Travel days tend to be long. The alarm woke me at 4:00 a.m. Quito time, which was 5:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. I packed the last minute odds and ends, met my traveling companions in the lobby to check out of the hotel, and took the 5:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport. Although there seemed to be lines everywhere, we didn't seem to spend much time in any of them. First; an initial check of our passports; second, check in and get boarding passes; third, pay the departure tariff; fourth, go through security--after passing through a small maze of shops, of course. We had plenty of time to eat breakfast in the small cafeteria in the gate area. Then there were two more lines to endure. The first one was at the entrance to the gate area where they hand searched our carry on luggage and confiscated liquids that would have been perfectly allowable had we been departing from a U.S. airport, such as bottled water purchased inside the security perimeter. The last line, of course, was to board the plane.
The flight left twenty minutes late, and we were a little concerned, since we had only about an hour and 45 minutes to clear immigration and customs in Miami before making our connecting flight. Fortunately, the pilot made up some of the time during the flight. The longest wait we had during our time in the Miami International Airport was actually going through security again after clearing customs. The process of going through immigration, claiming our baggage at the carousel, and clearing customs probably took about 25 minutes. The we had to take the luggage to be rescreened, even though it was already checked through to New York. It probably took us another 10 minutes or so to get through security. Thankfully, the international arrivals terminal and the terminal our flight was departing from were right next to each other. We arrived at the gate for our flight to New York as they were boarding Group 2--we were Group 4.
They boarded the plane pretty quickly, and then we sat at the gate. They waited for several people coming from connecting flights. While it was annoying to be delayed, if I'd been one of those people making a tight connection, I would hope the airline would hold the plane for me. We left about 15 minutes late. I shared the middle row of four seats with a young family with two toddlers. It could have been a nightmare, but the younger one slept for most of the flight, and the older one entertained herself with her toys. The flight went pretty smoothly, and we landed only 10 minutes late. After that, things began to fall apart.
We landed at 6:15 p.m. and then taxied for half an hour. Well, some of the time was spent sitting on the runway, and the last pause was just short of the gate. The cabin crew chief thanked us for our patience, which by that point was beginning to wear a little thin. Especially since we realized that we were coming into a gate in an entirely different terminal than where we were scheduled to arrive. Little did we know.
We were told that our baggage would come in on Carousel 2. Then someone came to tell us that our bags would actually arrive on Carousel 1, but only after the luggage from another flight had been unloaded. Over half an hour, and still no luggage. Finally, the Puerto Rico flight's luggage began to appear. About 10 minutes later, without warning, Carousel 2 started up, and folks from our Miami flight saw their luggage appear on the conveyor belt. It came in dribs and drabs. So after an hour, many of us were still waiting for our bags. Of the four pieces Ruth-Ann and I checked, only one had shown up. Soon it became all too clear that there was no more luggage arriving, and about 50 of us were still without at least one of our checked pieces. So we began the longest wait of the day, standing in line at the luggage claim office to fill out paperwork. There were 50 of us and only two American Airlines employees behind the counter. It took at least 10 minutes, and usually more, for each customer to file their report. A Couple of people called customer service both to complain and to file their report with them. At that point, a third employee arrived at the counter to help with the line. I tried to call customer service, but the automated phone service kept cutting me off. I was about to try again when it was suddenly our turn at the counter.
Ruth-Ann and I maintained a calm and cheerful demeanor. It wasn't the fault of the employees at the counter. They actually had the system down pretty well. They had laminated cards with pictures of all types of luggage and colors to help them get descriptions of each missing bag. Ruth-Ann and I had each tied identifying ribbons (mine were crocheted rainbow ones) to our bags, so it will help identify them more quickly. The other two employees were asking folks to name three things that were in their bags, but the one helping us said that didn't really help identify the bags, because they weren't going to open them. They would match the numbers of the airline baggage tags, so why spend extra time getting an inventory. He also told us that this often happens on flights from Miami.
My driver from the car service arrived in the middle of all of this. It turned out to be someone who has driven me before, and it was nice to see a familiar face. He helped both of us with what luggage we did have, and he waited with it while Ruth-Ann and I waited in line and filed our claims. All three missing bags had Ruth-Ann's things, even though one of them was my suitcase. That way she avoided having to pay for an extra bag. By the time we filed the report and said our good byes, it was pushing 8:45, nearly two hours since we'd arrived at JFK. My driver had us on the road by 9:50, and I was home by 10:05.
Except for the gentleman at the luggage claim counter, most of the American Airlines employees we encountered during the day were terse, and some were even downright rude. And it would seem to me that, if they are experiencing this kind of luggage problem with their flights from Miami, they ought to be working on a solution rather than telling us that "Miami is always a problem." In the meantime, until they solve that problem, they should have more employees available to assist passengers in filing their claims.
Thus endeth the rant for the day.
Otherwise, I am glad to be home. I will try to post pictures from Ecuador over the next couple of days. But first, I am going to get some sleep.
Peace,
Jeffri
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