Stolen Luggage Found in Houston Trash Bin

by Adrienne Wilson on

Um, this bothers me. A LOT. According to this story found in the Seattle Times, 68 suitcases which were taken from George Bush International Airport were found outside of a pet store dumpster in Houston earlier this week. The stolen baggage apparently came from nine different airlines and from destinations such as France, UAE, and domestic locations. Investigators are trying to determine now if it was an inside job or if some punks walked into baggage claim and casually walked off with bags without anyone noticing. Imagine waiting for your bag to come around the carousel when somebody has already successfully snagged your panties, boxers, toothpaste, Craisins, jewelry and other novelty items for their own personal pleasure. Ugh!

News like this really stinks to hear considering how much paper is wasted printing your baggage claim tickets and no one is ever there to check. I think I’ve been checked only once in all my travels before walking off with my bags. That’s pretty sad folks. If you’re heading through Houston it might be time to start making a mad dash to the claim area or just check-in nothing and buy when you arrive.

Run Rabbit, Run!

by Iva Skoch on

I was just about to write a posting about those 80 rodents who escaped from a bag on board of Saudi Arabian Airlines, but Neil beat me to it. Not only that, he completely ruined it for me!

I first read the story in the Czech media and they reported it was actually 80 rabbits, not mice. (I guess translators from Arabic to Czech are hard to find these days. Either that or this is a good example of journalists creating news.)

Here I was, trying to figure out how a passenger could fit 80 rabbits into a carry-on bag, ready to vote for Saudi Airlines as having the most liberal policy for cabin baggage…and “fact-obsessed” American media report it is mice. Mice? Any schmuck could fit 80 mice into a convenient Samsonite roll-on. With all those handy compartments, they could even be quite comfortable. Now, pulling 80 rabbits from a bag, that’s a magic trick.

Makes me wonder, whether we can expect rodent detectors to be introduced at airport security in the near future.

On Luggage

by Adrienne Wilson on

The handling or mishandling of luggage when traveling has been quite a conversation piece here on Gadling. I’ll probably be doomed forever on for saying this, but I’ve been quite fortunate in this area during my domestic and international travels. Sure TSA may have ruffled through looking for dangerous, hyper-active, liquid toothpaste, left a note and zipped it back up, but they never found any of my items worth, well, mishandling. Now before I go knock on every single piece wood in sight allow me to provide some solutions to your luggage woes. Better yet, I’ll point you to this Nat Geo piece which goes over common luggage concerns like surcharges on weight and size, whether to lock it up or not, where your valuables should go and when all else fails how to get your darn baggage back! Is their plan full-proof? I doubt it and most of it sounds like common knowledge. You know — don’t put your expensive digital camera or diamond rings in your check-in luggage. I guess some people don’t get that one, but just because it’s there doesn’t mean it’s there to take.

And while there is never any excuse for the numbers we’ve heard in Neil’s piece which stated 437,000 pieces of baggage lost, damaged, or mishandled in one month or the figures Iva reported (as she waited on lost luggage of her own) that of the 3,7 million bags that were lost last year 420,000 were permanently lost I guess this should help save some poor Louis Vitton bag or High Sierra backpack. Take a look at their rec’s and give us your two cents.

Toiletries Meet Pitotubes

by Adrienne Wilson on

Packing toiletries always becomes a major production. I have yet to master a way to shrink down the amount of shampoos, lotions, and travel-sized shaving cream I toss in my bags and then there’s the reoccurring nightmare of everything exploding while some 35,000 ft in the air. I’ve managed to soothe myself and my worries by wrapping the goods twice in recycled Target bags, but who am I kidding? If the lotion, baby oil or body wash is going to leak, it’s going to leak.

Leave it to the folks at CoolHunting to find some sort of travel gear/invention to help someone like myself out. They’ve discovered Pitotubes, the creation of a former flight attendant who too often heard the tale of ruined goods from explosive bathroom items. The tubes can are said to withstand the most brutal luggage handling and changing pressures. They are elegant, leak-free, refillable travel bottles made from high quality PETG recyclable plastic. A set of six bottles with labels costs about $50 and for that price I think I’m willing to chance my double-wrapping Target bag method a little longer, though my luck may be running out.

Pitotubes can be purchased at Flight 001.

Lost luggage. Really, Really Lost.

by Iva Skoch on

A few days ago, I blogged about my horrible experience at the lost baggage counter in Barcelona. Today, exactly a week later, I am already back home from a trip to Spain and France, still without that bag!

Although I managed to see Barcelona and drove up to the south of France, my luggage–it seems–saw a lot more of the world without me.

This is the sad story of poor me and my bag:

  • Monday – I arrive in Barcelona from Prague on Czech Airlines, direct flight mind you. My bag does not.
  • Tuesday – My bag arrives in Barcelona. Should be delivered to my hotel “asap”.
  • Wednesday – I am am enjoying the Costa Brava while someone at Iberia decides to send my bag back to Prague.
  • Thursday – I am driving up to France from Spain. Czech Air promises they will send the bag to me in Bordeaux.
  • Friday – I break down and buy new clothes and toiletries. Bag does not make it to Bordeaux.
  • Saturday – Marathon du Medoc day. My bag is apparently on its way to Bordeaux, yet somehow it gets rerouted to Madrid and then San Sebastien, Spain, of all places.
  • Sunday – I give up and drive to San Sebastien. The bag is not there and apparently has never been there.
  • Monday – I fly back home. Czech Airlines tell me they have no idea where my bag is.

According to USA Today, out of the 3,7 million bags that got lost by airlines last year, 420,000 are lost permanently. Umm, it is a little hard to imagine where almost half million bags end up. Apparently in some lost baggage center in Alabama. With the new “liquid” regulation, the number of checked bags has gone up and one would assume the number of lost bags would go up as well.

I love traveling, but the recent developments in the airline industry make me more and more convinced that trains might be the way to go.