We all have baggage ...

I flew this week to New York from Helsinki on business and saw Heathrow as I never have before; as a transit passenger. Until now, flying into Heathrow has meant going home. After the inevitable delays landing, I collect my luggage, find my transport and head back to the family. But on Wednesday, I had an hour and a half to switch planes and terminals to head to JFK.

In Helsinki, I had suggested that I would collect my suitcase at Terminal 1 and take it with me on the bus (ah, the jet-set lifestyle) to Terminal 4. But the FinnAir agent assured me that it would be much easier for me to check it through to New York. My sixth sense was screaming "no", but she had such an air of confidence that I gave in.

All seemed to be going well at Terminal 4, when the BA agent insisted on checking my luggage tag number. If I boarded the plane without them doing so, the suitcase would be "de-planed". "So, the bag is on already", I asked, not entirely convinced. "Oh yes, sir, of course".

Well, someone, somewhere was fibbing. When I got to JFK, after an unusually short half hour wait for Customs & Border Protection, I made the acquaintance of one other traveller who had lost her bag. We trod the path to the lost luggage office, where the staff slipped into their well practiced affectations of surprise and took the details.

A question for you, gentle reader. Can you describe your most frequently used suitcase from memory? What colour(s) is it? What size? Which brand? Does it have pockets on the outside? How many are there? If it has wheels, what do they look like? What other details of trim? I suggest next time you travel you take a photograph of it on your phone before you wave it goodbye on the conveyor!

My case is an Eddie Bauer Brookline 29" Overseas Case, the picture here is for my future reference!

Anyway, to cut a long story somewhat shorter, the bag eventually arrived 42 hours late from the UK. Conveniently, it arrived on the day I was leaving, so I was able to collect it from the lost luggage desk and check it in for the return flight. It had company for the return journey, a new bag bought to carry the various items of clothing and toiletries classed as "emergency replacements". Now begins the attempt to reclaim the costs for these from the airline.

So, a few ideas for the future. A laminated notice will be inside my bag with full details of its owner and I shall be engaged in desperate attempts to cram all my luggage into carry-on bags.

I suppose I should be grateful that this is only the second time in my travelling career that I have had a bag delayed. According to the Air Transport Users Council, the major European network airlines mishandled over 5.6 million bags in 2006. BA has the worst record, perhaps because some of the other airlines are less transparent in publishing their statistics.