A recent wedding that I did last month was in Michigan. I’ve flown quite frequently but never by myself. So this was an exciting trip that I had been looking forward to for a few months. I went to photograph a wedding there that was going to be at Millcreek Barns in Watervliet, MI. I found the couple using twitter. The wedding was so much fun and beautiful, they even had a folk band perform live.
On my flight home however, the day after the wedding my trip almost turned into a nightmare. When I had driven to Chicago to get on my flight that morning while on the airlines’ ramp, they instructed me that I could no longer take my carry-on bag with me. This bag had all of my camera equipment and the entire photographed wedding in it. I flew from Chicago to San Fransisco, to my finial destination in Ontario, CA. I went to pick up my bags and all that was there was my other checked bag full of clothing. So my camera bag was completely missing.
After a very stressful seven full days, I knew I needed to call the bride. I told her what happened and she wasn’t too worried to my surprise. Almost twelve hours exactly passed by and I got a call from the airline company telling me that the bag had be found and was going to be delivered to my home that night.
Lessons learned:
1. $3,000 is the limit that most airlines will pay up to, if items are lost/damaged, this also doesn’t include electronics.
2. Don’t give up your bag, what so ever. Make sure to tell them what the total amount is worth in your bag, than they will let you carry it on.
3. Separate your items into separate bags. Such as with my camera equipment I did back up the photos, but kept them all in one bag. I should have separated them into bags and keep one on my person.
If you have any similar stories, or stuff you have learned while traveling please leave a comment. Please learn from my almost tragic lesson.
by Tim Marman
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