by Jeff Sovern
When last we left our intrepid adventurer’s story, she had arrived home, even if her bag had not. But one week after her original flight to Atlanta, she received a text from Delta indicating that her bag was about to be delivered—to the hotel she had left four days before. While she was trying to reach Delta, the bag was left in the hotel lobby without anyone speaking to the hotel staff to explain why it had been brought there. You would think an airline would understand that when someone flies somewhere and stays in a hotel, they may not still be there a week later. Indeed, Delta should have known she was no longer at the hotel because they had flown her to Detroit, and eventually back to New York. To make matters worse, my daughter had replaced most of the items in the bag during its week-long absence and so now was facing the possibility of having bought many of the same items twice and not receiving full compensation from Delta, which had, after all, returned the bag, albeit to a place where my daughter no longer was.
Fortunately, my daughter’s friend was driving from Atlanta to New York and brought the bag to her yesterday, two weeks after the original flight. My daughter eagerly opened the suitcase to discover that her shoes and underwear were missing. The missing underwear is creepy. But not to worry: someone else’s clothing and shoes had mysteriously replaced them and were sandwiched in with my daughter’s remaining clothing!
Sadly, this chapter ends with another Delta cliffhanger. My son was scheduled to fly back from Detroit this afternoon on Delta. Naturally he learned this morning that his flight had been cancelled. Delta found him a later flight, which has in turn been delayed. The good news: he won’t check a bag.