The untied way to fly.

I will never understand why people don't speak up when they don't feel they're being treated properly.

We all know - at least, those that travel know - that most airlines now charge for checking a bag. I've only had a bag go missing once - in Chicago in February for a business trip. It was completely the fault of the airline and the bag arrived 24 hours later. It was an inconvienence, but there was an easy-enough work around. I was in downtown Chicago ... if I needed anything, I had Miracle Mile at my fingertips.

I've just had the pleasure of paying a service charge to have an airline misplace my bag. As a customer, I played completely by their rules. I showed up more than an hour prior to departure. The bag in question was under their weight limit. I paid their small fee without comment because I was expecting it. The flight I was on was by no means full and it was non-stop. So when I was still waiting for my bag more than 45 minutes after landing, I was unpleased.

The ground crew at my destination was kind enough about the situation. They filed a report for me, gave me a target time, had my contact info and I told them they could just drop the bag off sans signature. I wasn't out for blood. I just wanted my stuff. It was a bummer, but it wasn't the end of my world.

The first target for bag arrival time came and went, with no one calling me as originally promised. Same with the second target time. When I called after the third target time had wooooshed by, I was still very courtious to the individual on the phone. This wasn't their fault, after all. They were the ones who were helping me. I did, however, warn them on the outset that I was unamused.

(You see - I believe if you give someone a target, especially a target that is a range, you should live up to it. I didn't suggest a time for the bag to arrive after all. This was their target. All I wanted them to do was honor it. That seems reasonable, right?)

The fourth target breezed by sans bag or anyone calling me and I was on the phone when the bag was found ... sitting all by itself on the deck I'd just been sadly glancing upon.

So it should come as no surprise that I had a few things to discuss when the airline sent me a "how was your trip" survey. I followed it up with a call to the customer service line today. In a few short minutes, I was told that the fee I had paid wasn't going to be refunded. After all, as the person on the phone told me, everyone else who had checked a bag had paid the same fee.

"Yes, that is true - but those people actually received their bag upon landing, right?" was my response.

There was a brief moment of silence, followed by an offer for a voucher at nearly double the baggage fee for the trouble the airline had caused me.

Score one for the customer.