Lufthansa bag lag

By Miyako Storch
This item appears on page 26 of the April 2014 issue.

My husband and I were scheduled to fly Lufthansa on Dec. 9, 2013, from Los Angeles to Frankfurt, with a transit time of about two hours before continuing to Nürnberg. Our flight from Los Angeles ended up being delayed about two hours, so, concerned about the connection and our checked luggage (two small suitcases), during the flight to Frankfurt we talked to a flight attendant.

Her response was, “If the passengers can make it to the connecting flight, so can the luggage.”

Upon arrival, we were stunned at the distance from the arrival terminal to the departure terminal; we barely made it to the connecting flight. We walked and used the people mover for nearly a mile, then went downstairs and walked another three-fourths mile before going through a security checkpoint. After checking in at the gate, we were taken by a bus almost to the end of the airfield for actual boarding. 

When we arrived in Nürnberg, our luggage wasn’t there. We filled out a report at the Lufthansa office, writing down tag numbers, descriptions of our suitcases and the name of the hotel where we were staying. They gave each of us an emergency package, and we headed downtown. It was easy to take the U-Bahn, as we had only our carry-on luggage.

We arrived at our hotel around 4 p.m., then took off to visit the Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas market) along Königstrasse. By the time we came back, around 7 p.m., our luggage had already been delivered, safe and sound. Hats off to Lufthansa for their accuracy and prompt services!

MIYAKO STORCH

Santa Barbara, CA