by Shawn King

12 people…

One 6am flight…

Lots of carry-on luggage…

What is bound to happen?  Yep, a lost bag.

 

Wait.  You may say, “But you are a TRAVEL AGENT!  How did you lose your luggage?!”

 

Easily.  It can happen to the best of us.  You take 10 bags on the plane.  You leave with 9 bags.  You don’t realize it (even though you counted kids and bags repeatedly)  until you need something from that bag.

 

We didn’t need anything from that bag until we reached our Disney™ resort.

 

I panicked for a second and then realized, “Hey, Miss Travel Agent, you bought insurance.  Make your phone calls about the bag and then go enjoy Walt Disney World™ while the bag is found!”

 

And THAT is exactly how I would advise my clients!  So that is what I did!

 

Here was my course of action…

1. Didn’t panic.
2. Called either my travel agent (me!), the Disney™ resort lobby, or the airline’s Lost and Found Department.   (I called the airline’s Lost and found Department.)
3. Described my bag and filed a claim number with the airline.   And (very important) I was able to tell them the bag was clearly marked with my awesome complimentary Disney™ luggage tag!
4. Jumped on a complimentary Disney™ transportation bus and went to enjoy some Disney™ magic at a park while the airline and Disney’s™ Magical Express recovered my lost bag.
5. Called back in a couple of hours to verify that yep, the airline found my forgotten bag in the overhead compartment before they left the airport and their Lost and Found Department had possession of it.
6. Also verified during that call that Disney’s™ Magical Express service makes the rounds to all of the Orlando International Airport Lost and Found departments roughly once every hour and collects all lost luggage for complimentary delivery to the guests’ resort hotel room.
7. Resumed our magical first day at Walt Disney World™ and found my checked bags and the infamous LOST CARRY-ON bag in my resort room when we returned that evening.

Would panic or worry have helped me find that lost bag?  Nope.

 

Did the peace of mind of knowing that I had followed all of my own travel agent advice (buy trip insurance, don’t pack all necessities in one bag, etc)?  Yes I did!!

 

If the bag had never been found, we’d have been just fine.  One quick trip to a local store or a resort gift shop, a quick phone call to the insurance company, and we’d have been back on our way to the magic!

 

 

Magical Vacation Planner at 3D Travel Company

 

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