The Invitation
A year ago I received an invitation. It was for the wedding of a young couple, Rick and Beth, and it was going to be in the beautiful Tuscan countryside around Siena in Italy. Rick has been my son Alex’s best friend since their school days and has become a very good friend of my own too. The couple met at my brother’s wedding in 2018 and they have been an item ever since. Alex and I were the only guests at the wedding who were friends of both the Rick and Beth before they met.
In 2021 foreign travel was still problematic, but surely things would be fine by the summer of 2022? As the time came around the shadow cast by Covid was still long. Staff shortages lead to airport chaos on the News and reduced flights. Industrial action started to cause cancellations at exactly the wrong time for us. When Alex, his girlfriend Maddy and myself set off for Manchester Airport, it was with much trepidation and an extra hour in hand.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan
We wanted to see some more of Italy and so our entry point was Malpensa near Milan - some 400km from Siena. Most of the other guests were arriving via Pisa Airport. It was a short trip of just 4 days of which 3 would be spent travelling. The compressed timeframe and distances increased the stress levels, but we were trying to make the best of the time we had. In the end, the much-publicised delays failed to materialise and we sailed through from drop-off to gate in about 20mins. Our extra hour just gave us more time to kill.
That became the pattern for our journey as we hit each stress point. Getting the hire car - fine. Getting into Central Milan to the AirBnB and parking - fine. Getting back out of Milan and navigating an interesting route down to Siena and finding the Villa - fine.
ViaReggio - our lunch stop on the drive South
The wedding was more than just fine. The Villa had sentimental value to the groom’s family and they had a friendship with the owners. It all helped connect us to the place. With the great food, wine and company and lovely ceremony - it all passed too fast. All too soon we needed to say our goodbyes and take a different, more Northerly route back to fly home from Bergamo.
Villa Curina, Castelnuovo Berardenga - venue for the wedding
Bergamo Airport
We made good progress and ended up at Bergamo with an extra hour in hand again. Bergamo was busier than Manchester had been, but not enough to swallow our contingency. I seemed to get everything wrong at the bag drop and nearly went off without my receipt. That would have been a big mistake.
Heading Home
The flight ended up being delayed an extra hour but we weren’t too bothered, most of our stress was behind us and the festivities, early start and long drive made us a little too tired to care. As we started the descent into Manchester we felt like we had successfully crossed all the hurdles we had faced. Manchester even greeted us home with sunshine. We taxied to our stand and the seatbelt signs went off. Everyone busied themselves with organising their bags and calling loved ones. Then the pilot announced no one was available to open the door due to staff shortages. Someone would be coming soon he said. “Soon” turned out to be an hour.
Baggage Claim at Terminal 3, Manchester Airport
As we finally filed through Passport Control and emerged into Baggage Reclaim we were shocked by the scene. It was crammed full of people, people who had obviously been there a while. People were finding whatever comfort they could in the barren hall. Some people were slumped in resignation, sleeping on their cabin bags. Others, enraged by frustration, were hurling abuse through the carousel ports. Nervous-looking Border Patrol and Police Officers try to bring calm. Our flight, Ryanair FR3219, was 4th on the list on the information board over the carousel. I heard whispers that the first flight had been waiting an hour already. There are three carousels and nothing was really happening. The centre one was moving, carrying a selection of abandoned cases in slow procession. I had them memorised so I could tell if anything new had appeared. If I close my eyes I can still visualise some of them now. The information boards seemed to change but nothing actually happened. I took up a lookup post on the stairs to watch all the carousels. I got chatting with a few others off my flight who had the same idea.
Occasionally a member of the baggage staff would appear from their security door and yell out a flight and carousel. It was difficult to hear them in the clamour of the baggage hall from our lookout post. So one of us would head over to the carousel and check the flight number on the bags. Still no Bergamo bags. I had a sudden thought. Before I set off on this trip, I had taken the AirTag from my camera bag and popped it in my suitcase. I thought I wonder if I can spot when they bring the luggage round so we could be ready to act. The AirTag had pinged recently at Manchester and appeared to be still at the gate. I showed my new friends as a bit of fun and they thought it was cool despite the bad news.
Some new cases started to appear on the centre carousel. Like many people with generic black cases, we had added things to aid recognition. I saw what looked like Alex’s case pop out of the hatch. I made the “call to arms” and we took our place. It was Alex’s case and Maddy’s case also soon appeared, albeit in the inevitable sticky patch that seems compulsory on all carousels. But not my case. The AirTag was sat in the same spot as before. My new friends hadn’t been any luckier, we waited for the second wave to arrive. Our interest in the AirTag now grew. It moved a bit closer, but the cases that eventually appeared were from another flight. There had been no more new pings. Another flight’s luggage came out. It was taking far too long for this to be normal and the AirTag wasn’t helping - still no new pings. Alex and Maddy went through customs to find more comfort and check if we would be able to collect our car without issues due to the delay.
A member of the baggage staff came out and was immediately mobbed by concerned Bergamo passengers. I went over as well. The baggage staff member said they thought all the Bergamo luggage had gone out. He was a bit taken aback to have 30 passengers proving otherwise. His first assumption was that it had not been on the plane. I knew that wasn’t right, I made my way to the front and showed him the AirTag on my FindMy screen. He disappeared to look for in the location. He came back a little later with reinforcements, but no bags. I let them borrow my phone to see if we could get a ping if they got close enough. Still nothing, this time they returned with a theory. They thought the baggage had gone out on another flight. The last ping was the moment everyone put their phones into flight mode. They had one last search for us, but the only course of action now was to register the bags lost at the Ryanair/Swissport desk.
So off we all trooped through customs and up to the desk in Departures. It’s not a process meant for mass action. Paper forms were handed out and people scrabbled for pens. Passengers were looking for a decent surface to right on and copying each others’ “homework” as we struggled with the form fields. The staff again assumed Bergamo had not loaded the bags - some past history there. Again my AirTag begged to differ. There was a change in the staff’s demeanour and they went off to make hushed phone calls. We were told we would be emailed a reference number when our forms were processed and then we could make a claim. It all seemed a bit archaic and yet more waiting. The impacted passengers had now been together for some time. A passenger suggested that we create a WhatsApp group to keep in contact and the “Bergamo Baggage” group was born. That would have never occurred to a curmudgeonly old Apple fanboy like me. My AirTag had, by now, gained some notoriety. The group was very interested in how they worked, where they could get them from and if it had pinged again.
It was now midnight and nearly five hours after we had landed - we were all exhausted. We collected the car from the Terminal 3 Meet and Greet and headed home. It was just after 1 am when I got back home after dropping off Alex and Maddy. The AirTag had just pinged again - “Hello from Pisa”. The irony was not lost on me despite my fatigue. My luggage had gone to the airport nearest the wedding venue - the one I had shunned to “see more of Italy”. Now my luggage was seeing more of Italy than I had!
Getting the Band Together
Monday arrived and the Bergamo Baggage chat was really about taking stock. We knew where our luggage was, but we were not sure that Ryanair and Swissport did. We were stuck in a process that had one-way communication and did not look as if it was going to be speedy. Our attempts to check progress were all spurned - nothing could be done till we had that reference number. One of the group went back to the airport and saw our forms still on the desk. It looked bleak. That night a Channel 4 exposé called Airport Chaos Undercover was due to air. It made grim viewing. It mirrored our own experience and left us feeling that we were going to be fighting an uphill battle.
When Tuesday came the mood of the group seemed to change. The C4 programme had not daunted us but given us a new sense of self-reliance. Hoping that the same fate had befallen all our cases, they were not lost while the AirTag had battery life. We knew where they were and we were determined to get them back. The next Pisa flight was on Thursday. The clock was ticking.
I have never given much thought to the consequences of losing a case before. I do get concerned about things I put in it in terms of safety or damage. I am a keen photographer and my photo gear and data gets special attention. Some of the group had things with great sentimental value. Other people were travelling again soon and needed what was inside their cases or would have to rebuy things. I didn’t have those issues, but as you start to read the small print in the airline claims or insurance claim procedures, you realise what is at risk. I am an organised packer. I use packing cubes to segregate things. I have a fancy organiser toiletries case and another one full of every potential adapter, cable or charger a travelling gadget geek might ever have a need for. I only had clothes for 4 days, but I had packed options. It was a posh wedding, so I had a lot of my best clothes. For example, I had brought just the jacket from my best suit. As you start to mentally tot up the value, it was easily going to exceed £1,000. A lot of that stuff I have no proof of purchase for. A lot of the clothes were gifts or I can’t recall when and where I bought them. I would be lucky if I could locate receipts for half of it.
Lost Luggage Area from our agent in Pisa
The Bergamo Baggage Case Retrieval Agency was now fully mobilised. We had field agents at the airport - even at Pisa (a few returning guests from the wedding). Every form of communication was being probed. Every email address we could find (and a lot we just guessed) was being contacted. We tried applying social media pressure. Everything was fuelled by a great deal of gallows humour. We hit a lot of dead ends, but by Tuesday afternoon we started to get some responses. By the late afternoon, we had a contact name who was assigned to help us and they got to work straight away. They were able to create the lost baggage entries in their system for us and give us that all-important reference number. We had websites where we could check and trace the claim and add details about the contents to aid recognition. “The bags will come back from Pisa on Thursday” they promised.
Nothing really much to do on Wednesday but wait. The tracing website had a status ladder. On all our bags we were at “We are searching for your bags”. The next status was “Your bags have been received at the airport”. We did press for confirmation, but the responses were a bit vague. The promise was always “They will come back Thursday”. Nothing we could do but keep our spirits up with more humour. Very occasionally the AirTag would ping. I imagined the cases sitting in a dark corner without much footfall, waiting for rescue.
The Dude is Under Surveillance.
Early Thursday morning and I was ready for action. My home office looked like I was running some kind of MI6 Special Operation. I had a screen for the FindMy app monitoring the tracker and another for airport information boards. My iPad was running FlightRadar24 and my phone had WhatsApp open for comms with the group. My target was Ryanair FR5624 from Manchester to Pisa. This was the plane that would bring our luggage home. I was watching to check for delays. It had a tail number ending DWD, I gave it the codename of “The Dude”. It seems the transponder FlightRadar24 uses for tracking doesn’t go on till the flight is ready for pushback. This is probably about the same time the aircrew will ask people to put devices into flight mode. The Dude kept good time going out, landing at 10:14 local. I watched it pull onto the apron and its little icon blinked out.
Now, the tense wait began. My AirTag moved to another location in the airport. An indication something was happening, but it wasn’t any closer to our last fix on the plane. It was like that scene in Apollo 13 where they attempt reentry and lose radio contact in the Ionosphere. And just like in the movie, there is was. Not quite Tom Hanks’s voice, but a FindMy ping right on the spot where The Dude had stopped. I relayed it to the group and cheering broke out all over the North of England and Wales.
The timestamp was 10:36 local. Things were just beginning to happen fast…and then they didn’t. The departure time started to slip. The Dude stayed invisible. The wait was excruciating for the group, but we knew all too well it would be worse to be sat on that tarmac at Pisa. The Dude finally flickered into life on the taxiway - the AirTag stayed on the apron. Flight FR5625 took off over the Ligurian sea. For the first time in 4 days, I looked at FindMy hoping it wouldn’t ping. The next time I wanted to see it update was back in Blighty.
AirTag ping from last known location of “The Dude”
While I waited, the historical information available on FlightRadar24 allowed me to do some research. Using the aircraft tail numbers, I could see that our plane EI-HGW on Sunday next became the Pisa flight FR5624. Our luggage had never left the plane.
The Wanderers’ Return
Touchdown at Manchester at 12:45. Another nervous wait ensued, but not a long one. Six minutes after landing, the AirTag pinged its homecoming as all the passengers turned their phones back on. Our bags were home but our group still bore fresh scars of disappointment. We would not be happy until we knew the cases had said goodbye to The Dude and set wheels on terra firma Britannica. The position became a bit jumpy, with lots of pings but no pattern and all estimates. It took until 14:14 before I was confident they were away from the landing gate. We got emails to say we would be getting phone calls to arrange collection or delivery. I was going to the cinema with my brother so I expected to miss my call. When I emerged again 3 hours later I’d got no calls waiting. A few emails had been exchanged by the group but no one got a call. At 18:30 the group received its first call and a contact number. Which we all rang at once in our excitement which didn’t exactly help. We soon regained our composure and curbed our enthusiasm. What was clear was that our bags were there, they had stayed together like their owners. We had photographic proof. I decided I had reached my limit for suspense and headed straight off to fetch mine. We were reunited and everything returned home safely. As I write, the group are still sorting out their bags. Some have already been collected, and some have been delivered. Only time will tell if no bag was left behind.
My case returned with the AirTag that brought it home
A Traveller’s Lesson
It’s interesting now to look back on the experience. The whole episode was a bit traumatic but that will not be my abiding memory of it. What I will remember is the common purpose, support and humour of the Bergamo Baggage group. A group of people that started with no connection except their choice of flight and where their baggage sat in the hold. In those few days, we changed from a support group into an effective team. As happy as we are to recover our belongings, there is a genuine sense of loss our mission is complete and the group will disperse. While we don’t feel the airline process is fit for purpose, most of the people we dealt with did try their best and often went the extra mile - from the baggage crew to the admin staff. That helps restore your faith in human nature. We owe our successful conclusion to two key things. The AirTag, now renamed “Salvatore” in honour of his Italian service, gave us hope and the information to challenge the system. It was fortunate that the one AirTag happened to be in the “lost” case. The second and more important was the formation of the group. I had the tech advantage, but would I have had the fortitude to see this through alone? I don’t think so or the experience would have taken longer and left a more bitter taste.
These will be lessons I carry forward when I travel again:
Make your case identifiable and include key contact details in a discreet fashion
Take photos of your case from a few angles and have the images on your phone.
Make an inventory of what is in the case. Give careful consideration whether to put items in hold luggage that you cannot prove you own or are irreplaceable. Photos of what you took may also help.
Buy an AirTag or equivalent for every piece of hold or hand luggage you take.
If you do find yourself with lost luggage and are not the only passenger affected, try to set up a group.
Always get a luggage receipt. If you don’t get one, take pictures of the luggage tickets on the case before you do bag drop-off.
Review
As for Manchester Airport, RyanAir and Swissport as organisations. As an outsider, it is difficult to understand where their responsibilities lie. The Channel 4 documentary concluded that the processes were knowingly obstructive. That the leftover impact of Covid had been exacerbated by the hiring policies based on cost, not requirements. Manchester Airport made a responding statement the next day that the films and events in the programme were now out of date. All I can conclude from my own experience is that at least some of the issues do still exist, at least intermittently. Staffing was an issue that hit us the moment we landed. The information was really poor and no one was there to help defuse the situation. The carousel screen data was more like misinformation and we had one solitary mildly apologetic tannoy announcement. The poor baggage handlers were having to come out into a baggage hall bristling with hostility and call out the flights and carousels. It’s not hard to suspect a certain cynicism and cold commercialism in the process. I never sensed that in any of the staff though. Everyone has always been eager to help. You can be cynical from behind a desk in a faceless office building. It is more difficult if you are talking to a bride who has lost her wedding dress or a child their favourite teddy bear.
The process for registering your bag as lost on paper seems archaic. It might have taken a bit longer, but I would happily have waited while someone entered the details into the system and got my reference number straight away. We should have all gone away with a reference number and contact details we could rely on for timely follow-up. None of us got an email prior to the direct intervention on Tuesday evening. The tracking website status always seems behind the curve. We knew our cases had flown home, but the status still said searching for your bags. Now it tells me they have found it and to wait for delivery when it’s upstairs in my bedroom. I will give them some leeway on this because I think they have been focused on expediting getting them out to us over updating the system.
I will be travelling with a full complement of AirTags from now on. So will my family and, I suspect, all the folks in Bergamo Baggage. Do the airlines and airports really want a situation where their passengers have better information than they do? Air travel is an inherently International business and standards can take a while to set up, but we have seen technology embraced and distributed before e.g. self-check-in, phone boarding cards etc.. Is there a way beacon technology like AirTag can be used to improve the passenger experience?
Dedicated to the Bergamo Baggage group: Georgie, Becky, Joey, Laura, Mauro, David, Jen, Louise, Soph, Si and Andrea. May your luggage always find its way home!