May is the month for visitors - no sooner had I farewelled my chigga friend and her boy, I found myself at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) eagerly awaiting the arrival of Breakfast Sarah, my co-worker from university days when I earned my keep selling handbags and suitcases. Over the years we have maintained and built on our friendship founded in a common love of breakfast and she's always a lot of fun.
So back to LCCT. I have to say, not having a car I find it a bit of a hassle to get to. While KLIA is a breeze via the 28-minute KLIA Expres train from KL Sentral, to get to LCCT I have 3 options, all of them slow.
- Taxi, which I quickly ruled out as the rather exorbitant fare doesn't appeal to my new Malaysian view of my finances (150MYR+ one way)
- SkyBus from KL Sentral, which is fine but I'd just done this hour+ coach ride for my trip to Singapore 2 weeks ago and didn't fancy it again (9MYR one way)
- KLIA Transit train from KL Sentral to Salak Tinggi followed by a 30-minute shuttle bus (12.50MYR one way)
In the end I decided to give the KLIA Transit train a go. Turns out it only leaves every half hour so I ended up waiting at KL Sentral for 25 minutes and checking the time on my phone nervously on the train and again on the shuttle bus as BS' arrival time came and went.
Turns out I need not have worried so much about getting to the airport on time. You see, my friend BS had a worry of her own - Air Asia X had lost her suitcase.
As a frequent traveller, losing my luggage is a constant fear I have every time I find myself standing at the baggage carousel. This is why the suitcases I own are bright red, stripey or have a big orange ribbon tied to them; and my name and address clearly written on a luggage tag. If I find myself still waiting after most of the other passengers around me have found their suitcase and shuffled off, my heart rate starts to increase and I start to stress.
And yet so far I have been lucky (touch wood). My friend BS not so lucky. She found herself with another couple from Sydney waiting after the carousel had stopped, still with no luggage. Sydney Couple managed to sort theirs out quickly - the Air Asia staff made a quick call and were able to locate their bag at Sydney Airport. "It will arrive on the plane tomorrow and you will have it delivered tomorrow night." And Sydney Couple wearily went on their way.
My friend BS stepped forward hopefully but no such luck. "We don't know where your bag is." "We have this problem with Sydney." "We will call you in 3-4 hours." With these words and a missing baggage report tucked away in her handbag, BS began her month-long trip to Europe via KL.
I called again 4 hours later at 10:30pm as we had not yet heard anything, and the Air Asia staff member sounded almost amused that we were expecting a resolution so soon. "I'm in at 1pm again tomorrow, I call you then," he said. To which I replied that no, I would like his colleague working the morning shift to please call us earlier than that. "Okay okay he call you," said our Air Asia friend.
But of course, come the next morning there was no call so once again I found myself dialling the number. We were told that the latest update from Sydney was still 'search in progress'. Our friend had made a helpful note on our report that "This lady calls many times asking about her bag." Is there any chance the suitcase is lost at LCCT? No. Is there a number I can call to speak to someone in Sydney? No, all our correspondence is via email.
Day 2 wearing the same clothes she travelled in with no makeup or toiletries, BS was starting to get slightly concerned. So after breakfast, we headed to Suria KLCC for emergency shopping:
- underwear (Uniqlo)
- bikini (Quiksilver)
- BB cream and eyeliner (Guardian Pharmacy)
The afternoon rolled around. Should I call Air Asia again, I asked BS. She shook her head. "I think we should wait a bit longer and give them a chance to sort it out." Then around 6:30pm, 24 hours after we had left LCCT, I got a call.
"Your friend's bag has just arrived from Sydney. We are waiting for our agent to deliver it to your address. You will get it tonight or tomorrow morning, I will call to confirm."
Fantastic news! We hurried home to wait for the suitcase and the call to confirm delivery. It was after 11pm by the time I sleepily answered a call from a man who proceeded to shout at me that he was on his way and would be at our condo approximately 1-1:30am. I asked him to kindly leave the bag with security and I would collect it in the morning.
*Sleep interlude*
I wake up to the sound of the doorbell to our apartment being pressed over and over. What time is it? It's 1:30am. I answer the door not even half-awake and find the delivery man with a security guard. But no suitcase.
"You want your suitcase?"
"I told you to please leave it with security. This is much too late."
"You want your suitcase?"
Having been rudely woken in the middle of the night, I was in no mood to stand in the glaring light in the hallway and wait for him to go back down to pick up the suitcase and bring it back up. Goodness knows how long that would take!
So I politely asked once more to leave the bag with security and I would pick it up in the morning. Then I shut the door firmly in their faces.
This morning sure enough, BS' suitcase was sitting in the security office with a tag stuck on that read "THIS BAG BELONGS TO MS LISA". BS is now gleefully unpacking her toiletries and holiday wardrobe and looking forward to spending the day by the pool, and going shopping without the pressure of having to buy things.
Verdict: Lost baggage is something that happens to every airline at every airport. Air Asia could have communicated more - it was irritating that we had to keep following up with them until they found the bag. But all in all, 24 hour delay is not that bad.
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