The Crazy Way One Traveler Found Their Lost Luggage
One airport representative went above and beyond to not only help a traveler recover her lost luggage but to help her prepare for an event that the lost luggage would have otherwise affected.
In life, there are many frustrating situations that can arise that make all our blood instantly boil with aggravation. At the top of that list, if not the absolute top is having your luggage lost by an airline when you are traveling away from home. Hana Sofia’s story is no different, however, if you handle your situation as she did with class and dignity a potentially negative situation can result in a positive outcome.
Hana had traveled from Luxembourg to New York City for a seven-day stay to meet up with a friend before she was scheduled to fly to Montreal to start production for a movie. Hana is an actress who recently landed this role in this film. When she arrived in New York City she became aware that her luggage didn’t make the trip across the Atlantic with her.
Frustrated, Hana would phone the airline daily only to get the run around about whether they were able to locate her bags and what the estimated timeframe to get her luggage back into her possession might be. Each day she would hang up the phone with them absolutely frustrated due to the incompetence of the airline’s lost luggage representatives. She became resigned to the sad fact that she would never see her travel possessions again.
What was making matters worse was a special engagement that she was going to be attending when she arrived in Montreal. Hana had been invited to a prestigious industry event where she would be mingling with film industry legends and the Prime Minister of her home country of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel. Prior to leaving for New York Hana had purchased a special dress for the event and it as well as all her makeup were now lost in her luggage.
Once the reality of not getting the bag back prior to leaving for Montreal set in, Hana went out and bought a last-minute substitute dress to go to the event in, but she certainly couldn’t afford to replace all her lost makeup. Her last day in New York came and the airline representative on the phone that day was as clueless about the search as all the prior employees. She boarded the plane to Montreal saying goodbye to the big apple and any chance that her luggage would catch up to her before her departure.
Hana arrived at the airport in Montreal with a mission to go directly to the airline luggage counter and release all the frustration that had been building up over the last week. According to CNN Travel Hana is quoted saying, “I was really thinking to myself, ‘You know, I’m going to explode,'” she recalls. “But on the other hand, I’m a yogi too, so I also believe in karma.” With two options of how to handle this impending interaction with the airline’s counter representative and Hana understood that the person standing there wasn’t the person who lost the luggage but a mere rep for the company that did.
Azalia Claudine Becerril Angulo was the representative working the counter that day and describes Hana’s disposition as sad and angry. Hana poured her heart out to Azalia about the impact of this lost luggage is going to be on the event she was attending. That is when Azalia stepped up and did something that most company employees shun away from and that is she got herself personally involved in problem-solving Hana’s issue around not having make up for the event.
One of Azalia’s interests that she pursues when not working for the airline is as a make up artist and she offered to help Hana out and come to her hotel room the next day and do her make up for the event for free. CNN Travel quotes Azalia as saying, “If I was in your place, I would also be freaking out. So I really want to do it for free.” Azalia also says that most customers she talks to treat her poorly because of their lost luggage situations and she is used to that type of treatment.
She also says that Hana’s approach was different and she sensed that the way she was behaving was honest and she appreciated that. They exchanged numbers and the following afternoon Azalia came by and took care of her make up. Hana, who spends a lot of time in the make up chair was impressed with Azalia’s talent and thought the job that she did was great except for Azalia’s insistence on not taking any money for the work she had done.
Currently, Hana is back in Europe but Azalia and her have not lost touch since they met in Montreal’s Airport and communicated frequently. Even though I had just met her recently our conversations sounded more like we have known each other for years. They have plans to meet up for dinner and drinks when Hana returns to Montreal after the new year to continue her acting work on the film.
