Hello everybody,
For almost a year I had planned a trip to Georgia and Armenia that started on Sunday June 3rd, when I flew to Tbilisi via London. The connection in London wasn’t especially tight (almost 2 hours) and yet British Airways managed to leave my baggage in Heathrow. All my mountain gear, my tripod, my camera’s battery charger and most of my clothing were in that bag.
When I arrived in Tbilisi on Sunday without my bag, I was informed that the next flight from Heathrow wasn’t until Wednesday. I had to change all my plans, cancel my reservations in the mountains, and be stuck in Tbilisi for those 3 days.
They referred me to their online tracing service, which showed that the bag was “located, waiting confirmation”. That’s all the information I have got to this day.
Wednesday I called BA in Tbilisi and asked if they knew about my bag. They said it was loaded in the plane, would arrive at 22:00 and they would deliver it to my hotel. I arranged everything in order to leave for the mountains first thing Thursday morning.
At 2:00 am I gave up waiting and went to sleep.
Next morning, after cancelling again all my plans, I called them to ask what had happened. They told me that it seemed the bag wasn’t loaded in the plane. Why? No one knew (nor cared, judging from their tone). Why hadn’t they called to tell me, instead of keeping me waiting all night? Same answer. I tried to phone BA in London, but an answering machine informed that London couldn’t help me with enquiries about bags destined outside the UK.
Next flight, they told me, wasn’t until Saturday night. Maybe the bag would arrive with this one. Any guarantees? Nope. And judging from their performance so far, chances looked bad.
So I had to finally give up, cancel everything and buy a plane ticket to go back to Spain (my original return was from Armenia). Hiking in the Caucasus at above 3,000 metres without my winter clothing was impossible, and finding boots my size in Tbilisi was unlikely, not to mention the risk of mountain hiking with new, untried boots. Plus, no battery charger, nor tripod.
Before I left, I gave BA instructions to deliver my bag to my home address in Madrid (and these figured in their website). However, they ignored these instructions, and sent it to Georgia two days after my departure. To this day I haven’t a clue as to when I will get it.
OK, I know that misplaced luggage is a common occurrence when travelling by plane, and if you fly frequently it’s a matter of time until it happens. What was appalling in this case was (still is) BA’s mismanagement of a situation caused by their sheer incompetence, and the total disregard for the trouble they’ve caused to a customer. Thanks to them I had to spend four days in a hotel in Tbilisi, buy some clothes and personal toiletries to get by, and finally buy a new plane ticket to return home. Not to mention, of course, that they totally ruined my vacation. No help with my extra expenses, nor an apology of any kind has been offered at any moment.
Based on this and other previous experiences, I would suggest some measures to take when flying to a birding destination; they may sound obvious, but can mean the difference between an inconvenience and a disaster:
-Try to fly with a company that has daily, or at least fairly frequent flights to your destination.
-If there is a connecting flight in your itinerary, especially at a large international airport, check if it implies changing terminals. If so, there are many chances that your bags will be misplaced.
-Carry as many essential and specialized items as possible within your hand baggage. Try to check-in only things that you may be able to buy at your destination.
-Wear the most difficult footwear to replace, even if it means having your heavy boots during the flight.
-Make sure your travel insurance covers expenses incurred while stranded in a hotel waiting for your luggage.
Maybe someone can suggest some more?
I must mention my local guide, Giorgi Rajebashvili from Caucasus Birding, who was extremely helpful and took me for some day trips around Tbilisi, and lent me a tripod. I attach a sample of what little we could see. I will do my best to make the trip next year, of course using a different airline.
Best regards,
Ignacio
Sorry to hear that, Ignacio, I'm gutted for you, seriously. BA don't have a good reputation when it comes to lost baggage. Give them hell until they give you some decent recompense for their incompetence. Last year BA managed to lose hundreds of passengers' luggage during fog delays, I think I read somewhere a fair bit has not been located.
I was a bit concerned when flying with Iberia to Ecuador a few weeks ago because I had to change from Terminal 4 to Terminal 4S at Madrid Barajas (and in reverse on my flight back to London), but no problem.
Good luck!
To be fair, any airline can lose baggage - perhaps I have been lucky, but I have never had a problem with B.A. However, the battery charger would have been in my hand baggage and other than that, nothing else on the list of things missing would have fussed me. Instead of buying an early return ticket, I think I'd have been in a clothes shop to get a few warm wraps to get up those mountains.