The reason why I haven´t posted the last couple of days is because I had the worst flight experience in my life. I needed to take care of the situation and make sure to arrive safe and healthy.
I was on my way to Los Angeles where I will be staying for the next few weeks and it all started in Billund which is a small town in Denmark.
I chose to start in Denmark because I wanted to enjoy some nature and catch the cheapest flight since I jumped on this journey pretty spontaneous. I was born and raised in the northern part of Germany which means I made a lot of trips to Denmark with my family when I was younger. Both countries are very close to each other but they still have a lot of differences. I haven´t been to Billund before but if you are looking for cheap flight prices, this is the place to go.
My flight had actually 2 stops because I didn´t want to choose a layover for 18h so I decided to change the plane two times instead of spending a whole day in a foreign country that I didn´t choose. Well, with that said, I had the first layover in Frankfurt which was only an 1hour flight from Denmark and this is the beginning where the nightmare started....
FRANKFURT
Frankfurt has the biggest airport in Germany. I haven´t been there before and I was definitely impressed by its size. When I arrived and took a look at the departure boards, my flight was already in delay for 4h. The reason behind the lateness were some technical problems and they flew in a new plane from the Dominican Republic. In the meantime I went to some restaurants and bought myself a tasty breakfast since I got up at 3am and my stomach was already hurting.
At around 9:30am the counter for connecting flight tickets finally opened but it took me 1h to reach out to an employee who wasn´t able to give me a seat yet so I had to wait besides the counter until they called my name. I saw people passing by, getting seats and the plane filled up pretty quickly. A few moments later I heard a lady screaming that they kicked some guest out of the system because the flight was overbooked. Well, I was one of them. Luckily I had a connection flight from Vegas to LA so they somehow made it happen to find me the last seat and I jumped on the plane immediately!
The flight from Frankfurt to Las Vegas was great. Friendly employees, good food and even the temperatures were okay. Sometimes it can be very freezing and I really didn´t want to get sick but luckily everything went fine...
LAS VEGAS
Arriving in Las Vegas after a 12h flight was relieving. This is my first time in America after 4 years. That is a pretty long time for a person who loves the states! Anyway, our flight attendants told us to collect our luggage even though if we had a connection flight. The bags must go through customs and security as soon as we hit the US floor so every passenger went to the baggage claim in Vegas. I waited... and waited... People got their bags and went on to their gates and I was still waiting until the last bag was gone. I was never in such a situation were my stuff was lost and I spoke to a nice lady who worked at the Vegas airport and she told me to catch my flight to Los Angeles and report the issue to the lost and found office at my final destination.
I grabbed my handbag and went through the security check to get to my gate. While I was ready to check the departure boards and get something to eat, they made an announcement that my flight is in delay for 2,5h which made a total of 4,5h of waiting. AGAIN...
I decided to visit the gym which is located in a different terminal but having a gym in an airport is crazy right? The flight to Los Angeles was scheduled at 9pm so I went out of the gym just in time to get back to my gate. Arriving there, I saw a total chaos. People sitting on the floor, tired as hell and some were talking to employees and came back frustrated. I didn´t know what was going on so I ask the Lady at the counter. She told me that this plane also had some technical problems but they try to fix it as soon as possible. Everyone of us got a voucher at every restaurant at the airport which definitely made the situation more comfortable. The hours passed by and it was already 10.30pm. No sign at all...
Now the pilot came to us and said that they couldn´t fix the plane, we may have to go to a hotel and try to fly again the next day. I was shocked. I just wanted to get to LA which would be only a 4h ride. Anyway, the flight company got a plane from San Francisco coming over very last minute. We jumped on the plane at 12am and finally made it to LA 48 minutes later....
LOS ANGELES
FINALLY!!! We made it to LA after a 30h trip! I was so happy to see my friends, get something to eat, finding out were my luggage was and jump into the bed to be fit for the next morning.
While I was waiting for to pick me up, I went to the lost and found office to report my issue just like the lady from Vegas told me. They opened a claim but nothing else happened. They had no idea were my bag was and when it would arrive....
I was so angry because I had literally nothing to wear, no shampoo, no shower gel, just not prepared to stay without my bag for more than 1 day. I called my flight company, different offices and no one could help me.
After 3 days of patiently waiting, I finally got the call! My bag arrived in LAX and they delivered it to my house as soon as possible. I felt so relieved. It was definitely a struggle but knowing that the bag is not lost forever definitely helped me to get over the situation and enjoy my time in the states.
Where was my bag?
For everyone who is now wondering where my bag was. It was stuck in Frankfurt. Since they kicked me out of their system, they also kicked my bag out of the system. I am so happy that the people from Alaska Airlines (which is not the company who lost my bag) found my luggage and made it happen for the bag to come to LA and be delivered to my address.
The company who made this trip so stressful was Condor. I am trying to get in contact with them in order to claim damages. For now, nobody is answering my mails but I will definitely keep you guys updated!
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I am sorry for the delay of my posts but I needed to make sure that my stuff wasn´t lost and I had to recover from this stressful trip. I am now so happy to be here in Los Angeles which already feels like a second home. I know a lot of places here but if you are from LA and have some great spots that I should visit, feel free to comment down below. I would love to explore new places!
Thank you for reading
Stay focused
Love, Soldier