Alhamdulillah ., you landed at your final destination. Quite an uneventful flight just as you liked it. It had been a long journey door-to-door (home-to-hotel) including the extended layover (transit) for the connecting flight. You could have flown direct but the extra cost of tickets multiply the number of family members in the trip would pay accommodation . Easy arithmetic. You had convinced yourself since this is a holiday .,transit lounging at the airport waiting for the connecting flight is part of the journey., the excitement of getting there - being on holiday. Passed Immigration. Collect luggage . Counted number of pieces and crossed checked luggage tags. Correct. Passed Custom and herded into transport to hotel. Checked into hotel - non smoking room/floor as booked please - rather not pay to sleep in "an ash tray" - and crashed into bed. Unpacking and preparation for exploring the local sites start later after short nap and a shower...you've hoped....
You overslept and woke up in the middle of the night. Body clock is still in another time-zone and in transition phase. Hunger pang hits you. You were too sleepy (tired) to have eaten in the flight even though you recalled you returned an emptied food tray. You wondered who ate them. ? Too late for room service. You looked for the snacks and nimble food that you always carry with you in the luggage for nights such as this. You found them tucked nicely in the tupperware container in your luggage - comfort-cum-emergency food - noodles maggi-mee and indo mee goreng - these are food most avid Bruneian traveller don't leave home without. You showered to freshen up whilst the hot water for 3 minute maggie mee boiling .
Whilst enjoying your 3 minute meal and scanning your luggage., you noticed a crack on the edge near the wheels of your new hardcase Somsonite 4-wheelers... "what the @#@!$% (censored) ".. you had not thoroughly checked the conditions of the luggage - You had checked the wheels , zips and lock but had not checked the edges - when you offload your luggage onto the trolley at the airport.. Too late., you're now outside the airport luggage claim area to be able to do anything about it. Reminder for next time: to include this into checklist when collecting luggage off carousel.
Caution though: if you have the misfortune of luggage being damage during flight ., the airline , though very willing to pay cost for repair and /or compensate for replacement of a similar /equivalent luggage., somehow they made it an art and very cumbersome , time consuming process and have you go through hoops and loops , passed from counter to counter to record the complaint and obtain a reference number. Claiming actual compensation is another challenge ... Do persevere and go through the painful process. Don't let the airline's baggage handlers abuse our luggage. Check for damage. Record to claim.
Having overcome the emotional trauma of finding damage luggage (and resigning to the fact that there is nothing you can do about it now) and as the stomach is filled (confirmed: hunger can make one lose control of verbal expression) you scan the room and floor. Nearest fire exit. Checked. Direction of Qiblat and prayer times. Checked. Nowadays there are many applications in mobile phone that can show you direction of qiblat and prayers time., and since you are a traveler/musafir ., you have the privilege to perform daily prayers in jamaa and qasar mode (combine Zuhor/Asar ., Mahgrib/Isya and shortening them...please consult your religious advisers for advise and guidance how to conduct these if you don't know yet). Hotel's amenities and facilities - location of gym and swimming pool. Checked. Ready to holiday... Enjoy your holiday safely and responsibly. Use your credit cards with caution. , and mindful where you get your your cards swiped. Mindful of your credit limit and airline's excess baggage allowances..since excess baggage can be costly. Remind the Madam..
Preparing for flight home. Check that you have not exceed the airline's luggage free allowances a day before departure. No more late bulk shopping.. Make alternative arrangement for unaccompanied door-to-door freight if you know you're going to exceed the limit rather than pay excess weight at the check-in counter. Better still - stay within the free luggage weight limit. Count the number of luggages , when you checked out from hotel room. When loaded into taxi/transport., when offloaded at airport. , and when checked in...ensure the numbers of pieces tally and also tally with the number of tags given to you. Sound silly, but worth the reminder.
Arrange to depart early to the airport up to 3 hours before flight to account for traffic from hotel and congestion at departure hall. Know your departing terminal of your airline/flight !! It may not be the same as your arrival terminal and do NOT assume that all taxi drivers (yes even the taxi drivers who picked you up at the hotel) know the terminal of your flight. Check your ticket for departing terminal.
There is no more distressing news than to be told at the departure information counter when you cannot find your flight number on the flight panel ... "Sorry Sir., you flight departs from the other terminal. You have to take the transit bus from the arrival hall/take a taxi to the other terminal..it will take some 45-60 minutes from here dependent on traffic...."
Tip
- check your luggage for damages upon offloading at carousel. Go to process of registering of luggage damage PRIOR to leaving the baggage claims area.
- check your departing terminal. DO NOT assume the taxi driver to know where your flight depart from since there could be many flights/terminals to same destination.
Stay safe. Enjoy your holidays - you deserved the break and enjoy the quality time with the loved ones.
Wassalam/regards
sallehbostaman 04/05/15
