Carrying On About the Carry-On

I figured this was a good time to update myself on any new regulations regarding carry-on bags and personal items. Travelers that enjoy the convenience of flying often times are very inconvenienced (think irritated) when they discover that they can’t take onto the airplane the stuff that they thought they could. Perhaps you heard that airlines are now going to start charging a fee for carry-on bags! I did some homework so we won’t be surprised at where this is heading.

We all fussed when the big three, American, Delta, and United Airlines, started charging for a checked bag. Of course, this resulted in more people trying to bring bigger bags on board so they could get out of the $25 first checked bag fee. We already had travelers that are in too big a hurry to wait for their luggage to show up on the carousel. They drag huge roll-a-boards on the plane and cram them in overhead bins. Then we fussed when we were being charged for food. Then we fussed when airlines started charging more for the seats that have a bit more leg room. Well, get ready to fuss again, because starting March 2017, United will start charging for a carry-on bag and  American Airlines has a similar plan in place. I expect Delta to follow.

This is good news and bad news.

The good news is that the big three are announcing a basic-economy fare that can compete with some other lower fares. The bad news is buying the cheapest ticket also means you'll have to do without many of the amenities that we have come to expect  in modern air travel. At the top of that list is carry-on luggage. Basic-economy passengers are allowed to bring a personal item on board as long as it fits underneath the seat. However, any luggage that requires overhead bin space has been banned. The really bad news is that if you get to the gate with something that won’t fit under your basic-economy seat, then you will pay to check it AND a gate checking fee, so that bag now costs $50 to fly. (Ouch, I could buy new pajamas for that!)

Your personal item must be smaller than  carry-on baggage (like a purse, briefcase or laptop bag) and fit under the seat. There is no holding items in your lap, or between your feet, it’s got to go under the seat during take off. Diaper bags (1 per child), child safety seats and medical or mobility devices don’t count as your carry-on or personal item. 

Maybe there will be more on time departures without the battle of the bins waging overhead. Maybe we will see some better airfares in this new “no frills” class of seats for those that just want to get there, and don’t care about seat choice or a carry-on. Maybe.

If you are in business class or first class, just forget all this information. Your ticket pays for your overhead bin space. Maybe you can rent it out.

My PJ’s Need a Passport - Epilogue

I was tickled by the great number of  readers that reached out to me with concern for my pajamas! So, I am happy to report that I am writing “the rest of the story” in my jammies, but you probably don’t want that mental image. Forget I mentioned that.
 

Once  our wayward bags arrived, we had a wonderful cruise onboard Oceania’s Riviera. From toasting success with champagne in the beautiful dining room to toasting on a lounge chair on the white sand beach under azure skies, shaded by gently swaying palms, we drank in the peaceful beauty for which the West Indies is known.  After our challenging experience getting there, it was a welcome respite of which we took full advantage. Some of the group enjoyed Champagne & Lobster Lunch sailing around Barbados. Some signed on for an hour-long relaxing massage onboard.  There is something wonderful about smelling like a coconut when you are in the Caribbean. We worried for a minute or two about those in the cold and snow back in Oklahoma until someone remarked “Hey, they had the same chance to join us as we did.” Good point! We pushed our sunglasses up and dabbed a bit more lotion on our bare feet. Sigh.

The time just went by too quickly. We took advantage of new tastes in the specialty restaurants. We were delighted by the onboard production shows and entertainers. We ate ice cream all hours of the day and were pampered by “suite stewards” who kept our marble countertops shiny, our luxurious bedding prepared for naps and everything else, well, shipshape.

Our ship was to disembark after our arrival in Miami, Florida. This is a traditionally high-stress time, what with packing, paying final bills, getting transportation to the airport, will our plane have “mechanical problems” THIS time? Husband Doug was “holding down the fort” at home and was keeping me posted of the  ice storm forecast to hit Tulsa about three hours before we landed. Hardly the easy transition back into the real world.

This is an example of when it is great to be part of a group. As the “Fearless Leader”, I was working to reconfirm everything and was hopeful to see if there was an earlier flight that would have us safely home before the anticipated storm hit. As the American Airlines agent wasn’t able to see any weather issues with our current ticket, I pleaded our case, and was able to get an audience with a supervisor. (Part of me wanted to ask “Where the heck were YOU a week ago when I was on meeting every American Airline employee looking for my lost luggage?”) But I was able to get our flights changed to an earlier travel time without a change penalty. We had smooth flights and made our connections. And... all our luggage showed up in Tulsa.

We were home in our pajamas before we were even originally due to arrive in Tulsa. I love happy endings.

My PJ’s Need a Passport Part 2

I know you probably haven’t been able to sleep thinking about the perils of my pajamas and how they are racking up more frequent flyer miles than I am. A little background if you are just getting to this pj party, our group of Good to Go travelers left January 2 to catch a flight to Miami, Florida to join a cruise ship. Our connecting flight in Dallas was delayed ten hours. I managed to convince an American Airlines employee to pull our bags off, but three that had been checked at the gate flew onto Miami without us. Since the delays came in 15 and 30 minute increments, we couldn’t get rebooked until it was too late. We missed the boat. We spent the night in Dallas (without pajamas) and flew through San Juan to Tortola, BVI to await our ship that had sailed. And, hopefully, our missing 3 bags would arrive. 
 

It seems that there will be more people for me to deal with regarding this saga. Upon our arrival in Tortola, I discovered that American Airlines doesn’t have a presence at the airport and their travel partner, Seabourne Airlines, isn’t present for their problems. Stay with me here. I could only call AA and tell them the bags were missing. But when the missing bags got to Miami and we weren’t there to say they were missing... they couldn’t be considered missing until the paperwork had been completed. Now I have missing bag claim numbers, but in this complicated black hole of lost bags, it may just be code number for “give this gal the run-around.” Lucas in Miami said the bags would be sent to San Juan. That’s great, Lucas, but we won’t be there, send them to Tortola, that’s where we are. He can’t do that, I will have to call central baggage, and he transfers me. I’m 21st in the call back queue. Four days later I’m STILL waiting on that call back.

I check with Wendy at the hotel front desk, no bags have arrived overnight. Sigh. I replay the pajama tale and she promises to keep an eye out. I decide to call American again and tell my story to Desmond. This is going nowhere after one hour and 15 minutes on very costly cellphone calls, so I firmly ask to speak to a supervisor. I’m informed that all the supervisors are in a meeting. (Could they be looking at my pjs and wondering why no one has claimed them?!) Desmond says he will call me back. Four days later... I’m still waiting on THAT call back.

I call AA groups department, trying a different route. Groups Wendy asks me “to hold one second” so many times I lost count, she transfers me to Mary who I thought was going to be a supervisor. Mary asks me “to hold one minute” so many times, well, you know where this is headed. Mary says she will transfer me to a supervisor, crushing my dreams that she was someone with power. She signs off and the next recorded message I hear is “you have reached central baggage, blah, blah, blah.” I’m number 17 in the queue for a return call. I’m beginning to forget what my jammie’s even looked like.

Now my favorite part of this besides the retelling of the details over and over, is how along the way how many employees feel the need to chastise us for checking our carry-on bags. Somehow when the boarding is taking places, with gate agents barking about “an on time departure” and taking bags because there “is no overhead space” I can hardly see us having the luxury to open our bags out on the floor and pull out our nightclothes, medications, and all the necessities. What would we carry it all onboard in? Oh, that’s right, a carry-on.

Trust me, the travel tip in all of this is to make sure you carry on a carry on small enough to carry on. You can quote me.

Hotel Wendy reports that the flight from San Juan was cancelled. There is one more chance for the bags to arrive before we cruise. But there isn’t anyone at Seabourne Airlines baggage at the airport until 9 am the next day.

Day 3, really our Day 4. Ishmael our airport driver, and Tortola tour guide, drives us to the pier. He has suffered though this mess with me and shakes his head. We are waiting on the dock with our 10 big bags as the other passengers scamper off the ship. We look like castaways trying to get on as they stare our direction. Once onboard, I meet Tudor, the concierge. I go through the story once again. He asks to see the paperwork for the lost bags. I’m about to lose it. He assures me he will take on this quest for me, maybe he is a Tudor. Go, Sir, go!

Midday, Ishmael calls me. He is at the airport. He asks about the names of my folks, as he remembers these names on some bags at the airport but it’s not the names on the tickets. And if you are a Patricia that goes by Patti you will understand that confusion of never knowing who you are. Ishmael has our bags. He is my new best friend. He drives them to the ship pier and they are delivered to the staterooms.

Here’s a hoot, Day 6, really our Day 7 in Barbados, I got 2 calls within 2 hours from American Airlines... returning my calls. This Fearless Leader’s phone bill continues to soar.

I want to say the plight of the pjs ends there, but there is still some paperwork left to do.

My PJ's Need a Passport

This is the story of my pajamas and how I met so many American Airline's employees. It starts out innocent enough with plans to escape Oklahoma winter weather with a cruise to the Caribbean. Great plan.  As it turns out for mid-westerners traveling east, our flight was at dark-thirty in the morning so we could have some wiggle room in case of incidents. We decided as a group to go to the airport the evening before as a precaution in case of bad weather. I packed my pjs in my carry-on and looked forward to a relaxing vacation. 

Day 1 which is really Day 2. Jammie's re-packed and we head to the airport to check in at dark-thirty am. If you've flown recently then you know flying is only a couple of steps away from total do-it-yourself. We met lots of employees who had been hired to help us use the self service check in kiosks. Seems like we used to do it faster with fewer agents when they did the work, but maybe I'm wrong.

We paid extra for the privilege of traveling with luggage, answered our own security questions and selected our own seats. We checked our own IDs and made sure we were really us. We pulled the bag tags out of the machines and stuck them on the handles of our suitcases. I had not been trained to find that little barcode sticker and stick it on the back of my ticket jacket that they no longer provide....

As we wait at the gate for our flight, announcements are made that the flight is full and there would be no overhead space for carry-ons. This is an interesting psychic call on these employees part to know everyone has bin-filling carry-ons and are not minimalists, but maybe I'm wrong. Our gang was the last group to board, the gate agents making a plea to check our bags (at no extra cost!) since there wasn't room for it in the plane. Employees gave looks to those with more than a wallet to check those carry-ons. At the last minute we caved, and handed over the little bags that seemed to be deal breakers on this trip. Employee Kathy checked my pajamas to sunny Florida. 

We found our own seats on the plane and made the short flight to Dallas/Ft Worth. 

We have arrived with plenty of time to connect with our 9:05 am flight to Miami, Florida. We make camp at the assigned gate and wait. Bad sign number one was when the first delay was posted. Bad signs continued as delays kept coming and we watched mechanics on ladders huddle with hands on hips. 

I met American Airlines employee, Rahad, when we visited numerous times as the delays were posted in 30-minute increments. We had no need to worry until after 2:30 when our arrival into Florida would make us too late for our 6 pm cruise ship sailing. My partner in this travel adventure, Carolyn Williams at Grand Escapes, was working her end like a demon to notify the ship of our delay. Eight delays and a gate change later, I ask Rahad, to get us on another flight and help get our bags off that broken plane, we can't wait for the repair. Tim, the supervisor, concurs and we wish we'd had those little stickers that we were suppose to stick on our ticket jackets that are no longer provided, because we don't know the numbers on the bags.  Rahad creates the list of checked bags and runs off with a printout. 

Carolyn at headquarters has had phones on both ears and is onto Plan G with how to connect with our ship. It doesn't seem to involve Florida. Wait a minute (although each one is precious now), where are those carry-on bags with my pjs? I return to ask Rahad, only to discover that a shift change has occurred and I meet Ms. Surly (name has been changed). Ms Surly has no idea about the carry-ons and neither does the call to the baggage person. It appears there has been a shift change and no one knows. And there doesn't seem to be any supervisor named Tim. Ms. Surly feels this is a good time to lecture me on her 29 years of employment experience on what a bad idea it was to let them pull our bags. This motivational although not encouraging rant was not finding my Jammie's. Darn that shift change.

Carolyn, whom I'll now call Hotline for her long distance phone skills, had found us a hotel to spend the night and work on Plan L, and let those 30 minute delays keep posting. 

The Much Older Sister got the gang on the green shuttle driven by Ashton that Michelle had sent that Hotline (Carolyn Williams) had secured. I will be along as soon as I find the 10 checked bags and the 3 checked carry-ons. I head to A-28 baggage claim to start. Mr. Grey Mustache informs me those bags "if they did get pulled" off the broken plane, might be at terminal C, gate 4. Luckily for me, a helpful employee was nearby to inform me this was too far to walk; I needed to catch the orange shuttle to C. 

I met Helen at C4. She looked at me like I was wearing my pajamas. Many clicks on her keyboard later, she sends me to C-21 because she can't do anything to help me. Darrel at C-21 can't see that anyone anywhere ever requested bags to be removed from the plane.  He asks if there is anything special looking about the bags, I literally draw a picture of the Good to Go tags and ribbons. He suggests I visit with his supervisor, Carlos.  I stress to AA employee Carlos, that the carry/checked bags have medications in them. He starts to give me the encore lecture of Ms. Surly so I interrupt and say "I Know, I’ve Heard It."  I emphasize that AA employees highly encouraged us to check them at the last minute and it wasn't possible to open our bags and grab out everything we wanted to carry-on, then we would need something to carry-on in. He said they should have told us not to check medications. I said, "Well, there's that." I chose not to bring up my sleepwear. Carlos says IF the bags come off, they will be at A-16.

 I know how the orange shuttle works now so I jump onboard and get back to where I started. A-16 Francis sends me to A-20 where I round a corner to see 10 suitcases lined up with Good to Go luggage tags and blue ribbons streaming. I had a tear in my eye.

Wait, where are my pjs? I'm missing the 3 carry-on/checked bags. I introduce myself to Derik whose smile fades when I claim we are 3 short. He clicks around on the keyboard and says that delayed flight is still delayed, and the bags are onboard. It could take 30 minutes or 4 hours to look for them.  I was thinking, somebody better get started.

Meanwhile, Hotline has booked us on flights at dark-thirty in the morning, to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Which wasn't on our itinerary. We will spend 2 nights on Tortola then meet our cruise ship. Good news Plan R is in place! Good news, if there is any fear of rough water, we are flying over it! Good news, we miss the lifeboat drill! Bad news, we miss the first 2 days of the cruise. Bad news, we miss the lifeboat drill. Derik and I have some time to get acquainted while I'm waiting on the 3 strays to show up. Sister calls to confirm everyone is settled in the airport hotel, just waiting on their suitcases. Probably wanting their pajamas. I decide to call the green shuttle to take the 10 to their owners. I ask my new best friend Derik if I can borrow the porters luggage cart to tote the bags. He asked who was going to help me. Obviously, he has never seen me haul hay! So he clicks a few more times and I stack bags, no news of the MIAs and out I go with 10. I give Derik my phone number; tell him my room number at the Marriott and tuck a five dollar bill in his palm...just in case he sees my pajamas.

Either he didn’t... or it needed to be a bigger bill. 

At 9:00 pm I call the AA baggage line and talk to Mr. India in Florida. I go through the plight of my pjs, and he confirms my fear, the 3 bags are enroute to Florida. Mr. India is closer to my nightie than I am. I try not to shoot the messenger and ask if the bags can be returned to Texas  before our departure at dark-thirty. He says "No," because the bags aren't missing yet. Somebody better tell me that. I have 25 delay notices on my phone.

We check in with American Airlines employee Shelby for our flight to San Juan. After hearing the narrative that is becoming Day 2 which is really Day 3, she clicks some keys and we don't have to pay luggage fees again. Our flight to Puerto Rico is smooth and our flight to Tortola is on time. I am reprimanded for taking a picture of the airport sign by Mr. Tall Employee, but I feel like I need to document where I am, because I'm losing track.

Yay! All bags arrived! Of course the 3 bags are still a no show, so I go into the empty terminal in order to fill out paperwork for the missing bags. I spent 25 minutes waiting on a baggage person to file a claim before I gave up and called American Airlines and spent another 25 minutes telling and retelling the story as I was transferred from agent to agent. If only the bags moved as easily as the passing of responsibility. Kareem was the one that was happy to tell me the bags were in Miami. (yeah, I know) but the real task was convincing him there was no need to send bags to San Juan since we weren't there. Aghhhh!

Finally got it communicated and hopefully bags will come from Miami to Tortola and we expect them tomorrow. We will join the ship the day after. But I do think my pjs deserve a passport.