Luggage Crisis Diverted

Boarding AC7 on a sunny day at Vancouver International Airport

Today, Saturday, was a busy traveling day for many passengers, getting home before starting work and school. The flights to Asia were very full, including those to Taiwan, with the elections on January 11. Anyone who was born there, even if they haven't lived there for a long time are eligible to vote.

In any event I had trouble checking in online with Air Canada the day before, so I decided to go to the airport a bit earlier. I tried again at the airport kiosk and it still didn't work so I had to wait in line for the counter. Luckily the line went relatively fast and I finally checked in. Or so I thought I did.

I was unable to check-in using the kiosks and had to line up

The ground staff had already put the luggage tag on my suitcase and sent it off when I walked away and looked at my boarding pass. It didn't have my name on it, but someone else's!

I ran back to her and showed her the boarding pass and my passport. She showed a colleague the error who didn't have any decent suggestions, so she contacted her supervisor who was all the way in the domestic departure area.

It turns out this is some technical glitch they have been having since installing new software three months ago.

They had to stop and locate my baggage -- which had a luggage tag going to Manila! They reassured me my suitcase was not going there, but to Hong Kong.

Then they had to issue me a new boarding pass and luggage tag. Once that was sorted I had to go down to the arrivals area and pick up my suitcase at the area where oversized luggage is usually sent. The metal shutters were down, but a few minutes later they came up and I saw a guy on a cart with my luggage!

Then I had to pick up my luggage at a place similar to this one

I grabbed it and went back up to where the supervisor was in the domestic departure area where she stuck on the new luggage tag and then I had to go back to the Air Canada international departures area to drop off my suitcase there! I spent pretty much an hour checking in after all that hassle, which made security look like a breeze.

Next time you travel, check to make sure your name is on the boarding pass! And yes I did get my luggage back in Hong Kong!

Flying Air Canada's Dreamliner

Air Canada's Dreamliner that flies from Vancouver to Hong Kong

I flew back to Vancouver yesterday on Air Canada's new Dreamliner Boeing 787.

There are good and bad points. For us in cattle class, it's very cramped, though there seems to be enough overhead locker space to hold hand luggage, and even for someone vertically-challenged like, me, you will need it.

I found myself not having much legroom after putting one hand luggage underneath the seat in front of me despite being in an aisle seat. When people walk by and especially when flight attendants wheel carts through, there's no extra room.

The economy seats don't allow for much legroom

The seats are OK -- there's a USB charger for the phone, but unlike Cathay Pacific, it doesn't have an extra space to cradle the device while you're eating, for example.

The woman next to me in the middle seat complained of condensation dripping on her despite her and her partner trying to wipe down the source of the drip. The new Dreamliner claims to have superior humidity control, and in general I was fine with the temperature -- it wasn't too cold when covered with a blanket.

An interesting aspect is that the windows were never covered throughout the flight -- that's because the Dreamliner has smart glass windows that darken to allow passengers to adjust the amount of sunlight that is let through.

It was never too bright, and when the aircraft was dark, there was a blueish tinge coming from the windows. One wonders if it was colder sitting by the window without the shade to cover it.

Nevertheless, there are two washrooms at each section, and they are slightly larger than the typical ones, one is even wheelchair accessible, though you can easily hear passengers' conversations next door.

There isn't much entertainment variety

Overall the flight was alright, though at one point after collecting trays from our first meal, one flight attendant tripped a few rows behind me and couldn't get up -- a male flight attendant had to haul her up and she was incapacitated for the rest of the flight.

Another good service with Air Canada was the flight attendants coming through often with water -- this was hardly the case with Cathay Pacific especially from Rome back to Hong Kong; we had to ask for water.

But back to the Dreamliner -- is this another way to get passengers to pony up more cash to fly premium economy or business? We can't afford it!

Lessons Learned from Rocky Ride

One of 22 passengers on AC 088 who was sent to hospital to treat injuries

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says two investigators are continuing to  look into what happened when severe turbulence hit an Air Canada flight 088 from Shanghai to Toronto where the flight was diverted to Calgary.

Twenty-one passengers were sent to hospital with seriously injuries, while the rest were eventually flown back to Toronto.

Described as "the flight from hell", the 332 passengers and 19 crew experienced 40 minutes of severe turbulence, estimated to be when the plane was over Alaska. Some passengers reported people were thrown out of their seats and hit the ceiling.

At one point oxygen masks came down from the ceiling

If that is the case, then they were the ones who did not wear seat belts. It is believed many of them were probably Chinese.

Several flight attendants have told me over the years how difficult it is to deal with Chinese passengers, particularly from mainland China.

The flight attendants tell stories of parents changing their baby's diapers on the fold down table, or handing plastic cups filled with warm yellow liquid and dirty diapers, and the usual of going to the washroom during turbulence, or jumping out of their seats as soon as the plane touches down.

One who works for a Canadian airline told me today that he has to remind passengers that while he understands they may need to pee, going to the loo while the airplane passes through turbulence puts them at risk.

There was a big mess after the turbulence

He basically said if he was working during severe turbulence like the Air Canada flight, he would not be risking his life to go down the aisle to make sure everyone had their seat belts on. "That's what the seat belt sign is for."

The passengers who were severely injured cannot sue the airline because they were forewarned in Chinese (Putonghua), English and French to wear their seat belts ahead of time.

Hopefully the news of this Air Canada flight will be a strong reminder to all passengers that they really need to buckle up. They aren't necessarily going to fall over, but they might fall out of their chairs and up onto the ceiling...