Flying Blues and Woes

I have not done a blog post for the whole month of December, mainly because I am planning on a whole new platform...

But for now, a bit of a rant:

My bro came in on a short holiday via KLM (in partnership with KQ and Continental Airlines).

Gets to the airport in Nairobi. Waits for 2 hours for his luggage.

He gets 1 piece only. The other they say has been 'left behind'. He is not the only one missing luggage. Anyway, since its already close to midnight, we decide to go home and come the following day for the remaining luggage.

He gets home and finds that his luggage has been rifled through and a gift box that a friend had asked him to deliver for Christmas is missing (there was an custom iPod inside ).

Next day, he calls to find out if the luggage has arrived. They say it has. We are at the airport early afternoon. He goes in to check his luggage. Finds the 'remains' of his luggage wrapped in plastic bags. Inside this bag were his books (he has a project due early Jan as well as exams) and most of his clothes. The books (being specialised books) cost more than the missing ipod.

Needless to say we were rather mad (and we were not the only ones). Apparently when he went to collect his 'luggage', there were several people who were on the same flight with a similar story.

I suspect that if this is not handled well by KLM, they shall lose at least 2 customers for life.

Funny though that the thieves that did this left his cashflow 101 game intact (electronic version). It might have been more useful to them... getting out of the rat race etc....

My bro has decided he's getting a proper suitcase set complete with biometric scanning, running SELinux and with 1024 bit encryption software. And when checking in, it will be wrapped with reinforced plastic paper (where available).

Some travel tips:

• Never check in small electronics stuff (e.g. an iPOD :) - he was in a big hurry and probably forgot)
• Have a solid, not easily breakable suitcase
• Travel light where possible
• Do the secure plastic wrap. At least that way it makes it harder to steal from. (in Johannesburg's Oliver Tambo Airport, they actually ensure that you do that - whether u want it or not.)
• Keep your important docs and stuff in your carryon
• Don't overshop :) - I learnt that a few years ago from a friend of mine whose bag literally disintegrated under the weight of his china shopping.

More updates to follow...

Now I think I've calmed down.

Mungu ni Mwema lakini.