Travel woes

I have been to mumbai and back for the last couple of years but this trip was different because not only is this probably was last trip, it's also the first i've experienced problems with my flight and luggage.

My flight was slated to depart at 1:05 pm. I was checked in and waiting at the lounge by 11am. Come 1:05 they told us flight is moved to 3pm due to technical problems. So everyone grumbled and i went back to the lounge. When it was 3pm they again moved our flight to 6pm. 6pm rolled in and an airport officer dropped by to inform us that the plane has not been fixed and we were all transferred to the 8:30 flight. I approached him and told him i had a connecting flight to mumbai which i will miss. He was efficient in making sure that he booked me an overnight stay at bangkok novotel airport hotel and made arrangements for me to tAke the jetair flight the next day at 9:40am. By 7pm he finally announced that the original plane is ready for boarding. Funny most of the pinoys and asians boarded the flight while the westerns were scared and waited for the next flight. Me and a few others who had a connecting flight that we will miss anyway decided to stay and take the next flight too.

When we finally arrived in bangkok, i met another pinoy who was going to mumbai too so we decided to stick together for now. Unfortunately they had a hard time looking for my luggage!! We waited for about 30 mins until they told me to go to the hotel and they will deliver my luggage as soon as they find it.

The novotel airport hotel had a huge lobby and the rooms are not bad at all. Unfortunately i couldnt take a good rest because it was already 1:30 am and im worried about my luggage. I finally got a call that they found my luggage and will be bringing to the hotel and i was able to sleep.

When i woke up at 5am i got my luggage from the concierge. First thing i noticed the zipper which i left at the lower left side is now on the upper right side. I thought it was odd but didnt think too much of it until i opened my luggage and discovered several things: 1 my luggage was thoroughly ransacked; 2 my zipped bag which had my box of perfume and shampoo sachets was opened and everything inside are missing; 3 all my clothes are a mess those i put at the bottom were on top and vice versa; 4 even my zipped bag containing all my chargers were opened and were removed but luckily not stolen; 5 even my chinese textbook that i placed inside a plastic was also taken out; and 6 small envelopes where i put my receipts were removed! In short super f-ing bad trip!!!!! Thats why it took them such a long time to locate my luggage!! It can only happen either in manila during the flight delay or in bangkok during baggage claim. Unfortunately my guess is it happened in manila since a friend also had the experience and her perfume also went missing. Interestingly my padlock was perfectly fine. I guess its true that you can unzip the luggage without breaking the locks like in that youtube video.

I was furious but since it was just perfume i didnt report it, also since i had to catch a flight to mumbai in a few hours.

1 day later i realized that my company issued webcam was also missing :( this time i finally had to report it to the airlines and my company and file a report to claim it. Good thing the airlines were very responsive and when i arrived in manila last sat an officer met me to sign the pilfered baggage report. Now just have to talk to the claims officer tomorrow for the procedure.

Lessons learned for me: dont be stubborn and hand carry my laptop. Look for a lighter laptop bag. Buy a smaller perfume to handcarry. Next time when i buy a luggage maybe find one without a zipper.