by Paula Shelton, Editor, www.flyingwithkids.com
More information about Travel Guard (Chartis) travel insurance:
Flying to the UK recently I commented to my husband about the size of some people's carry-on bags. It seemed to me that they had filled the overhead lockers with HUGE bags and how they met the carry-on standard was hard to understand. For all of those traveling without children, I just couldn't understand their need for so much stuff --- especially as they never needed any of it during the flight.
Whilst waiting for our hold luggage to arrive on the carousel at Heathrow, however, I began to see another picture. Our bag did not arrive, did not arrive, did not arrive. Baggage Services scratched their heads, and finally located it ... in Auckland, 24 hours flying behind us.
Now this was mildly inconvenient to say the least. We were in the UK for only 4 days attending a family funeral. Our sombre clothes were in the bag. Our traveling clothes were well-worn after 24 hours in the air. Our airline (the unrivaled champions of the industry, Air New Zealand) came quickly to the rescue with some emergency money. This bought us toothpaste and other essentials for the first 24 hours. It was logistically impossible for our bag to make the next day's flight from Auckland, so it was more than 48 hours before we had it in our possession --- just in time to take back to the airport for our flights home.
Thank goodness we had travel insurance through TravelGuard to fund us for the essential gear we were missing for the funeral. I'd like to say a big thank you to their helpline staff who quickly understood the nature of our problem and, with great compassion for our situation, let us know exactly what our insurance policy covered for our missing bag. A new suit, shirt, shoes, handbag and sombre dress later we were suitably attired for the funeral and comfortable to know that our insurance policy had covered these very necessary purchases.
I wouldn't want to repeat this performance, however, so the next time I wont be congratulating myself on my minimalist cabin-bag skills. Oh no, I'm going to fill my cabin bag to the maximum allowed but still keep that travel insurance document firmly tucked in my ticket wallet too.
Related story about staying healthy while traveling:
Yup, we have that particular t-shirt too! We moved from NZ to Norway early this year and were thus carrying all of our worldly possessions such that they were. Kids were great but it was quite a trip.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was just going to agree with the hand baggage thingy. We bought four of the "Cabin Max" bags which can carry 44ltrs and are the exact max size that many airlines allow. That means that we can now take 40kg, yup, 40kgs for FREE!
The backpack style makes it easy to carry the 10kgs each and most importantly, your hands are free to help the kids. Brilliant.
Just google cabin max, I even wrote a post about them on my blog too (polishing peanuts one......it's a long story!), if you want to see some big pictures of them.
Stay well
Yup, we also have that particular t-shirt! Our last long haul with the kids was a recent move to Norway from NZ (bit crazy but its a long story!)
ReplyDeleteSo now we do a lot of "short" runs from Oslo to the UK to visit relatives with the dreaded Ryanair. Recent hike in baggage charges left us also wanting to go "lightweight".
We chose the Cabin Max and it has 'revolutionized' the way we travel. We are two adults plus two ankle biters. That means 40kgs and 176litres of baggage.......for FREE!
I was so impressed that I even posted about the Cabin Max on my blog (at polishingpeanuts.com I know, I know, its another long story!) if you want to see some big pics of them or to read more about the specs......
I used to think wheels were the way to go, but no way, I mean come on, who can't toke 10kgs on their back, even my kids manage. That means hands free operation for all those bloomin annoying bits of paper at the gate. And of course no waiting to check in etc. The bag even costs less than it does to put a case in the hold on ONE trip, which makes taking max hand luggage a no brainer in my humble eyes.
Oops. I commented again because I got a weird message in Norwegian...... but I just translated it and it said comment waiting...Oh well! Google thinks that just because I have a Norwegian IP address....I must be Norwegian....duh!
ReplyDelete