Entry bubble The Boston blues...

By: Colleen | November 05, 2007 | Category: Travel

Nothing good ever came out of Boston, except Tom Brady.

However, my best friend from college was getting married in Beantown, and I was in the wedding. During the six years we've known each other, I've made the trek up north several times for visits and a slew of wedding-related activities. It's never been a good experience.

This has nothing to do with my pal, she's still the best. It has much more to do with delayed flights, horrendous weather, traffic jams... and the fact that gals from Philadelphia and those hailing from Boston speak entirely different derivatives of English.

The big weekend had finally arrived and the time had come for me to venture to New England once again.

Things pretty much went south the second I left my office for the airport. En route to catch my flight, I stopped at the dry cleaners to pick up my dress for the rehersal dinner (a fabulous little black halter number that was the perfect balance of "cute" but not "TRYING to look cute".) On Tuesday when I dropped it off, I specifically asked and was assured that it would be ready and waiting for me on Thursday by 5pm.

It was 5:30pm and there was no dress. I was told to "call this number, it should be here tomorrow." A lot of good that'll do me when I'm 440 miles away. Reacting shockingly like my mother, a few flavorful words flew, fists were clenched, and the door was slammed as I hurried to the airport to hop on my flight. At my gate I was greeted by a big, fat "delayed" sign, much like every...single...other...time I've gone to Boston.

Fast forward through a taxi scam, ending up at the wrong hotel, lost luggage, and lots of rain- Sunday afternoon I found myself back at the airport to head home to DC. After what I will only describe as a "series of events" involving a buffalo chicken calzone and a friend needing emergency wisdom teeth surgery- I missed my plane.

In an occurance as suprising as the Colorado Rockies going to the World Series, the employee behind the counter (who informed me that there was zippy chance of making my flight) was extremely helpful and polite, tippy tapping on his keyboard until he found a way to get me back to the District. Eleven hours, two airports, and another delay later, I was home.

After a full recovery day of sleep, I decided to take action. I whipped out my Consumer Action Handbook and flipped right to the section about complaint letters. No chance I was going to let those dry cleaners get away with denying the public the privilege  of seeing me in all the fabulousness of my black halter dress. I also drafted a second letter to the airline, informing them of their most helpful employee and how much I appreciated all his efforts. The handbook is useful for this and many other situations. It also includes a list of key consumer infomation resources, general buying tips, insurance information, and much more.

Suffice to say, someone is going to need to offer me a heap of cash or a pair of Manolo Blahniks to get me back to Boston anytime soon.

| envelope Email This Entry | Tags: action   airlines   boston   brady   colleen   complaint   consumer   handbook   tom   travel  

 

Entry bubble Dude, Where's My Luggage?

By: Sam | September 26, 2007 | Category: Travel

Rounding out the fab five is me, Sam, your Wednesday blogger.  Since this is my first post, I wanted to start off by talking about one of my favorite topics....travel!

Who hasn't at one time had the unfortunate realization that your bag with the easily identifiable ribbon has not joined you at your final destination?  Simply put—it's not fun.  (Who can survive with only one pair of shoes?)  And if you flew in 2006, there's probably a good chance you said "Dude, where's my luggage?"  Lost Luggage

According to the 2007 Airline Quality Rating report, for every 1,000 passengers, 6.5 bags were lost, stolen, or damaged in 2006.  So, what's a jet-setter to do?

Delayed or Damaged Bags

ConsumerAction.gov offers these tips:

1.  File a report with the airline before you leave the airport.

2.  Some airlines give you money to purchase a few necessities.  If they don't give you cash, ask what types of articles are reimbursable, and keep all receipts.

3. Ask if the airline will deliver your bags free of charge once they arrive at the right airport.

Lost Bags

If your bag is declared officially lost, first, take a moment of silence to mourn for your lost items and then submit a second, more detailed form within a time period set by the airline.  The information on the form is used to estimate the value of your belongings.  The most an airline will have to pay, according to the Department of Transportation, is $3,000 for domestic flights and about $1,000 for international.

Here's wishing you safe, hassle-free (fingers-crossed) travels this fall!

| Comments [3] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: airlines   consumeraction.gov   luggage   travel