Returning from an adventure is an adventure
We seem to have a problem with returning from a trip to Europe.
The last time we did so (September of 2022, from Scotland), because of some confusion at boarding time,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jwg's suitcase didn't make the connection at Heathrow, and we had to wait around for it and then find the right place to file a report (the bag did arrive safe and sound the next day). Then we got to the garage and discovered that we had stupidly neglected to write down where we had parked the car; it took us about 20 minutes to find it.
Last Monday, returning from Portugal: our return was from Porto rather than Lisbon, and of course there are no direct transatlantic flights from such a small place, and our booking sent us through Zürich, of all places, where we had a very tight connection; we made it (with some help from Swissair), but our bags did not. Apparently quite a few bags didn't make it onto that flight; anyway, after we had waited around for quite a while at baggage claim, an agent gave us a brochure indicating the website at which to file the report, and we went off to the garage. This time we had no trouble finding the car – we had written down the location, and in any case it was very near the Terminal E entrance – but we then discovered that the battery was dead. So we called AAA, and their system sent a link through which to request service, which seems to work OK. Except that when they called us a bit later to find out exactly where we were, it was revealed that AAA cannot service cars inside the Logan garage, and we should call the garage supervisor (whose number they were able to give us), so we did, and it wasn't very long before a mechanic showed up and gave us a jump. Upon exit from the garage, of course, we discovered that too much time had elapsed between our paying for the parking and actually leaving the garage, and the cashier had to do something complicated (which involved making a phone call) before we could get out.
But we did eventually get home and were able to file our baggage-claim reports. The bags arrived at about 6:00 AM on Thursday(!).
Oh, and why was the car battery dead? Well, shortly after we left the airport,jwg noticed that the overhead light on the passenger side was on. I can't think of any reason why either of us would have turned it on; mostly likely one of us hit it by accident while getting out of the car, and while it probably doesn't draw very much current, ten days was more than enough for it to run the battery down.
The last time we did so (September of 2022, from Scotland), because of some confusion at boarding time,
jwg's suitcase didn't make the connection at Heathrow, and we had to wait around for it and then find the right place to file a report (the bag did arrive safe and sound the next day). Then we got to the garage and discovered that we had stupidly neglected to write down where we had parked the car; it took us about 20 minutes to find it.Last Monday, returning from Portugal: our return was from Porto rather than Lisbon, and of course there are no direct transatlantic flights from such a small place, and our booking sent us through Zürich, of all places, where we had a very tight connection; we made it (with some help from Swissair), but our bags did not. Apparently quite a few bags didn't make it onto that flight; anyway, after we had waited around for quite a while at baggage claim, an agent gave us a brochure indicating the website at which to file the report, and we went off to the garage. This time we had no trouble finding the car – we had written down the location, and in any case it was very near the Terminal E entrance – but we then discovered that the battery was dead. So we called AAA, and their system sent a link through which to request service, which seems to work OK. Except that when they called us a bit later to find out exactly where we were, it was revealed that AAA cannot service cars inside the Logan garage, and we should call the garage supervisor (whose number they were able to give us), so we did, and it wasn't very long before a mechanic showed up and gave us a jump. Upon exit from the garage, of course, we discovered that too much time had elapsed between our paying for the parking and actually leaving the garage, and the cashier had to do something complicated (which involved making a phone call) before we could get out.
But we did eventually get home and were able to file our baggage-claim reports. The bags arrived at about 6:00 AM on Thursday(!).
Oh, and why was the car battery dead? Well, shortly after we left the airport,
jwg noticed that the overhead light on the passenger side was on. I can't think of any reason why either of us would have turned it on; mostly likely one of us hit it by accident while getting out of the car, and while it probably doesn't draw very much current, ten days was more than enough for it to run the battery down.