Yep, that's the work-around. I mentioned before how several times I've checked in my ski bag + boot bag that together were well north of 50 pounds; however, they didn't bother to add the combined weight.ChrisC said:
ski-air travel stories
- Thread starter jimk
- Start date
A week ago we went to Charleston, SC, where Alexa's mother hosted a post wedding celebration for her and Adam after they got married with family only in attendance in Big Sur on Oct. 11.EMSC said:
We flew from Burbank via Dallas Love Field (Southwest's hub). After half an hour sitting on the plane in Dallas, we were informed of a mechanical problem and 15 minutes later told to get off the plane and go to another gate. So we ended up arriving in Charleston 2.5 hours late and having Adam pick up takeout from the restaurant we had reserved because it would be closed by the time we a got there. In Dallas Southwest had a board listing 72 departing flights, of which 24 were cancelled and 41 delayed. All 3 planes were full with us sitting separated in middle seats. That was probably a blessing because I'm guessing the airline would prioritize full planes in deciding which flights to cancel.
My friends Richard and Elda also went to this event, flying American via Charlotte. Their flight from Charlotte to Charleston WAS cancelled and American booked them on the same flight 24 hours later. There was one late night flight which was full and Richard rushed from one end of the airport to the other and played all of his platinum status cards to get the 4th and 5th standby slots for it, eventually making it and only being delayed a few hours.
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Since when do you fly Southwest? I thought you were Delta or die.Tony Crocker said:
What a mess that week was for Southwest -- and their nonstop lying about the reason for the cancellations didn't help.
Slightly better price at the time I booked, and more importantly via Burbank instead of LAX. One of Liz' Florida flights this spring was on Southwest for the same reason. Before Liz was vaccinated I'd take her to LAX because Delta has a nonstop to Tampa. Burbank to the East Coast on Delta often means two stops, which I did on my final trip in late June.jhamesdeluxe said:
Burbank with one stop is generally preferable in convenience for me to LAX nonstop IMHO. I won't argue two stops though. The issue with many of the Florida flights is that they were booked only a few days in advance. I'm sure in June that the LAX-Tampa nonstop was exorbitantly priced by the time I was booking. I have heard independently that Florida this spring was a high demand destination. Liz' friends from NYC paid over $600 round trip to visit us in May. Fortunately Liz' Florida flights November - February were fairly reasonable as demand was probably low during the pandemic peak. By April Liz' short notice flights were no longer nonstops due to the higher prices and that she was vaccinated.
Correction: My April/May trip to Florida was the two-stopper via Burbank. June was a redeye one stopper from LAX but Adam drove me to the airport after a Dodger game. Liz' late April trip was from Burbank via Southwest, including two suitcases used to bring home some of her mother's belongings. Liz' early April trip used FF miles, but it was a redeye via Seattle :shock: in order to get the best award price.
The bottom line was that spring trips to Florida in 2021 were very competitive, so we put up with some inconvenience on one round trip plus 4 one way flights to hold down the cost. The other one-way trip was Liz flying from Florida to Oregon for the skiing at Bachelor, and I think that one was around $400.
Correction: My April/May trip to Florida was the two-stopper via Burbank. June was a redeye one stopper from LAX but Adam drove me to the airport after a Dodger game. Liz' late April trip was from Burbank via Southwest, including two suitcases used to bring home some of her mother's belongings. Liz' early April trip used FF miles, but it was a redeye via Seattle :shock: in order to get the best award price.
The bottom line was that spring trips to Florida in 2021 were very competitive, so we put up with some inconvenience on one round trip plus 4 one way flights to hold down the cost. The other one-way trip was Liz flying from Florida to Oregon for the skiing at Bachelor, and I think that one was around $400.
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I thought we had a good deal on air travel to Scandinavia. RT nonstop on FinnAir to Stockholm for $950 in August sounds good, right?
It was clean going there Aug. 4, but on Aug. 14 we got a call from American, through whose website we had booked the flights.
FinnAir had cancelled today’s nonstop return flight. American tried to get us to fly a day later. When we refused they put us on FinnAir to JFK, then American to LAX, arriving midnight instead of noon.
By Sept. 1 it occurred to me that a 12 hour delayed arrival for a non weather cancellation might get compensation under EU rules. Cursory research indicated it can be as much as 600 euros for a 4+ hour delay on a flight over 3500km.
So I called FinnAir and they said (as do online consumer sites) that compensation might be different if you were notified more than 14 days in advance. You also have to apply online after the flight and wait for the bureaucracy to respond.
So I decided to use the potential liability as leverage to get on British Airways flight that would get us home at a more reasonable 3pm. FinnAir said I had to call American because that’s how I booked the original ticket. American did move us to the BA flights, but of course that meant the transfer was in James' favorite
airport Heathrow.
We arrived at LHR as scheduled about 9:30am. To no surprise we get on a bus to go to a terminal. Then there was the most tedious airport security check I’ve ever seen. Both of my trays went into the reject line. Even though the line for security was short the belt was held up by so many trays being sent to the reject line and the extremely thorough ensuing hand inspections.
The hangup is due to a very expansive definition of liquids. My hand carry on had an unopened COVID kit that has probably been through 20 security checks without incident. But since it contains a small hand sanitizer bottle, that was sent through an extra inspection. My backpack contained a sealed bag from duty free in Stockholm with jars of jam and skin cream. LHR says those are liquid subject to extra inspection too. This process took at least half an hour.
So now we look at the board for departing flights and find that LHR does not post departure gate numbers until an hour before departure. I’ve never seen another airport do this, especially a huge sprawling one.
Our flight to LAX was posted as delayed, with notification to check for the gate at 11:25. At 11:29 gate B48 was posted and naturally that required a subterranean transit train like the ones in Denver and Atlanta.
At least they had plenty of time to get our luggage to the right place. The flight took off an hour late but made up the time to land at LAX on schedule.
The immigration line at LAX was huge but I have Global Entry now and bypassed it. Liz' Global Entry application was in process so she came with me to do the in-airport interview. My interview in December upon return from Chile was a breeze but Liz waited at least 45 minutes for hers on Sunday. The final evidence of Sunday's LAX congestion is that the Lyft ride home was a record $94.
It was clean going there Aug. 4, but on Aug. 14 we got a call from American, through whose website we had booked the flights.
FinnAir had cancelled today’s nonstop return flight. American tried to get us to fly a day later. When we refused they put us on FinnAir to JFK, then American to LAX, arriving midnight instead of noon.
By Sept. 1 it occurred to me that a 12 hour delayed arrival for a non weather cancellation might get compensation under EU rules. Cursory research indicated it can be as much as 600 euros for a 4+ hour delay on a flight over 3500km.
So I called FinnAir and they said (as do online consumer sites) that compensation might be different if you were notified more than 14 days in advance. You also have to apply online after the flight and wait for the bureaucracy to respond.
So I decided to use the potential liability as leverage to get on British Airways flight that would get us home at a more reasonable 3pm. FinnAir said I had to call American because that’s how I booked the original ticket. American did move us to the BA flights, but of course that meant the transfer was in James' favorite
airport Heathrow.We arrived at LHR as scheduled about 9:30am. To no surprise we get on a bus to go to a terminal. Then there was the most tedious airport security check I’ve ever seen. Both of my trays went into the reject line. Even though the line for security was short the belt was held up by so many trays being sent to the reject line and the extremely thorough ensuing hand inspections.
The hangup is due to a very expansive definition of liquids. My hand carry on had an unopened COVID kit that has probably been through 20 security checks without incident. But since it contains a small hand sanitizer bottle, that was sent through an extra inspection. My backpack contained a sealed bag from duty free in Stockholm with jars of jam and skin cream. LHR says those are liquid subject to extra inspection too. This process took at least half an hour.
So now we look at the board for departing flights and find that LHR does not post departure gate numbers until an hour before departure. I’ve never seen another airport do this, especially a huge sprawling one.
Our flight to LAX was posted as delayed, with notification to check for the gate at 11:25. At 11:29 gate B48 was posted and naturally that required a subterranean transit train like the ones in Denver and Atlanta.
At least they had plenty of time to get our luggage to the right place. The flight took off an hour late but made up the time to land at LAX on schedule.
The immigration line at LAX was huge but I have Global Entry now and bypassed it. Liz' Global Entry application was in process so she came with me to do the in-airport interview. My interview in December upon return from Chile was a breeze but Liz waited at least 45 minutes for hers on Sunday. The final evidence of Sunday's LAX congestion is that the Lyft ride home was a record $94.
Did they give you an ETA for when you learn what the compensation is? The day of your return flight, I remember reading on CNN that there were extensive cancellations both domestically and at certain international airports, with Stockholm listed as one of the top 3. How many hours total travel time was your itinerary through LHR compared to your original nonstop?
I'm surprised that you and Liz haven't had Global Entry all along given how much international travel you do. I always marvel at how quickly I get through customs at EWR's self-service kiosks -- I usually walk right up and am done in 90 seconds. Of course, you still have to wait for your luggage; however, anything is better than standing in a huge line with other tired passengers.
I'm surprised that you and Liz haven't had Global Entry all along given how much international travel you do. I always marvel at how quickly I get through customs at EWR's self-service kiosks -- I usually walk right up and am done in 90 seconds. Of course, you still have to wait for your luggage; however, anything is better than standing in a huge line with other tired passengers.
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EMSC
Well-known member
Add my surprise to that. I only go international occasionally but still have Global Entry. Can be hit or miss as to if it really saves all that much time IMO, but when it does, it REALLY saves a ton of time and headache.
Interestingly, never thought about hassle factor in Heathrow for connections since every time I've been through Heathrow I've always stayed in the UK for at least a couple of days or London area was the destination in the first place. My current favorite direct flight to Europe with follow on connections is Munich. Way better than the other options from Denver at the moment IMO (eg better than Heathrow, gatwick, paris, frankfurt, etc...).
EMSC
Well-known member
Oh, also forgot to reinforce my desire to go direct. I'm still flying direct to Syracuse when I go back to upstate NY, I flew Direct to Nassau Bahamas this summer, etc... I avoid connections like the plague at this point, especially with all the air travel snafu's this year and limited staffing. Multi flight trips add risk of issues far more than the 'just one extra' flight would imply.
Travel time via LHR was about 5 hours longer than the nonstop. I really wanted to avoid the land at LAX midnight scenario, and with the 14+ day advance notice I did not know what if any compensation I would get. As most of you know, corresponding with airlines after the fact can be an annoying time suck. I do know that compensation is not based on travel time; it’s based upon how much later you arrive than originally scheduled.
As for Global Entry I got a promo last fall that my Delta Platinum card would pay for it. Then we realized after Chile that it wouldn’t help that much unless Liz had it too.
I hadn’t though about it much before because my Delta status gets me TSA pre check about half the time I’m on a SkyTeam flight.
As for Global Entry I got a promo last fall that my Delta Platinum card would pay for it. Then we realized after Chile that it wouldn’t help that much unless Liz had it too.
I hadn’t though about it much before because my Delta status gets me TSA pre check about half the time I’m on a SkyTeam flight.
AMS is now competing with LHR as a must-avoid airport across the pond.
Why one of Europe's top airports has become a 'crazy mess' | CNN
There's no end in sight to chaos at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, with angry passengers, hours-long queues, lost bags, strikes and unhappy airlines. Here's where it all went wrong:
www.cnn.com
James' AMS link above is a segue to a Jimmy Petterson ski travel horror story worse than any of ours. He was flying KLM from France though AMS to San Francisco a few years back. He carries on his boots in one hand and a carry on bag with ski clothes in the other. At the gate they refused to let him on the plane unless he checked the bag, for which they also took his credit card info.
He arrived in San Francisco with regular checked bag but not the carry on he was forced to check last minute. That carry on also had a transceiver and estimated $2,000 total value of all contents. The bag never showed up, even when he returned to Europe. He suspects the last minute tag was torn off and thus it did not make the plane change in Amsterdam. Eventually KLM told him that unclaimed bags were destroyed after a month, and that he had to file a claim online. We all know this process drags on. Eventually they demanded receipts which he did not have. After 2 years he filed a claim with the EU and was told statute of limitations had expired.
Here's the final insult. The credit card change for that carry on bag was $250! And no KLM wouldn't refund that either without receipts. Jimmy got a small claim settlement from his home insurance.
He arrived in San Francisco with regular checked bag but not the carry on he was forced to check last minute. That carry on also had a transceiver and estimated $2,000 total value of all contents. The bag never showed up, even when he returned to Europe. He suspects the last minute tag was torn off and thus it did not make the plane change in Amsterdam. Eventually KLM told him that unclaimed bags were destroyed after a month, and that he had to file a claim online. We all know this process drags on. Eventually they demanded receipts which he did not have. After 2 years he filed a claim with the EU and was told statute of limitations had expired.
Here's the final insult. The credit card change for that carry on bag was $250! And no KLM wouldn't refund that either without receipts. Jimmy got a small claim settlement from his home insurance.
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EMSC
Well-known member
That is an incredibly insulting story to hear about.
I once had to argue with a check-in agent that skis, plus boot bag were considered a single 'item'/checked bag as far as cost per their own airline policy. It was a bit nuts to say the least, as eventually I won, but it was 15-20 minutes of aggravation and crazy to get that result while the line behind me just grew and grew (I didn't need the boots anytime soon on way home).
I once had to argue with a check-in agent that skis, plus boot bag were considered a single 'item'/checked bag as far as cost per their own airline policy. It was a bit nuts to say the least, as eventually I won, but it was 15-20 minutes of aggravation and crazy to get that result while the line behind me just grew and grew (I didn't need the boots anytime soon on way home).
The Jimmy Petterson story is hard to believe, especially on a well-regarded European carrier like KLM that isn't known for nickel-and-diming customers.
You may recall that my most challenging baggage-related argument was with Austrian Airlines in Salzburg a few years ago, recounted in last year's First Time Europe thread. The problem was that the check-in agent was correct about the carrier's rule -- just because you cash in a code-share FF award doesn't entitle you to the same free-bags privileges as your "home" airline, in my case United.
I've had that argument with check-in staff in English, French, and German. It's always shocking when you're required to educate a person on a key point about his/her job. I've mentioned before never being busted for my ski and boot bags exceeding 50 pounds combined, which they almost always do, sometimes egregiously when you have two pairs of skis.
You may recall that my most challenging baggage-related argument was with Austrian Airlines in Salzburg a few years ago, recounted in last year's First Time Europe thread. The problem was that the check-in agent was correct about the carrier's rule -- just because you cash in a code-share FF award doesn't entitle you to the same free-bags privileges as your "home" airline, in my case United.
jasoncapecod
Well-known member
i stopped checking bags period...I rent skis, carry a big boot bag as my carry on. It contains everything i need for a week of skiing and travel..Everything else goes in a bag that can fit under the seat...
Fine if you're staying in the same lodging the entire time but a PITA if you want some flexibility to move around a bit and need to rent skis two or more times.
I find it hard to believe that you can fit a week's worth of winter clothes in a boot bag.
EMSC
Well-known member
There are exceptions to everything, but direct flights are pretty close to a non-issue anymore IMO. The technology is so infinitely better for tracking. Issues still arise mostly on international trips or many-hop trips (there are some exceptions for very unusual or damaged luggage, or etc...).
Since I fly direct most of the time I have no issue checking bag(s) and (crosses fingers) have not had any misses/losses in quite some time.
jasoncapecod
Well-known member
for the most part agree..But I have the patience of 2 yr old. The thought of waiting at a baggage carousel gives me agita ..
+1 Our trips to the Alps are 2 1/2 weeks minimum. And if you fly carry on only, you're not bringing any knives, scissors or 3+oz liquids/creams/gels in your toiletries.