As many of you know George and I were without our luggage for 14 of our 17 day trip to Copenhagen + FJORDS. Our bags were swallowed at Heathrow and only reappeared two weeks later.

We've heard not one peep out of British Air yet but I had a very cordial call from Ryan at CSA, our trip insurer. He just wanted to greet me, he said, and to tell me our claim was on a supervisor's desk awaiting final approval, and that we should expect a check for the maximum amount allowed by our policy in about a week. Now I know a phone call is not a check but I appreciated the courtesy, the feedback, and the contact.

This amount is less than our expenses of course but it's a good start and it's nice they are stepping up so pleasantly and without a quibble.

M and G: It was so great having you as hallmates - you taught us the gift of GRACE! I know we talk about "inconveniences" in life and looking at the greater pix - but you took it to new heights...(and George did look darn good in his suit and I never looked at his shoes) - I have never met people who handled this situation as you two did - I hope you are rewarded soon and for full $$$$ - it was a joy watching you deal with bad situation - inspiration for all of us I hope!!! AND you smelled darn yummy when you received lotions Marsha!!! Joanna and Tony XXOO

Joanna, thank you for your kind words. The whole experience was made so much easier by people like you. Thank you again for the loan of the lovely silk jacket on formal night!

Chico's here I come . . .

Marsha - WOW! You guys are my idols.

I did think though that you did get two of your bags before you boarded, is that right? And then you never got the other two, and still haven't? Somehow, I lost the final results of all this - obviously you still haven't seen some of your luggage, or you wouldn't be getting a call from your insurer.

Well in any case it sounds like you dealt with this situation with grace, composure and humor - which I can assure you I would not have. I would have been crying the whole time over what did not arrive.

I need to learn some lessons from you and George!

Hope someday, somehow, your lost bags actually make it back to you.

Marsha - so glad to hear part of the settlement is underway.

Have a magnificent Chico's shopping trip on CSA!

Give our best to George, please. His pictures are so wonderful.

Cheers, Anne

Great service from CSA, Marsha. Good hearing that there's been resolution. British Air could learn from CSA's example.

I marvel at your positive attitude. You and George set a terrific example of how to make the very best out of a bad situation.

Marsha,

We are so pleased that you are getting resolution from your luggage nightmare. I agree with the posts about your ability to take things in stride and still enjoy the trip! Now is the time for BA to "pony up" some GBP or American $. Do not hold your breath! Living here in the UK, we are NOT fond of that airline or their customer service (they have none). However, you may recoop something and I certainly hope so.

Enjoy your shopping trip. You will be in lovely new clothes on your next adventure.

Cheers, Pam

PS Have you worn your snazzy new sneakers since returning home? ;)

Marsha, thanks for keeping us updated. Glad you managed to enjoy yourself despite that dubious start. Have fun shopping at Chico's!

The unsinkable Marna Lou

Marsha & George, You handled that situation so unbelieveably well!! Your positive attitude was an inspiration to all of us to learn from. I'm so happy that CSA stepped up to the plate and came through for you!

Lest you think we are saints, there were some low moments with this. On one day there were so many disappointments and challenges I wondered how difficult it would be just to go home. The good thing was that we never got to that point at the same time. One of us was always on higher ground.

JoAnn, we did get our smaller cases before we embarked, but the larger bags held most of our things. Those pieces caught up with us in Flom, just a few days before the end of the cruise.

Thanks for the updates, Marsha. I know that you must have had your low moments, but you still were the perfect examples of "grace under pressure."

I'm glad CSA is coming through for you. A visit to Chico's? What better way to celebrate. Need a shopping companion?

Alan and I enjoyed meeting you and George. Hope we find ourselves on the same ship real soon.

Thanks for clearing that up Marsha, as I said, somehow I missed some of the posts and such.

Again, though I will say, according to all these posts, it sounds as if you really handled this well in general. I would have just been a mess!

Glad you finally got everything and it didn't just go off into the "lost luggage black hole" and that your insurer is coming thru for you.

Enjoy your trip to Chico's. Lots of fun new stuff there these days. <img src="http://smileys.sm...Fi%253D15%252F15_8_8/image.gif">

Marsha, I echo the sentiments expressed above--Clyde and I often remarked how well you two were taking it. I remember that lunch when you were really "down" and ready to jump overboard (!) and then later that day your spirits were back up to where they usually were. A game of "Pooch" set you right back up! I found out here, by the way, that "Pooch" is also known as "Aw Hell". (Not that it matters!!) Have fun in Chico's.

George - we'd like pictures of Marsha's new wardrobe!! :D :D

Better yet, wear them when you come on out for the New Jersey POOCH 'em weekend.

Cheers, Anne (kennel queen)

Marsha and George,
I will just say me too on all the sentiments above about how wonderful you handled a pretty awful situation. As has been said so often, Grace under pressure is something to be admired. So glad things are beginning to come together. Take care, it was just wonderful meeting you both.
XO

Marsha and George, perhaps your luggage is vacationing in Milan!

LHR/BA

This must be why AA recently changed our BA LHR to NCE flight for CROSS from the 8 am flight to the 10 am flight. Because of a schedule change for the AA portion of our trip, we only had a little over an hour to transfer from AA to BA in Heathrow :eek: Now we have about 3 hours. I'm much more comfortable with that, but still not looking forward to that transfer!!!!

Me neither Peggy. We get in on AA at 7:40, and are on the 10:00 flight, which should be plenty of time and hopefully it will. I am so stressed over this luggage issue I can't see straight. <img src="http://smileys.sm...i%253D4%252F4_6_200v/image.gif"> When are you flying in? We are flying LHR-NCE on Nov 1. Are we maybe on the same flight?

Jo Ann, we arrive in London on November 1 (we leave DFW on Oct. 31). Our AA flight from DFW is via Boston to LHR, then BA flight 346 to Nice. It looks like we may be on the same flight from Heathrow to Nice, how are you getting to London?

Yep thats our flight to Nice too.

Flying DCA-JFK-LHR on the 31st. We should have taken the flight from BOS. Have no idea what terminal we arrive at or depart from. Maybe we will see you in the Admirals club or BA lounge once we decide which is the most convenient to go to.

There will probably be a BA lounge in Terminal 1 (the same terminal as the flight to Nice). The AA lounge will be in the arriving terminal. I like to get somewhere near our gate at Heathrow before I start worrying about lounges -- it sometimes takes an hour just to get through the security checkpoint. Since we're there on a Thursday, maybe it won't be as busy. If all else fails, we'll see you at the gate.

Have not transferred thru LHR, so thanks for the info. So it sounds like departure from Terminal 1. Arrival is probably 3 or 4 right? How did you find out the departure terminal? Or is it just experience?

Agree to getting near your gate then finding a lounge.

JoAnn, our e-ticket has the terminals listed on it. We arrive in terminal 3.

Thanks Peggy - I can't find the terminals listed on our e-tickets. But I did some research on ba.com and it appears that the flights from JFK arrive in T-4.

Maybe I'll ask AA to re-send the eticket or a copy and see if its there, because at one point I was sure I had seen it somewhere.

Thanks - hopefully we too will arrive at T-3, which is a bit shorter connection time.

Remember when I said I was writing Alaska Airlines to commend the baggage agent who worked so hard to find and deliver our luggage? They hear so many complaints, I thought they'd appreciate a positive comment for a change. So, I wrote a letter to the CEO. Yesterday, Alan and I received a personal response from him. The best part, our favorite baggage agent received a letter too and so did his supervisor. I hope Daniel gets a raise and a promotion!

Donna that is great! :app: It is really nice when people remember to send a letter of praise vs. only sending one to complain.

Thats great Donna, especially for you to take the time to do that.

When I was flying, we use to call them "Orchid Letters" which were good ones, or "Onion letters" which were bad ones.

I'm sure he was happy to get an Orchid Letter, which probably in this day and age are all too few, since all most people do is complain.

Not LCT'ers though.

Most everyone here is a more experienced traveler than I, so maybe you already know, but once you get to LHR you will be allowed to carry only one item onboard your outbound flight. Relinquishing the second carry-on takes additional time because, obviously, you have to stand in a line to do it. We had left home that morning expecting to fly from DC straight to Copenhagen so we had the forbidden hand luggage and barely made our flight as a result.

Thanks Marsha. We definitely are prepared for the one carry on thing, AA told me that right from the get go, and we also received a confirmation from BA with the same information.
We are working on all this.