Packing day. I finished the last few items of laundry and added a couple of tops to my vacation wardrobe. I pack everything into packing cubes before it goes into my suitcase. It’s the only way to keep my bag organized enough to find things. Before I used them, my bags were hopelessly messed up by the 4rd day into any trip.
Today, when I finish packing, I discover that my bag isn’t standing upright properly and then remember it was broken on the last leg of the Borneo trip. A quick trip to the Bay results in a new bag that I picked out because it has a 15 year warranty. I’ve never heard of the brand before - Ricardo - so that made me think that Ricky would be an appropriate name for it. I discover that it’s on sale so my cost is $100 all in. I think that I have a suitcase for life until I read the pamphlet regarding the 15 year warranty and discover that the spinner wheels and the zipper isn’t covered as that’s considered normal wear and tear. I conclude that luggage warranties are pretty useless because once a spinner or the zipper goes, you’ll end up replacing the whole thing with another piece that has a similar useless warranty.
At home I transfer my cubes to my new bag and am pleased to discover this one has slightly more interior room. I would have considered packing more but I don’t have any more cubes or time. My sister Syl and Russ were at the door to take me to the airport shortly before 2:00 and they received all my perishable food from my fridge.
Until today, I believed that flying from Victoria to Vancouver to be a simple uneventful excursion. It’s only a 15 minute trip, so it’s hard to envision any complication in the scheduled departure and arrival times. That all changed today. I received several notifications changing the original departure time of 3:40pm as follows
Time of Revised
notification Departure time
11:05 4:05
12:22 3:45
2:35 4:57
4:20 5:12
5:02 5:40
The last time change was announced at the boarding gate by a very apologetic counter clerk who must have thought she was going to receive a lot of consumer backlash. Her announcement was heavily laden with wording indicating she was only the messenger and that all these time changes are received from the control tower. I guess she had already experienced some unhappy clients.
This flight originated from Edmonton and stopped at Victoria before ending in Vancouver. I had heard there were delays coming out of Edmonton so maybe this was the reason. Our pilot said that there were delays in Vancouver because of a fire in Richmond that began earlier that morning. Whatever the cause we were 2 hours late. All of my flights to Vancouver are to catch a connecting flight and had I experienced this amount of delay on any one of these flights I would have surely missed my connection. Fortunately, I planned to come early to have dinner with my sisters, and with Judith and Susan.
I hardly ever travel with checked baggage so it was a novelty for me to be waiting for my bag to arrive. I am mesmerized when bags come off the feeder at YVR and slam down onto the moving carousel, usually crushing another bag. It’s like someone designed it to be the most destructive thing after baggage handlers. I’m still standing waiting for my bag, when no more luggage is being spewed out and the carousel shuts down. The few of us still standing around that carousel quickly figure out that the luggage for travellers originating from Victoria did not get spewed out. We stand around a bit; but it isn’t until one of the travellers, who happened to be a off duty WestJet flight attendant, made some inquiries. Shortly after, the PA announced to us that they’re looking into the baggage problem. As we wait for WestJet to locate our missing baggage, our group starts talking about the delay. One couple was supposed to connect with their children and grandchildren at YVR to fly together for a two week vacation in Hawaii. Although they got booked for the next morning, the delay caused them to miss their Hawaii flight and the rest of their party, about 14 in total, had to leave without them. For the couple, it was a missed opportunity to witness their grandchildren flying to Hawaii for the first time. Within 10 minutes or so, the carousel started back up again, and our luggage appears.
I caught the Skytrain to meet up with my sisters Patsy and Cynth with her partner Dave and we made it to the Yaletown restaurant about half an hour before our 8:00 reservation. From being picked up for my ride to the airport at 2:00 to arriving at the restaurant was a 5 and a half hour ordeal. I know it usually goes smoother, but when it doesn’t, it’s a long frustrating day. At the restaurant, we ask if we could be seated earlier and the restaurant Robba da Matti accommodated. Fortunately we’re on the outdoor patio. The inside area is unbearably hot due to steam coming from boiling water for pasta.
Minutes later Susan and Judith appeared and after some quick introductions we settled down to a fabulous dinner. During the conversation Judith discovers Patsy knows one of her TD friends putting that into the small world category. Susan drove us to the airport and we arrived at about 11:00, checked in and waited for our 2:00 am flight.
Today, when I finish packing, I discover that my bag isn’t standing upright properly and then remember it was broken on the last leg of the Borneo trip. A quick trip to the Bay results in a new bag that I picked out because it has a 15 year warranty. I’ve never heard of the brand before - Ricardo - so that made me think that Ricky would be an appropriate name for it. I discover that it’s on sale so my cost is $100 all in. I think that I have a suitcase for life until I read the pamphlet regarding the 15 year warranty and discover that the spinner wheels and the zipper isn’t covered as that’s considered normal wear and tear. I conclude that luggage warranties are pretty useless because once a spinner or the zipper goes, you’ll end up replacing the whole thing with another piece that has a similar useless warranty.
At home I transfer my cubes to my new bag and am pleased to discover this one has slightly more interior room. I would have considered packing more but I don’t have any more cubes or time. My sister Syl and Russ were at the door to take me to the airport shortly before 2:00 and they received all my perishable food from my fridge.
Until today, I believed that flying from Victoria to Vancouver to be a simple uneventful excursion. It’s only a 15 minute trip, so it’s hard to envision any complication in the scheduled departure and arrival times. That all changed today. I received several notifications changing the original departure time of 3:40pm as follows
Time of Revised
notification Departure time
11:05 4:05
12:22 3:45
2:35 4:57
4:20 5:12
5:02 5:40
The last time change was announced at the boarding gate by a very apologetic counter clerk who must have thought she was going to receive a lot of consumer backlash. Her announcement was heavily laden with wording indicating she was only the messenger and that all these time changes are received from the control tower. I guess she had already experienced some unhappy clients.
This flight originated from Edmonton and stopped at Victoria before ending in Vancouver. I had heard there were delays coming out of Edmonton so maybe this was the reason. Our pilot said that there were delays in Vancouver because of a fire in Richmond that began earlier that morning. Whatever the cause we were 2 hours late. All of my flights to Vancouver are to catch a connecting flight and had I experienced this amount of delay on any one of these flights I would have surely missed my connection. Fortunately, I planned to come early to have dinner with my sisters, and with Judith and Susan.
I hardly ever travel with checked baggage so it was a novelty for me to be waiting for my bag to arrive. I am mesmerized when bags come off the feeder at YVR and slam down onto the moving carousel, usually crushing another bag. It’s like someone designed it to be the most destructive thing after baggage handlers. I’m still standing waiting for my bag, when no more luggage is being spewed out and the carousel shuts down. The few of us still standing around that carousel quickly figure out that the luggage for travellers originating from Victoria did not get spewed out. We stand around a bit; but it isn’t until one of the travellers, who happened to be a off duty WestJet flight attendant, made some inquiries. Shortly after, the PA announced to us that they’re looking into the baggage problem. As we wait for WestJet to locate our missing baggage, our group starts talking about the delay. One couple was supposed to connect with their children and grandchildren at YVR to fly together for a two week vacation in Hawaii. Although they got booked for the next morning, the delay caused them to miss their Hawaii flight and the rest of their party, about 14 in total, had to leave without them. For the couple, it was a missed opportunity to witness their grandchildren flying to Hawaii for the first time. Within 10 minutes or so, the carousel started back up again, and our luggage appears.
I caught the Skytrain to meet up with my sisters Patsy and Cynth with her partner Dave and we made it to the Yaletown restaurant about half an hour before our 8:00 reservation. From being picked up for my ride to the airport at 2:00 to arriving at the restaurant was a 5 and a half hour ordeal. I know it usually goes smoother, but when it doesn’t, it’s a long frustrating day. At the restaurant, we ask if we could be seated earlier and the restaurant Robba da Matti accommodated. Fortunately we’re on the outdoor patio. The inside area is unbearably hot due to steam coming from boiling water for pasta.
Minutes later Susan and Judith appeared and after some quick introductions we settled down to a fabulous dinner. During the conversation Judith discovers Patsy knows one of her TD friends putting that into the small world category. Susan drove us to the airport and we arrived at about 11:00, checked in and waited for our 2:00 am flight.
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