We all know that the travel situation around the world lately has been… chaotic, to say the least. Not only Schiphol–the Amsterdam airport–requires you to get your bum in the check-in line four hours before your scheduled flight (or else you’ll risk missing it) but the situation at Toronto Pearson International Airport isn’t much better either. Also take into account that we reached Canada via Lisbon, so it wasn’t a direct flight.
Anyhow, this is how it went.
I land on July 14th at around 2:30 p.m. The off-boarding experience could have been pretty smooth if it wasn’t for the long-ass lines passengers had to endure to get through customs. After convincing the officer that I’m not in Canada do to anything sus, I head to the luggage pick-up point. And that’s when I realize that my two pieces of luggage aren’t there.
So I ask somebody representing Air Portugal (the flight company I flew with) what the hell happened. In return, the guy asks me how long the layoff between my first and second flight was. I say it was supposed to be two hours but we took off from Amsterdam later than we should have. To which he says, “Good luck then, we have to file a report.”
Crap.
The representative helps me fill out a form indicating the appearance of my luggage and which address they can be shipped to once they arrive. He assures me these things happen all the time and that, usually, bags get to destination between 2-3 days. (Plus, every day is a business day at an airport, so even if I landed on a Thursday, I could take the weekend into account.)
I had barely anything in my backpack, but luckily I didn’t put any important documents in the front pocket of my checked luggage; otherwise, I would’ve seriously started to worry. On the other hand, however, I didn’t have any clothes. I really hoped the situation would get solved as quickly as possible.
The days prior to my trip, I had seen some horror-story Reels on Instagram, like the sea of bags that airport workers gather according to the flight number and simply leave there to be found by the owner.
Bright side though: I was finally in Toronto. Safe and sound. That was the first step of my new life in this country.
Cover image credits: @905shooter / Instagram
Art Kills 
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