It was bound to happen. 🤣
I just returned from a 9 night quick trip to Austria with a friend and my daughter. I had a cheapo United-purchased ticket with all flights operated by Lufthansa. No checked luggage allowance, so I packed carryon (no problem with weight and size limits). However my friend had trouble, so when we got the offer from Lufthansa to check for free, we did (because she was 4k over the weight limit and we had a 1 hr change in Frankfurt).
We arrived in Salzburg after that 1 hr transfer in Frankfurt, which we made easily with 20 minutes to spare. Luggage did not.
After 48 hrs, my friend’s suitcase arrived. We had 3 nights in Salzburg and picked up a rental car on Day 4 - I still had no luggage.
With me I had a total of: 1 pr pants, 1 shirt, 1 lightweight dress, 2 pr underwear, 1 light jacket, 1 pr shoes (and of course all my meds, make up, toiletries). And although it would have been a hassle, I found that I could have gone the whole trip with that amount of clothes and managed with a beach-bag style over-the-shoulder bag to carry them all in. I was reminded of a recent thread where people talked about the amount of underwear needed (yes, you can be clean and survive with 2 pr) and another talking about light dresses that wash and dry overnight (yes, the ones I have do). What I had worked, although it would not be my first choice to travel with so little. 🤣
However after 3 days of the same dress, before leaving Salzburg just to make life simpler (and my pictures different) I went shopping and bought a few extra things that either Lufthansa or my insurance will pay for. This was a great experience with packing even less than I already do.
It was also very interesting in dealing with Lufthansa’s online process. They do not seem to have a good method of tracking things. Day 2 they showed my suitcase was in Salzburg (I called and they told me it was in Salzburg and I assured them I was looking at all the luggage and it was not). Day 3 it showed it went to Turkey (I have the sticker to prove it). Day 5 it again said it was in Salzburg. Day 6 it said it was probably lost and I should make a list of contents…..
I had asked the Salzburg airport office to hold it and email me if it arrived. They did not, so Day 6 instead of listing contents I emailed the airport office and they replied they had it. Eureka! A suitcase full of clean clothes on the afternoon of Day 9 after arriving back in Salzburg before early morning departure on Day 10!
However Lufthansa’s online system never appeared to know (after I picked it up, it showed as out for delivery). And of course this was the trip where I accidentally took my air tag out and left it at home.
It was a really nice trip with nice weather (not too hot), not crowded, and beautiful places. I came home with some fun stories, a local shopping experience I never have, and some souvenirs that someone else will have to pay for!
P.S. I went carryon on the way home, was 2k overweight, and would have been happy to have a conversation about that 🤣. But no one in Salzburg or Frankfurt cared. My friend accepted the offer to check for free again (mainly because of our wine - she carried my wine and I carried some of her clothes). All of us made it happily back to DFW together!