Spring break… the best of times, and the worst of times.
March 2022: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Oh, to be the first three girls in line for baggage check at the start of a new day! I can’t even say it was “bright and early” or that “the sun was shining” as many stories do in the beginning, because while it was early, it was not bright, and nothing was shining. In fact, the sun was nowhere to be found, and it would not be found for a good long while. It was roughly four o’clock in the morning, we were running on little to no sleep, and we, unfortunately, arrived earlier than even the flight crew had. It appears that four o’clock in the morning falls into some sort of brief shift-change abyss in which no one is staffed or available; it’s too late for the late night crew, and it’s too early for the morning crew.
You know how the general populace is advised to arrive at least two hours prior to the departure time of their flight? Well, that rule becomes difficult to follow when your flight is scheduled for six in the morning and, on the day in question, baggage check won’t be open until an hour prior to takeoff.
So, upon learning this unfortunate news, those three early bird girls sat on the ground of the airport—pre-baggage check, pre-security, pre-everything—eagerly awaiting the arrival of the crew who would take their bags and send them on their merry way. Spring break beckoned, and their luggage bore the proof: sundresses, cute tank tops, brand new bathing suits, curling irons, makeup… they had it all. They had it all—as in, they had everything they were hoping to use that week—in those bags, and the last thing on their minds was what they would do if those bags didn’t arrive with them. Why would they worry about that? They were first in line! Surely the universe doles out good karma to those who are first in line!
Well, apparently not… because those first few bags to be checked… were simply not checked at all. Who knows where they went, exactly? I certainly don’t. All I know is that we arrived in Florida with only our personal items, watching the conveyor belt spin around, and around, and around… until it finally stopped. I’ve never hung by the belt long enough to see it shut back off again, never even thought about it. So hearing the gears stop whirring, watching it slow to a halt… Well, it clicked with a finality, identical to the sound one singular thought made as it clicked in my head: Our bags are not here.
What should you keep in your personal item?
Now, above all else, this story begs the question of what you should pack in a personal item. To provide a refresher for those who don’t fly frequently, your personal item is one small piece of luggage that falls within the measurement requirements of the airline you’re flying with. This item is typically included in your booking, but it is on the smaller side—think purse, briefcase, or backpack—since the rule of thumb is that it has to fit underneath your seat. You can’t fit a ton in your personal item (although with some cute little travel hacks, you can fit more than you’d expect. In fact, I have traveled plenty of times with nothing more than a personal item… but that’s a post for another time), so it’s important to maximize the little space that you do have.
If you were to ask me today what I’d pack in my personal item, I’d start with the obvious: your identification cards, your credit cards, your cash. I often travel with a tiny crossbody bag or fanny pack in addition to my personal item, and I keep all of the above on me, in the crossbody, up until boarding (because it allows for easy access while going through TSA, and because it’ll be nice to have a smaller bag during the trip itself). If you choose to do that too, it’s best to leave space to throw that into your personal item, since you can only have one item on you as you board. Next, I’d say to pack essentials in your personal item, so long as they are compliant with security screening protocol. For example: your hairbrush, toothbrush, medications, and all hygiene items that stay under the ounce limit, such as travel-sized face wash, moisturizer, and toothpaste. Now, for the most important detail of all, I’d say to bring at least a day or two day’s worth of clothing, including socks, bras, and underwear (you will find out why in a moment!). Trust me on this one: always put extra underwear in your personal item. Lastly, I’d say to throw in some extra staples, like a book to read during the flight, a phone charger, headphones, a water bottle (which you should fill in the airport after you go through security), and a snack. Ultimately, the point I’m trying to make here is to pack your personal item with the mindset that your checked bag might not make it to your destination with you. Ask yourself, “if I landed at my destination and had only the stuff in my personal item for a day or two, would I be okay?” and pack according to your answer. This may sound a little doom and gloomy, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
With that in mind, what do we all think I packed in my personal item for this flight, back when I was the equivalent of a newborn baby in the traveling world? Whatever your guess is, I bet I did a worse job. Well, I’ll tell you: I packed not one, not two, but four books; three hats (you know, for variety… I ended up only wearing one of them, and it broke on the first day); and just for the hell of it, I threw in an extra bathing suit. A change of clothes? Nope. Any of my hygiene products? Nah. But you can bet I had plenty to read!
What happens when an airline loses your luggage?
Until this day, I was under the impression (delusion) that if an airline lost your luggage, they would stop at nothing to make sure it was returned to you. However, it seems that when you fly with this particular airline (all of my stories are about this same airline, yet I cannot stop flying with them. I love a good deal), sometimes they turn lost luggage into a game of hide-and-seek. So off we went to the help desk, which turned out to be an oxymoron (iconic reference, if you know you know), where we filled out paperwork and filed a claim for our bags. They determined that our bags had simply been… left behind somewhere in the Philadelphia airport, and would be put on the next flight out that day (I had no way to confirm or deny this, because back then, I did not have AirTags. Guys… invest in AirTags and always put them in your checked bags, okay? Just do it). Actually, wait, sorry, our bags were somewhere in this airport… wait, no, in Philly. Definitely in Philly. They’d be on the first flight out tomorrow, actually, not today. Tomorrow for sure, though! I’m not exaggerating: this is exactly how this was explained to us over the span of ten confusing minutes as we sat there finishing up the paperwork. In the meantime, there was nothing more for us to do but go and enjoy our vacation with nothing but the clothes on our backs and, of course, the four books I had in my personal item. We left the airport one hundred pounds lighter and quite defeated. This is how we ended up strolling around a mall in Ft. Lauderdale on our first day, looking for clothes to wear for the next few days, my friend quietly crying the entire time we shopped (she had expensive hair extensions in her checked bag and was half convinced it was all lost forever).
There is some good news, though, some important information to be gleaned from my travel misfortunes. When your luggage is lost on the way to your travel destination and you have to buy essentials as a result, the airline is “required” (I say “required” loosely. You’ll see why momentarily) to reimburse you, but a claim has to be filed and receipts have to be submitted. So, with this powerful information in mind, we went a little overboard with the shopping. Cute lounge set? I need one—it’s my pajamas for tonight. New shorts? Essential. Three t-shirts? A necessity, one simply wouldn’t do. Within a few hours, we had racked up a half-dozen receipts each, blown through much more money than expected on day one, and worn our arms down with bags and bags and bags of things. That reimbursement was the bright light at the end of a dark, luggage-less tunnel, and so we went into the next couple days with good vibes. We enjoyed our new clothes, slurped down cocktails in pineapples, and eagerly awaited the arrival of our luggage.
Now let’s talk about that happy baggage reunion (sarcasm)
One day slipped into two and into three, and our joy slowly slipped with it. At this rate, it was turning into a question of if the bags would get here by the end of our trip, not when. I pictured a plane with our suitcases landing in the Miami airport as we arrived for our return flight, the bags getting handed to us in the check-in line just to be re-checked for the journey home. And when you fly with a budget airline, expect budgeted help, because we sat on hold with their customer service line for a good long while, the peaceful melody of “please hold for a moment” followed by elevator music playing in the background as we ate burgers and cheese fries on our hotel balcony, as we lounged by the pool, as we went for walks by the beach. Eventually, finally, we got a call back that our luggage had arrived. Yay! The strife was over!
Sike. Our budget airline also had a budget transportation system attached, because their offer to deliver our bags with no fee as quickly as possible turned into “it could take a couple more days for your bags to be delivered with our complimentary service, or you could come pick them up at the airport and obviously not be refunded for the cost of that transportation!!!” Not their exact words, but that was the gist. So, after dropping over $100 on round-trip Ubers, we were at long last reunited with our bags, with three days left to enjoy them. Amen.
And you know what? We had a great trip, and a great story to laugh about for years to come. It’s always my go-to travel horror story, especially when you factor in how a few days later, our return flight would be canceled three hours before takeoff and we would be embarking on a 19-hour drive up the entire east coast in a $450 rental car (more on this later of course, because I live to overshare but this one is getting too long).
Traveling is a truly unique experience. You can make the memories of a lifetime, gain the craziest stories, or, if we’re being realistic, get a bit of both. So you may as well go prepared. If you gain anything other than a laugh from this story, please, let it be to not pack little more than four books in your personal item.