[Grandpa's Grumbles] Part 1: Where Did My Luggage Go?
Regarding flight troubles related to business trips around the year 2000, I introduced theChina Editionand theUS Edition.
This time, it might be something you have all experienced, but it is a story about "my checked luggage not coming out."
(Grandpa) I talked about the trouble I had when my flight was canceled the other day, but today I think I'll talk about the time my luggage didn't come out.
(Grandchild) Your luggage didn't come out? Where did it go?
(Grandpa) That's for you to find out after you hear the story.
(Grandchild) I want to hear it now!
That was a story from the autumn of 2010.
Ten years had passed since the stories about the flight cancellations in China and the US.
It happened on my return flight to Japan from Maui, Hawaii, where I was in charge of hotel and golf course operations.
Maui cannot handle international flight arrivals and departures. (There are no direct flights because it is Maui County's policy not to extend the runways to international standards.)
Therefore, for the flight back to Japan, I had to transfer from Maui (Kahului Airport) to Oahu (Honolulu Airport) to Haneda Airport/Narita Airport.
The flight from Maui to Honolulu is a monopoly of Hawaiian Airlines.
I usually chose a single-operator flight with Hawaiian Airlines all the way to Japan. (Hawaiian Airlines entered the Japanese market in 2010.)
Since there were few Hawaiian Airlines flights to Haneda, they were sometimes full and I couldn't get a seat.
At those times, I used a Japanese carrier (JAL/ANA) from Honolulu.
However, neither was available, and I could only book a flight with that major US airline (hereinafter referred to as "the airline") that I had such a terrible experience with in San Francisco.
Grandpa consulted with someone who was working in tourism while serving as a Buddhist priest at a temple in Maui.
(Grandpa) I'm thinking of checking my luggage only as far as Honolulu from Maui, picking it up once in Honolulu, and then re-checking it at the airline's counter.
(Friend) You're kidding, right?
(Grandpa) I just don't feel like luggage gets handed over properly between different American airlines.
(Friend) That's taking it a bit too far, don't you think?
(Grandpa) No, I had a terrible experience with a certain airline in San Francisco 10 years ago, so I can't trust them. <for such and such reasons>
(Friend) I understand how you feel, but IT has advanced since then, so it'll be fine. You can check your luggage through to Narita at Kahului Airport without any issues.
(Grandpa) Really?
(Friend) The luggage tag they attach when you check in has a barcode on it. It's designed so you can check the status of your luggage by scanning it, so if you're worried, why not have them check the tag at the gate check-in counter? That way, you'll know if it's been loaded onto the plane for Japan, so you can rest easy.
(Grandpa) I see. That's a great tip. If I can confirm it, I'll be relieved. I'm glad I don't have to go through any extra trouble.
Well, since I was told that, on the day of the flight, I checked my bags in Maui all the way to Japan. Since Honolulu was just a transit point, it was easy because I didn't have to pick up my bags or re-check them.
Thirty minutes before departure, I presented my boarding pass and luggage tag at the gate check-in counter and asked the staff member.
(Grandpa) I heard that if you check this luggage tag, you can tell if my bags were properly handed over from Hawaiian Airlines to your flight to Narita. Could you check that for me?
The staff member looked at the luggage tag and typed something in to confirm.
(Staff) Please rest assured, your luggage has already been loaded onto the flight to Narita.
(Grandpa) Thank you. I was worried because the luggage contains documents I need to report to my company's executives the morning after I return. I'm sorry for the trouble. Thank you.
So, I arrived back in Japan at the Narita Airport carousel.
I waited and waited, but my luggage didn't come out. Finally, the last bag came out, but my suitcase was not among them.
I wondered what was going on, and when I read the notice attached to a traffic cone, it said, "Mr. Grandpa, please come to the office of [Airline Name]."
(Grandpa) I received a notice to come to the office, but?
(Staff) I am terribly sorry. Mr. Grandpa, your luggage was on the next flight. We will definitely deliver it to your home tonight. It might be around 10:00 PM, would tomorrow be better for you?
(Grandpa) Please deliver it by the end of today. I'm begging you. You can put away that gift certificate you're holding, so could you please call a manager?
...
(Manager) I am the person in charge here. I am very sorry for the trouble we have caused you.
(Grandpa) Actually, I was worried something like this might happen, so I thought about picking up my luggage in Honolulu and checking it in at the counter at my house there. However, I heard that if I showed my luggage tag at the gate check-in counter, they could tell me if it had been loaded onto the aircraft, so I actually had them check it that way.
(Manager) Is that so? Even so, it's strange that it wasn't loaded onto the aircraft.
(Grandpa) I don't need any gift certificates. My request is this: why did this happen? Was the computer wrong? Could you please ask the local staff about that and let me know by phone?
(Manager) I understand. I will take responsibility and confirm this with the local office.
(Grandchild) Grandpa, did they call you?
(Grandpa) They did.
(Grandchild) Why did this happen?
(Grandpa) The rest is for after I take a bath.
Since it's gotten long, the rest will be in the second part (Grandpa's Grumbles are every Monday).
Thank you for reading until the end.
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