First of all, if you are one of those perfect travelers who never has anything go wrong, you can magically show up at the airport in just enough time to walk on the plane immediately, your bag shows up first on the luggage cart and you never miss a connecting flight, then change blogs immediately because this is not for you. Alternatively, if you are normal, have a short temper and tend to run late (like me) then welcome to the travel blog for you! My mission is to give you the tools to make your travel experience as easy and “enjoyable” as possible; in the not so off chance that something can wrong, I hope to shed light on best management methods because yes, any hiccup can ruin an entire holiday.

So what could go wrong? You show up at the airport, bags in hand, three hours before departure- everything you are supposed to do. Why worry? 9 times out 10, you have nothing to worry about. But let’s look at that 10% of it raining a shit storm on your vacation and what you can do to manage it.

1. I have to thank my mother for this first one. She, my step-father and sister came to Belgium last year to spend Christmas with me in my home…just a lovely time that we will look at in another edition. On their departure from Brussels Airport, I brought them promptly to the airport three hours before the flight, they checked in online for their boarding passes, carry on bags only….what could go wrong? Since they were in international waters, Mommy dearest and her husband decided not to activate their international mobile data and why should they? We were together all the time and no need for the extra costs. At baggage security, they were each pulled from the line to have their Christmas goodies examined, piece by piece. For those of us who have short nerves, this act alone is enough to send us over the edge! Mom went one way with her bags and SF went another…neither communicating where to meet once their colonoscopy was complete. Confusion set in when mother waited for SF in one place and SF waited in another….thankfully, they are both intelligent and went to the gate separately to wait where the story ends happily ever after with mother finding SF safe and sound.  So this one is an easy one….have a meeting point if you know you are going to separate. Security can be an extremely stressful process, especially when all of your belongings get pulled out for your fellow airport passengers to judge, so remove one less stressor and set a meeting point.
2. I can not stress the importance of having a back up plan when you arrive into a new city, especially if it’s in a new country. Story number two takes place during the same Christmas gathering, this time I’ll pick on my sister. Plan A went a little something like this: Mom and SF arrive into Brussels, Sissy in Amsterdam. On the morning of everyone’s arrival, I learned mother’s flight was 4 hours delayed and sissy was on time: engage back up plan. Originally, sissy was going to take a train from Amsterdam Airport to Antwerp where she would meet the rest of the family for a day of fun. Plan B forced my sister to think a little outside the box; I asked her to take another train from Antwerp to Gent where we would all meet. Plan B worked like a charm. While sissy was en route to Gent, I picked up the late arriving rents in Brussels and we all met together in Gent. Have a Plan B…
3. This one has happened to me many times…and as silly as this will sound, I can guarantee it can happen to anyone! Know which airport you’re flying in and out. In Europe, most countries have a main airport and at least one smaller airport to host the low cost airlines. Don’t assume just because your travel agent or your spouse booked the same airport going into a country, he/she booked you out of the same. This could be a costly lesson to learn! I was in Norway making sales calls in the Oslo area with an early morning flight to Dublin the next morning. My distributor put me in a hotel near the airport and I settled in for a short night sleep. I was at the airport at 4AM, an hour and half before the flight, frantically searching for my 5:30AM flight to Dublin on the departure screen. But, no Ryanair flights were posted anywhere. Not a one. I googled airports in Oslo to learn there wasn’t one, not two, but THREE airports. By the time I took a taxi to the correct airport,  I was too late. The next flight out ended up being back at the original airport…so 75 euros in taxi fare, a new ticket…this lesson cost around 300 euro. Know your airports!
4. This one is my favorite to hate: delayed / canceled flights. These set backs usually have a lovely monetary compensation, but you have to ask for it!
   1. For my European travelers, mainly in the East, we are forced to deal with a little company by the name WizzAir. They give low cost airline a whole new meaning…you may spend 9 euros on a flight but you’ll pay 50 to check a bag and it’s 50/50 your seat is actually the lavatory. I was flying to Budapest from London Luton Airport when after a three hour delay, they announced the flight was cancelled until the next morning. NIGHTMARE. Don’t get me started on the rudeness of the airline / airport staff that night. I am a Southern girl and my mama taught me to have manners but that night, I channeled my inner Yankee and made sure they all knew what I thought of their behavior. Anyway, after the painful process of getting the bag, finding out what shit hotel WizzAir offered its passengers and the time of the new flight, I decided to book another hotel that actually had walls and a bed. You do not have to take the accommodation provided by the airline but I can’t say it wasn’t offered. Now to the good part. Most EU airlines offer monetary compensation if the flight is delayed up to 4 hours or if your arrival time is 4 hours or more after its original schedule… this value can get up to 400 euro and it is all based on the flight distance. Luckily, I was able to cash in 250 euro for the inconvenience.
   2. Similiar story with a delayed flight I recently had on United Airlines. I was flying home to Louisville from Washington Dulles when another case of rude airline staff and delayed flights over three hours was frustrating me and many other passengers around me. My best advice to you, do not lose your temper on the airline staff there. THEY DO NOT CARE AND WILL NOT HELP YOU. Now, keep calm and keep track of everything that happened and how long you waited. When your nightmare is over, write a letter to the customer service department and there is where you’ll get your satisfaction. I wrote a lengthy email to CS detailing the nightmare of the UA staff and the inconvenience they put us all through, and I encouraged the passengers around me to do the same. A week later, I received an email back from the CS department with a heartfelt apology and $125 travel gift voucher valid for one year.
5. I’ll save the best for last because this makes my skin crawl just writing about it: lost bag. Lost. Bag. If I worked in the baggage department and hated someone, this is how I would ruin their life. Not only have I had a bag been delayed getting to me (at least 5 times) but I have had a bag completely disappear, never to return again. Poof. Gone.
   1. Be sure to take a picture of your checked bag before you check it in. You’ll be surprised how your brain stops working when the empty soul of an employee at the lost luggage counter asks you to describe your bag. Two rollers or four? Black or brown? Hard or soft case? Why do I have to answer these questions you should never have lost the bag in the first place you $#&^%&$%&$$#^!
   2. Do not pack anything valuable in your checked bag. But if you have to, I would suggest investing in one of these tracker systems that actually help you pinpoint where your bag is. If the airline can’t figure it out then you can at least see if your bag is in India when it should be in Munich.
   3. Pack a change of clothes in your carry on bag in the off chance your bag is delayed a night. They provide a little bag but it contains a white shirt made for a 500 pound man, a toothbrush and toothpaste made of chalk.
   4. Do not lose your baggage claim ticket. If your bag is delayed then there really isn’t a good chance to get it back…there are forms and more forms to fill out and will only delay the process more.
   5. If you have the unfortunate luck that I had…and your bag is lost forever…you get to experience the fun of itemizing everything in your bag, giving it a value and remembering when you bought it. The airline will give you up to a certain value for the goods and only after 90 days of waiting for the inevitable bad news. Advice here…book your ticket on a credit card that offers additional insurance for lost luggage.

There are many other nightmares to endure at the airport, these are just some of my favorites. Most important, you should keep calm when dealing with hiccups in the travel process and remember the CS person you are dealing with at the time, although may not seem like it, is doing the best he/she can.