Travel Advice I - Checked Luggage

As most people know, before moving to France I used to spend more time in an airport in an average month than most people do in two or three years.  So I thought I would share a few of the things I learned along the way in a series of posts.

Note that all advice is based on personal experience of one person.  I am just a weary traveler sharing a few things I've picked up along the way.

Luggage.  This is quite simply something that can make or break any trip.  I think I'll start with checked luggage as it's a bit easier to deal with.  Also, as a forewarning for the next post, me talking about carry-on luggage can get a bit...ranty.

So, checked luggage...it's easy right?  You just have to haul it to and from the airport and your airline will take care of the rest.  ...mostly.  Even by their own admission, the barcode scanners that read the luggage tag stuck to your bag are at best 92% accurate.  This may sound pretty good until you look at the numbers.  Looking at just the weekend of American Thanksgiving, an estimated 24.6 million people will travel by air in the 12 days surrounding the holiday.

If we assume that a modest 50% of these people (12.3 million) check a bag, this means that likely around 492,000 pieces of luggage will be mishandled.  That is just a single fortnight in one country.  When you combine this with the delays of waiting for luggage to appear at the end of your flight, it means I avoid checking a bag as often as possible.

Unfortunately, due to modern security regulations, this isn't always possible.  If you need to take something with you that would not be allowed in the cabin of the plane (such as anything that could be a weapon or any larger containers of liquids), checking a bag becomes a necessity.  In fact, I almost always end up checking a bag just due to liquid restrictions.

I don't want to go into the reason why airlines have decided to charge baggage fees, but the fact is that they exist.  In my former life, I traveled enough that I very rarely had to pay to check a bag.  For example, on Air Canada I used to be able to check up to 3 bags weighing 70 kg each for free.  But that's not true for most people (now including me).  Taking my previous example, if we assume that half of the people who check bags (5.8 million people) have to pay a bag fee (averaging $25/bag), the airlines stand to make $153 million in ten days on just bag fees.

So far I've just been throwing around numbers.  Its time for some real advice.

1. When it comes to purchasing luggage, you need to strike a tricky balance.  More expensive luggage generally tends to last longer.  Some bags even come with a lifetime-no-questions-asked-yes-I-ran-over-my-luggage-with-my-car guarantee.  Pricier bags also tend to be lighter.  But you have to offset the cost vs how often you'll be flying.  In my experience, more expensive bags can take the beating baggage handlers give for much longer.
2. Wheels are awesome.  The invention of the 2-wheeled roll-aboard was a huge improvement.  But when you have 30-50 pounds of crap you're dragging around, having a 4-wheel luggage on casters is a Godsend.  If you can, get a carry-on with 4 wheels.
   
3. Hard case luggage will not guarantee protection from damage from aggressive baggage handlers. It's fairly simple physics: the energy caused by force acting on your bag has to "go" somewhere.  For cheaper hard case bags this likely means the zipper/clasps will break.  For more pricey bags it can mean your belongings are taking the brunt of that force.  I don't necessarily have anything against hard case luggage but just know that they're not going to magically prevent damage en-route.
4. Pack Light.  If you don't need it, don't bring it.  If you're taking a longer trip, a small package of powdered soap weighs much less than more clothes.
5. If you're trying to bring back anything fragile (souvenirs, alcohol, indigenous fauna, etc), dirty laundry makes a very good protective wrap.  I have brought back innumerable bottles of wine wrapped in laundry in my checked bag without ending up with a single wine-coloured t-shirt.  But, if it's something particularly valuable and/or precious to you, don't check it.  Carry it with you if you can or have it shipped home.
6. On that note, DO NOT PACK VALUABLES IN CHECKED LUGGAGE.  In 10 seconds of searching I was able to find story after story after story of people having valuables (including everything from laptops to hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry) go missing from their checked luggage en-route.  Yet again, if it's something particularly valuable (especially electronics) and/or precious to you, don't check it.  Carry it, ship it, or just leave it at home.
7. Once you're done packing, make sure to weigh your bag.  Use the bathroom scale if you have to.  It may not be accurate, but it will give you an idea of where you stand.  Get a $15 luggage scale if you want more accuracy.  You don't want to show up to the airport to find out you're overweight.  Never be this person:
   
8. Check on the baggage allowance and maximum weight your airline allows.  This is usually around 50 lbs (22 kg), but it can vary.  Also note that this will generally vary depending on both how much you paid for your ticket as well as how far you're going.  As a general rule, the more you pay and the further you're going, the more free baggage you're allowed.  You can find some information on Netflights.com but I would recommend checking with your airline at least a few days before your departure.  Also be aware that airlines can and do change their policies.  Just because it worked last year does not mean it will work this year.
9. If you are not flying direct to your destination, make sure to ask when you check in whether your luggage is checked through to your destination.  Depending on whether you have to clear customs and what country you're going to, you may need to collect your bag at some point in your trip.  For example, if you are flying from point A in Canada to point B in Canada and then connecting to point C in the US, you may have to collect your bags before clearing American customs at point B.  Your airline will usually tell you this at check-in.  If they don't just ask.
10. Finally, the one thing most people don't consider is the part of your travel that won't be in the airport.  When deciding on the type/size/weight of your bag, consider how you will be getting to/from the airport.  For example, when Jessica and I moved to France we had 4 VERY large and VERY heavy suitcases.  But we were getting dropped off by family members with large vehicles in Edmonton and getting picked up by a taxi van in Paris.  If you're catching a bus or subway at your destination, keep in mind that hauling a big heavy suitcase through a crowded subway station after a multi-hour flight will make for a bad day.

I think that covers most of my lessons learned.  As a final piece of advice, remember that it's "just stuff".  If something goes wrong, you can almost certainly replace what you need and it'll make for a great story you'll be telling for years.

Happy Flying!

Customer Service

I worked in  customer service for nearly 11 years. Needless to say, during that time I learned the dos and don'ts of what to do as a employee, and what I SHOULD expect when shopping or going to a restaurant. At least I thought that was the case, then I moved to France.

I'm going to begin with restaurants.

In Canada my expectations at a restaurant are always the same at every restaurant from Boston Pizza or... Some fancy restaurant (can't you tell I went to lots of fancy restaurants). You get seated by an overly smiley host/ess, before your even sitting fully on your seat a waiter/ess is asking what you want to drink. Three minutes later they are back with your drink (maybe five if you ordered alcohol, which be honest, you did). Immediately after putting your drinks down they ask you for your order. If you are ready you give your order, if you are not ready they will come back every two minutes until you are. After placing your order you sit for ten to fifteen minutes until it is ready and then you eat. After you eat you settle your bill and you are out of there. This whole experience will have taken you 45 minutes. This experience also involved bottomless pop and you gave your waiter/ess a potentially generous tip.

Now, in France. You wait in a cramped "hallway" for five minutes, some waiter/ess notices you and gestures in a sit wherever fashion. You sit. You sit. You sit. FINALLY, the waiter/ess comes and plops down a menu and bustles off. You look at the menu. You look at the menu. You look at the menu. You flag down the waiter/ess and order your drink and food at the same time (if you are getting water be very careful to order tap water so you aren't paying for your water). The food comes fairly promptly. You eat your food. You sit. You sit. You sit. The waiter/ess comes back and asks if you want dessert. OF COURSE you want desert, you've been sitting long enough your food has settled, and hot damn, deserts are great here. You eat your desert. You sit. You sit. You sit. You settle your bill and leave. This whole experience has taken 2-4 hours. You did not get bottomless pop and you did not tip your waiter/ess. The reason you didn't tip isn't because you felt the service was subpar. it's because you just don't. Waiter/ess' make good money here so they aren't constantly at your table working (read: annoying you) to get a good tip.

I am really not sure which I prefer, I like aspects of each country. For Canada, I like the quick meal, and the bottomless pop. In France, I like the space you get and that you aren't getting asked "how is your meal?" when your mouth is full of food. Can we meet half way? Probably not.

Customer service in stores is fairly similar to how it is in Canada, perhaps a little more hands off. It is very rare to get more than a "bonjour" in a store. Perhaps this would be different in more specialty stores, but I haven't experienced that as of yet. It also seems that cashiers and floor staff might not be as "empowered" here as they are in Canada or they don't have the same level of responsibility. It is a very French thing that whatever shows up in the computer must be right. For example, I was at an IKEA buying towels, when my total came to something like 12,000€ I just looked at the cashier with a confused look (now I feel I could at least express my confusion, but that was then). She looked at the screen and pointed to the number with a shrug that said "it's in the computer" eventually, she called down a manager and the manager pointed out that she had inputted 4,000 towels, not four. Now, she might have just been new... Or kinda dumb.

I'm not going to say that this hands off style of customer service is necessarily better but, it is better for me. I prefer just to be left alone, especially since my French is still a little... Let's call it shaky.

Random story: A few years ago a lady got her cellphone bill for 17 billion euros. She called the cellphone company because OBVIOUSLY this is a mistake. They didn't look at it and immediately go "whoops, our bad!" they set her up with a payment plan. It took months before they realized someone had just made a decimal error. If wikipedia taught me anything it's that if it is on the computer it must be right.

photo credit: http://memeshappen.com/meme/ron-swanson/its-not-the-computer-its-you-2201

Bye for now!

Casual Update

It's been a while since we have posted anything, needless to say it has been a few busy weeks. So here is a quick (and rather disorganized) update to what has been going on!

First of all, we had a visit from my friend Sara, so I spent two weeks showing her around Paris, and our little town of Le Plessis Robinson. We spent some time at the normal tourist places and explored some places a little more off the beaten path. I was surprised at some of the hidden gems that Plessis had to offer as well. I look forward to exploring more of my city this spring!

Photo credit: http://pedshed.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/plessis-robinson-park.jpg

Speaking of Spring, we have learned that Spring is actually a full SEASON not just a couple weeks while the snow melts... Before it melts again and turns into winter 2.0 (or 10.0) as we had come accustomed to in Edmonton. Trees are budding, flowers are blooming (crocuses, daffodils, irises), and temperatures are rising, our daily highs are in the 12-17C range right now. Spring is also bringing some new birds to our area! Apparently, certain types of parakeets are wild around here. It started as pets escaping years and years ago and they just thrived ever since!

photo credit: http://www.kazeo.com/sites/fr/photos/849/les-perruches_849445-L.jpg

So the medical system... The French medical system is different than it is in Canada, we aren't at a point that I can say whether it is better or worse. It is necessary to have a general practitioner (GP), once you have your GP they will refer you to other doctors if needed and will take care of your primary care. We were lucky and found a GP who is from Canada, and speaks English natively. When you go into the doctor you pay the doctor the fee based on whatever your appointment entailed and then you have this reimbursed through social security and your health care insurance. Pharmacies are simply that, a place you go to get your prescriptions. I recently had to go to a dentist, now THAT is an experience along what seems to be a common thread amongst medical professionals. Gloves are not worn, it was a little bit of a shock to get my teeth looked at being able to taste the antiseptic on my dentists hand (I found some solace in that, at least I was tasting antiseptic, not his lunch). This has been a bit of a shock but it is how it is here.

We finally have some time to do some travelling, right now we have a trip booked to go to Denmark to visit some wonderful friends of ours. We are also going to London and Bristol as Jason got me a wonderful birthday gift of going to the Bristol zoo to see the new penguins (and the other wonderfully cute animals) and to watch Star Wars (specifically, "A New Hope") with DAVID PROWSE, for those that don't know, David Prowse is DARTH VADER. Our trip back to Canada for the wedding is booked, Lucy is coming with us, which will be... An adventure all on it's own.

That's all for now!