Magellan Trip : Missing Baggage and Missing Customer Service

Opposed to last time where the project was undertaken only by me, this time I stated my journey with a friend who would be completing his own research project in the Netherlands. The very first day of the beginning of our travels started off with a fun caveat. In order to get to our final location of Amsterdam, we had to take a flight to Philadelphia first. Well, day one, that did not happen. We arrived at the airport just before noon to ensure that we would be there well ahead of our 3:45pm departure. After sitting at the gate that was seemingly devoid of all other people for about three hours, we were alerted to our plane being cancelled by the word "cancelled" just appearing beneath our gate's departure information. As soon as we found out that the flight had been cancelled, we quickly went over to talk to the American Airlines personnel to ask about what we were supposed to do being that our flight had been suddenly cancelled. My friend was the first to call the number we were handed to talk to AA's customer service, he was essentially told an unconvincing "sorry" and that our flight had been cancelled due to maintenance. A story that neither of us believed being that our plane was already sitting at the gate, the same gate that was empty without the two of us. Therefore, our little hypothesis is that the flight was cancelled due to low occupancy, i.e. that would have been a private flight for two coach passengers. In any case, we were told there were no other flights to Philadelphia, and that we would have to come back tomorrow. Incredibly annoyed, we both called our parents to get picked up, unfortunately to start the obnoxious series of airport events anew tomorrow. Before we left however, we did do two things. Most importantly, we asked about our checked bags and were told not to worry about them, they will meet us in Amsterdam despite our growing distrust of American Airlines, and since we were waiting there anyways for our rides, I called American Airline's customer service myself to complain. My complaining got us promises of American Airlines vouchers for both of us, which after a second call to make sure they were coming on Tuesday morning, have still not been received.

Me in Dam Square

Then, after we began to leave for our flight on Tuesday, I was called by an automated message from American Airlines telling us that our new flight to Philadelphia was going to be delayed by an hour that would put us in a precarious position to make our connecting flight to Amsterdam. So after a panicked, confusing half-hour call to AA's customer service yet again, we rushed to the airport at 11:45am to make a 1:30pm flight. We made that flight and after sitting in the least appealing airport I have ever been to, we set off for our long haul to Amsterdam. Now, I suppose I must be a little spoiled. I have only been on two international flights, to get to and get back from Frankfurt which is where my flights connected to Malta, and they were operated by United and Lufthansa. Now on those airlines, the snacks were good, the food was surprisingly good compared to what stand-up comedy has taught me, and finally and most importantly, they had in-flight entertainment in the seat in front of you. You could choose you entertainment and watch as you pleased from dozens of hours of movies and a handful of shows. American Airlines' version of entertainment? Coach bus style where they choose two or three boring movies and put them on the total of six tiny screens mounted in the aisles that are almost impossible to see from a window seat. Now, not only could I not sleep on the plane, I also could not be entertained on the plane. Also, to finish up my rant about the flight itself, it was also hot, uncomfortably hot.

After all this complaining about American Airlines, you would think I would be finished. You would also be terribly wrong. After disembarking their horrible plane, going through customs, and waiting for what felt like an hour at the baggage claim carousel, our bags were MIA. So we talked to the very helpful Swissport personnel who were able to track the strange, moronic route our luggage had traveled. From Pittsburgh, our luggage had been sent to Chicago, sent back to Pittsburgh, sent to Philadelphia, then sent to London. So, our bags were inexplicably in London. Luckily they were placed on the next flight to Amsterdam and they were delivered to our hotel by 6pm the next day, but still, London? Amsterdam and London do not sound the same, do not have the same amount of syllables, and outside of them both having the letter "d," they have no letter in common.

All of American Airlines' many failures are now behind us, and we hope to enjoy our time in Amsterdam, albeit one day less thanks to our fine airline.

Here is some random, very beautiful pictures of Amsterdam.