Friday, September 28, 2007

The flight....

So we decided after packing many suitcases that we would each bring four pieces of luggage, seven of which were mine. We knew that we would be paying the extra dollars for additional luggage and weight so we were prepared for that. I was flying Lufthansa/Air Canada and he was flying Air France. Our flight left 4 hours apart his departing before mine and arriving 2 hours ahead of mine. As he approached the check-in counter my heart was beating quite fast as I feared the worse ie. no additional luggage allowed. Prior to him approaching the check out counter I tried to scoop out the nicest looking agent I could see but to no surprise they all looked miserable and underpaid....lol. So I told Chicco to flirt with the agent so that we wouldn't have any problems with our luggage. As he approached the agent I knew she was going to be a bitch but I figured with his charm things would be okay, wrong again. She was a bitch gave him hassle with the extra two pieces and billed him the full price for the extra pieces and the additional weight. Chicco was off to catch his flight and I only prayed that all pieces of luggage would arrive in Italy the next day.
Four hours later, it was my turn. The hours between Chicco leaving and me checking in I was nervous. As I imagined having a harder time with my luggage as it weighed more and was much bigger. Since I have travelled many times with Luftansa/Air Canada I felt confident that I wouldn't' get a bitchy agent. As I stood in line I saw the agent that checked me in the last time I had visited Italy. I remembered him being very funny and easy going, so I hoped when it was my turn to present myself, it would be him that would be checking me in. I had my mom with me to calm my nerves in the line which was a big help. To my surprise the agent that was ready to serve me was the same agent that served me 4 months earlier. First thing I said to him was "I remember you from four months ago" he said "really? this is my first time working here since about four months ago". We exchanged laughs and what nots before he it came down to the nitty gritty. He weighed my luggage and as expected they were over weight by some kilos. He asked that I take somethings out of one suitcase and put into the other, which I was happy to do. After some talking about my long stay in Italy, he kindly told me "I am letting you off easy" and I smiled and said "thank you, when you are in Italy I will make you dinner" and we laughed.
Apparently I missed the increase in additional baggage by 2 days, luckily. Now Air Canada charges $225.00 for additional luggage and increase of one hundred dollars....mama mia!
My advice to those moving overseas and don't want to pay the to ship your belongings, check with the airline prior to departure because sometimes its much cheaper to pay for additional luggage rather than shipping belongings. I also called the airline company to tell them that I would be having two pieces of additional suitcases with me which was a good idea as the agent when I arrived was aware that I had additional pieces.
When we arrived in Italy after a long boring flight we were happy to be together again and also happy that all eight pieces of luggage arrived in tow.

Ciao a tutti

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