Last week, I started out from my home in California for the first European adventure I have had in quite a few years. Honestly, I am unable to even remember the last time I made my way to Europe for a fun adventure.
I was sorely in need!
I have done a few other things in the last years that were fun, but they were not European based. Still fun….But, I have been “chomping at the bit” to get in a good European adventure. So, when the daughter of a good friend of mine (who is also my friend now) was swept off of her feet by a man working for the State Department in Prague, decided to marry him in Prague, and then invited me to the wedding, I really just couldn’t say no!
How could I turn this down?
Right!?
I was so excited!
After some thought, I decided that I would not only go to the wedding, but would tack on a small solo adventure in Budapest as well. It’s a long way to get to Europe from Californiaand I was already heading in that direction. Why not spend a little more time?!
Little did I know that not only would I have a great adventure, but my luggage would have one, too.
When I got to the airport last Monday, I was ready. I had my outfit for the wedding and outfits for the activities surrounding the wedding, my most comfortable walking shoes and comfy clothes. I took every precaution with my back, which has been acting up over the last 8 months or so. I armed myself with a Business class airline ticket so that my aching back would have no complaints. I also packed every pain relief tool that I had in my arsenal for my aging back and started off.
I was ready.
I had thought of everything.
Well, almost everything.
What I hadn’t thought of was the very high likelihood that my flight through San Francisco could be delayed. There is always fog there…bad weather prevails. I hadn’t taken that route in a long time, so I never gave it a second thought. Imagine my surprise that when I got to the local airport and was told that my flight was delayed. I wouldn’t make my connection in San Francisco and would need to be rebooked.
Ughh….
To add insult to injury, the clerk that was helping me rebook my flight was also new and very unsure about how to actually do the rebooking. The whole thing was complicated by the fact that my original flight was on United and the rebook would be on Lufthansa.
Double Ughhh…..
The clerk and I struggled through the rebook for a few minutes before she decided that she would need to call the Lufthansa people in order to get this done. They were able to help, but she was not able to print a boarding pass for me. So, I proceeded on to San Francisco with a slip of paper inscribed with the with the flight numbers and nothing else. Oh…..except for the hope that things would work out.
There were a few glitches.
The inexperienced clerk and the Lufthansa clerk, who probably didn’t grasp the situation, somehow neglected to send my checked bag through to my final destination in Prague. Instead, it would stop in Frankfurt my connection through to Prague. So, when I got to Frankfurt, I would need to go through passport control, retrieve my bag and then come back through check in and recheck it. This would all need to be done in about half an hour.
Have you ever been to Frankfurt?
I have.
I was in a race for time as I ran from one end of the Frankfurt airport to the other. I waited at the baggage claim watching the bags circle round and round.
But, guess what?!
Mine was not on the conveyor belt.
Really?!
The airline staff directed me to continue on to my final destination. They would locate the bag and send it on to my accommodation in Prague. So, this is what I did. What choice did I have?
My bag wasn’t there either.
After 3 days of wearing the same outfit and my travel buddy’s make up, my luggage finally arrived. I am grateful that I didn’t have to wear my only….and now stinky….outfit to the wedding.
As it turns out my luggage took a detour in Munich before coming to join me in Prague. I will say that despite this glitch, I managed to have a great couple of days with my friends that were joining me on this leg for the wedding.
I’m thinking about this now and I have a few reflections.
First, the airline staff didn’t seem to care if they were doing the rebook correctly. They just wanted to get it done. They also didn’t seem to care too much about whether or not I got my things. The people at my accommodation in Prague were highly concerned. It makes me sad to realize the low quality of customer service I received on the American end.
I also thought about how it didn’t really matter whether I had a Business Class ticket or Economy. The service was the same. It was neutral. I didn’t get the Business Class ticket for better service necessarily. I wanted more room and comfort. But, I can say that I paid a substantial amount for this ticket. Doesn’t that matter?
And last and on a more positive note I realized that faced with having very little, I realize how little I really need. That one outfit served me fairly well for the time I wore it. It smelled some and I was so tired of it, I could have tossed it in the trash. But, it didn’t look bad. I could have probably worn it for the whole 2 weeks. No one would have wanted to be around me. But, I could have done it.
So, I guess that’s my personal take away from this whole debacle. I need to come to terms with the “must haves” and the “nice to haves”. It would simplify my life, I’m certain of that. I also feel that I need to change my perspective. I need to be hopeful that things will go exactly as planned, but ready for anything.
So, at this juncture, I am signing off as flexible, hopeful and resourceful. I’m also signing off as hoping for a better return trip.
I’m also hoping for more competent airline staff. We’ll see what happens.
Travel With Betsy 
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