hour, my bag was misplaced and now found. Absolutely amazing.
I picked up my bag the following day, but not before the agent admonished me saying, "British Airways is really mad at you." I just smiled wondering what she expected me to say, "Yep, I am a dummy and you know what? I did it on purpose."
Moral of story: 1. Don't be a dumb-dumb like me no matter how many million miles you have flown. Check to make sure it really is your bag that you claim. 2. Give kudos to the airlines, all of them, for an incredibly efficient system that tracks your bags all over kingdom come and back, and also for their willingness to do it for you.
Thank you Alaska Airlines, and British Airways (no matter how difficult you make it to get in touch). And, a special thanks to all those in between who made this luggage miracle happen.
By GLORIA MASCHMEYER
Daily News correspondent