When Your Luggage Goes on a Trip of Its Own

There was less than an hour to our connecting flight to Sharjah, and the plane was still circling somewhere around Istanbul, and it all seemed we were going to cut it close. When we landed, a young lady was already eagerly waiting for us at the entrance and said only: “Now we’re going to run for it, follow me!”

And we ran. Us five, a family with a pushchair and a few other people and couples. We managed to catch the flight and made it to Sharjah, one of the emirates, in a few hours. But then a surprise followed at the baggage reclaim! Or maybe not such an unexpected surprise, considering the whole flight catching situation. Our luggage was nowhere to be seen. Ok, so it was the first flight on this route and we were on a bit of a clock there, but our luggage will surely follow somehow. Considering there were lots of “lost” items of luggage – actually all the luggage from the transfer flight in Istanbul – we knew it wasn’t really lost, but just forgotten somewhere and probably delayed. At least we thought it the situation was that simple. That’s when the whole thing started. At the counter where we had to report lost luggage, everyone seemed to be even more lost than our luggage. Their answers were mostly “I don’t know” or “I’m new here”. They mumbled something and looked at each other. No one had an answer to any of our questions. The next flight to Sharjah from Istanbul was scheduled in one week, when we would be on our way back. Everyone present wanted to know if there was a chance of our luggage being transferred to the Dubai Airport, which has flights every day. Of course, we couldn’t get that information either. And, naturally, situations like this occur every day and there are special forms you need to fill out. However, luggage that doesn’t make it to the plane on time due to time constraints, creates total confusion.

The lady told us to go to the other side of the building where the Turkish Airlines office was supposed to be. There weren’t any signs at the entrance from the other side, and when we rang at the reception, the very same lady, who told us to go there, showed up and told us this time that the office was somewhere in the building, dismissing us. Together with the couple, their pushchair and kid, we set out to find the office. The building was empty, lights in offices mostly turned off, and it was about nine o’clock in the morning, but apparently still too early. Or too late, depending on the way you look at it. We ran into a cleaner who kindly offered to help us. We were all searching for the office, and even he didn’t know where it was or if it even existed. In the only office with the light turned on, a young man was eating his sandwich. He really wanted to help us, but just as confusingly shook his head and told us he was new there and that he didn’t know. There was no one at the number where the office was supposed to be. Then, we all left the airport separately and headed towards our own accommodation.

And that’s when the fun part started. Luckily, each one of us had some basic necessities in their carry-on luggage, so we at least had something. We filled out records and various forms, but we either didn’t get a reply or got quite differing ones. If only we knew we wouldn’t get our luggage back before the end of our trip. Then we’d say “ok, it happens” and buy the things we needed, problem solved. But we waited and didn’t know what to do – whether we should buy an extra pair of trousers, a t-shirt, sneakers, a swimsuit and towels, which we otherwise wouldn’t buy, unless necessary; or should we wait in case our things show up early. Our bad mood wasn’t really caused by our lost luggage, but by constant pretence and ignorance, which somehow hung over us. Therefore, each day was seasoned with enquiries about any new information. Personally, I didn’t really miss anything vital; I simply bought an extra t-shirt or two, a pair of underwear and maybe a few other things, and the problem was solved. Still, we kept enquiring about our luggage.

On one of our trips around Dubai we drove to the Dubai airport. There, they were somehow able to find the number of our luggage, which was then said to be lost, not the right one and so on. No one on line could find the number that would connect us to the luggage to check the status. Then, however, the lady at the counter finally explained the situation to us and told us our luggage would probably arrive with the next flight. The next day, there was still no information about the delivery of our luggage. The day was drawing in when we would have to leave our apartment in Dubai and move to a hotel in another location for two nights, which meant possible new complications because of the new address.

Still nothing. Upon arriving at the airport in Sharjah on the day of our departure, we first asked if our luggage came with the morning flight. That way we could pick it up and board the plane it just arrived on. That was the most possible scenario. The lady told us our luggage hadn’t shown up and that it was probably still in Istanbul or somewhere, implying it was not her problem. There was a Turkish Airlines representative present at the boarding gate, like some kind of an attendant. When we shared our story with him, he actually knew right away what it was about and told us he knew there were more than twenty pieces of luggage forgotten in Istanbul, and that we shouldn’t worry because it would wait for us when we got there. We were finally content with the young man’s striking answer and he seemed to know what he was talking about and how things work. He also told us where we should go and who to contact upon arrival in Istanbul, this time to the new Istanbul Airport that had only been operating for a few days.

After landing, we set out to find the lost luggage office in the long and huge airport building. Since everything was still new, even employees didn’t really know where everything was, so it was still a bit shaky for them. In the meantime, we got a call saying out luggage had arrived to Sharjah on the morning flight – the very same one we had enquired about. That meant we were actually in the same building as the luggage for a while and that it actually managed to visit the Emirates for a couple of hours. The situation was reversed then; the luggage was in Sharjah and we were in Istanbul. The owner of the apartment we stayed in notified us that they tried to deliver our luggage to her place and that she gave the couriers the address of the hotel we stayed at afterwards. It was something I asked her to do, should it come to that, but it was sadly already too late and we could only hope your luggage wouldn’t be left at the hotel reception. It was a sure sign we wouldn’t see our things at least for a while, lest it got lost somewhere along the way.

A bit nerve-shattered from all of it, we simply had to face the facts. But then, at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, a completely different story unfolded. The young man at the counter took the whole situation seriously, filled out some forms and ensured us things would work out. And they really did, as ten days later all the beans, snacks, packets of soup, mouldy toast and other things we so eagerly brought with us were intact and back where they last saw the light of day. Of course, we had a whale of a time, and the whole luggage situation made sure we’ve become real lost luggage experts.