Playing tag at the airport; not as much fun as you’d think
When your worldly possessions have shrunk to a pair of carry-on bags and a single checked suitcase, losing any of them could be a disaster.
I was leery when the TAP Air Portugal employee at the check-in counter at Pierre-Elliot Trudeau airport offered to have my carry-on bags placed in the cargo hold with my main bag. “It’s free,” she noted.
“I’ve got a 10-hour layover in Lisbon before I fly on to Toulouse, I’m going to need the stuff in my bag,” I told her. “So I’d rather hang on to it.”
She then explained that my checked baggage would go on a direct flight to Toulouse rather than switching aircraft with me in Lisbon, so it might be better to keep them together.
No sale. Switching to a second plane might make it easier to lose checked bags, but I planned on watching my carry-ons like I’d birthed them. The fact that my main bag was taking a different plane actually made me a little nervous. Getting it to Toulouse ahead of me didn’t seem to offer any advantage to anyone but Air Portugal, which could, I assume, maximize their return by making it cheaper to get my 22-kilo valise onto a Toulouse tarmac.
The information just made me even more determined to keep my carry-ons. Yes, two carry-ons. One was a knapsack containing my Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) apparatus, a device used to treat sleep apnea. Since it is a medical device, you’re allowed to carry this and its accessories (mask, hose, etc.) as an extra on most airlines. In past travels, I had left it in my checked bags, because you usually can’t use it on the fight anyway, even the long ones where sleep would be a gift of the gods. But since space in my main bag was at a premium, I took the advice of my Ottawa sisters (they both use CPAP) and brought it on the plane with me.
The contents of my main carry-on had been chosen with care. There were only two criteria: Comfort items I might like to have on the plane, and things I would need if they lost my checked bag.
The first category covers my laptop and various cables, adapters, chargers, headphones, etc. A book to read in case on-flight wi-fi was unavailable or too expensive. A tuque to cover my eyes if I wanted to nap, toiletries to freshen up, a fleece to keep warm if the cabin was cold and the blankets too thin. And my iPhone. Of course, my iPhone. Don’t leave home without it.
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Funny story. When I travelled to Costa Rico, Peru and Bali in the spring of 2022, I had waited until the last minute to pack my laptop. Just as I sat down on the 747 bus to the airport, I realized it was still on my desk. I managed with just my Samsung Android phone for all six weeks abroad tho, and I think it actually improved my vacation by letting me be more in the moment than preoccupied with capturing it. The experience did convince me, however, that it had been a waste of space to bring my Canon camera and lenses. I spent way too much time worrying about losing the kit or about attracting thieves, fumbling with lenses and trying to find ways to sort and upload the pictures. A woman I met on my travels had a Pro-Max iPhone and I was amazed at how good her videos and pics were, so I bought one not long after getting home. I’ve been a hardcore Mac fan since the stone age of personal PCs, but had always thought iPhones were overpriced and overhyped. I was dead wrong about the latter.
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So where were we? Yes, things I’d need if the airline lost my checked bag. Never gonna happen, right? Everything is automated and tracked and tagged and … who am I kidding? I bought four Apple AirTags ($148.32 with tax) just before my trip and had placed one in each of my bags and my jacket, just to be safe.
Also in my carry-on was enough of my meds to cover 10 days, three sets of t-shirts, socks and undies, travel towel (Don’t Panic!), print copies of everything from my passport and visa to my housing reservations and health insurance, my wallet and credit cards, etc.
Be prepared. And thank god I was.
Arriving at 11:25 pm at the Toulouse airport, I was nervous because there had been no charging outlets on my older Embraer jet from Lisbon. My phone was down to a 15% charge and I’d need it because it was the only way to contact my Airbnb host, Valérie, who was picking me up at the airport. She had insisted we only use the app to communicate, so I didn’t have her number in case, I dunno, my phone went dead?
Still lots of time, I thought. I’d told Valérie I’d text after I got my bags, so she wouldn’t have to wait. But she had tracked my plane (25 minutes late) and decided to jump the gun. She messaged me to say she’d be there shortly, waiting in an area where you have to pay extra if you’re there more than 30 minutes. Great. More pressure. But all I need to do is grab my bag and hop over to the pick-up zone, right? Surely my phone will last … 12%. The battery monitor has gone from yellow to red. It’s like those adventure pics where attempts to diffuse the bomb (low-power mode) just seem to make the countdown speed up. I don’t see any electrical outlets or USB chargers in the baggage area. Neither do I see my bag.
I check the AirTag-monitoring Find My app on my phone. It says my bag is at the Toulouse airport, but it’s a 1.5-km drive from my current location. I ask the baggage supervisor to check on ma valise. She consults a computer and says it’s on carrousel 5. I fidget and pace nervously as I watch the bags go around on carrousel 5. One time, two times, three times. No bag. Find My insists it is somewhere else in the airport. The baggage supervisor is now busy with five or six others dealing with missing possessions, so I just tell her I give up and will come back tomorrow. She tells me to scan a QR code on the wall and file a report electronically. I shoot the code, then jog to the pick-up point. The battery is at 4% and is ready to shut down. Valérie spots me and I get in the car. She offers me a USB cable. I begin to breathe again.
“But won’t you need your clothes?” Valérie asks, after I explain I’d given up on recovering my bag that night, but that my AirTag told me it had arrived safely and hadn’t been stolen. Just lost.
“I’ll be okay. I have all the essentials in my carry-on, even the CPAP machine I need for sleep. I came prepared. I’ll just get some rest and come back tomorrow.”
It cost me 18 euro (about $27) to shuttle back and forth to the airport, where I found my suitcase waiting with about 30 or 40 other orphan bags. The day-shift guy tells me a lot of people are using AirTags now, “they are very useful. Luggage gets lost a lot. Usually not for long, but it’s good to know where it is.”
Mets-en.
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I apologize if this sounds like product placement for Apple. It’s just an honest, unsolicited testimonial. But, hey Apple, if you want to sponsor any future columns, I think I just lost any chance of getting Air Portugal to come aboard.
Thanks, my faithful readers, for joining me in yet another episode of Things That Can Go Wrong. See you on Wednesday, when I will actually have some things to say about my first days in France. So far so good, the people here have been universally kind and friendly, despite my bizarre accent and failure to understand how to weigh and tag my own fruit at the grocery store.
À la prochain.
You’re a terrific writer - but I suspect you already know that ;)
Looking forward to this adventure!!
I was biting my nails reading this. Glad you and your bags are reunited. Taking note of the Apple Air Tag. I am a Mac fan too and recently upgraded my iPhone. I still prefer the shots my DSLR takes but in certain situations, the phone camera and video are godsends.