A Collection of (un)Lucky Occasions in Spain

In the event you’ve ever deliberate a visit with the form of care that entails spreadsheets, resort comparisons, and a Google Doc you’ve revised extra occasions than you’d prefer to admit, you realize the quiet reduction of lastly hitting the airport with every little thing locked in. Now think about that, throughout the span of a single week, your bag would not make it to your vacation spot, your passports get stolen, and your flight house is cancelled.

That was our journey to Spain. Surprisingly, all three of these items turned out much better than anybody anticipated, and regardless of every little thing, we nonetheless had an unimaginable time in Spain. 

Right here’s what occurred, what we did, and what I’d need you to know if any of those three ever occurs to you.

Our Unique Journey

We deliberate 3 nights in Madrid, 2 nights in Granada, and 4 nights in Malaga, plus a number of day journeys to go to some close by cities, the place we might take pleasure in a mixture of metropolis strolling, tapas and churro sampling, and resort chilling. 

For our flights, we booked (costs and redemptions per individual):

• Toronto to Boston on Air Canada in financial system class for $62 USD utilizing my United Journey Financial institution
• Boston to Madrid on Iberia Airways in enterprise class for 40,500 Avios and $171 in taxes and charges
• Madrid to Toronto on Air Canada in premium financial system latitude for 72,000 Aeroplan factors, upgraded to enterprise class for 11 e-Improve credit

Our accommodations had been made utilizing a mixture of resort level redemptions, business charges, and a High-quality Resorts & Resorts reserving.

• JW Marriott Lodge Madrid with two 85K free evening awards 
• Thompson Madrid, by Hyatt for 25,000 World of Hyatt factors per evening
• Lodge Palacio De Santa Paula, Autograph Assortment on an business price

• La Zambra Resort, The Unbound Assortment by Hyatt on a High-quality Resorts & Resorts price for the primary evening, adopted by a couple of nights booked for 20,000 World of Hyatt factors per evening

I used to be fairly happy that this journey was nearly solely booked on factors and that the planning course of had been comparatively simple. That’s, till issues began to go south.

(un)Lucky Occasion #1: The Delayed Bag

The journey started nicely. We made it to Boston with a over 3 hours to attach, so selected an excellent lounge to kill the time in. We boarded our Iberia flight and had been excited to strive a brand new airline. Our departure was an hour delayed, however nothing to get overly upset about. We even went by means of Europe’s new digital Entry/Exit System (EES) with none points and proceeded to the luggage carousel to choose up our checked baggage. 

We watched the belt go spherical a number of occasions and no baggage. That is after I determined to test our baggage’s Apple tag location. Certain sufficient, it was exhibiting nonetheless in Boston.  

Fortunately, we had our carry-ons which had some clothes gadgets. We went to the luggage desk to report it lacking and got a Property Irregularly Report (PIR) with reference quantity, which is crucial to have when attempting to make a compensation declare with the airline or an insurance coverage declare by means of your bank card. 

Right here’s what most travellers don’t know: underneath the Montreal Conference, which governs worldwide flights between any two of 144 signatory international locations or regional integration organizations (ie. the European Union), airways are chargeable for delayed, broken, or misplaced baggage as much as roughly 1,519 Particular Drawing Proper (SDR), equal to nearly $3,000 CAD. 

The roughly $3,000 determine is the cap the treaty permits, not the quantity the airline has to pay. The payout is on the airline’s discretion, they usually nearly at all times open low. Some carriers will provide a flat per diem of up to a few hundred {dollars} and name it resolved. Others will reimburse line-by-line towards your receipts, however with their very own inside definition of what counts as “cheap.” 

You’ll be able to push again in writing, with receipts hooked up and the Conference referenced, and also you’ll normally get greater than the opening provide. However until your damages are catastrophic and meticulously documented, don’t anticipate to stroll away with the complete cap. Deal with it as a ceiling, not a promise.

If the airline reimburses lower than what your bank card insurance coverage covers, you may then submit a declare by means of your bank card supplier for the remaining distinction.

We had paid the taxes of our Iberia flight with my Nationwide Financial institution World Elite Mastercard, which covers $500 after a 6+ hour baggage delay. It is among the few playing cards that covers delay on any award reserving.

Our bag ultimately arrived the following day, within the late afternoon. Between the airline payout and the bank card declare, we got here out with a brand new pair of footwear, outfit, and toiletries from Sephora, so not all dangerous.

(un)Lucky Occasion  #2: The Stolen Passports

This was the worst of our mishaps, and possibly each traveller’s worst nightmare. A delayed bag is an inconvenience. A cancelled flight is an annoyance. Dropping the doc that lets you go away the nation is one thing else solely.

As with many main European cities, pickpocketing and petty theft are frequent. We knew to maintain our belongings near us. What I did not anticipate was to lose our passports whereas choosing up our rental car. I am going to share the story right here within the hope that it by no means occurs to you.

We had been choosing up a rental automotive in Madrid to drive right down to Granada. I dropped my bag on the passenger seat, shut the door, and my husband and I began checking the car for scratches earlier than driving off.

That is when a person in a yellow vest, the identical color as the opposite parking storage attendants, approached us and seemingly supplied to assist. He suggested us to take photographs of the again of the automotive and crouched right down to level out precisely the place to look.

The storage was dimly lit, so I walked round to shine my telephone’s flashlight on no matter he was indicating. We had been each bent over the rear bumper for perhaps a minute. The whole lot seemed good, so we thanked him. He walked away, and we received again into the automotive.

That is after I observed my bag was gone.

The person within the yellow vest was nowhere to be seen. We ran by means of the storage on the lookout for him. After I opened a stairwell door, I discovered a crumpled yellow vest mendacity on the bottom. We had been performed.

We may have panicked, however what good would which have executed?

Hopefully this by no means occurs to you, but when it does, here is what you have to do:

• Report your passports stolen to the police. Submitting a police report supplies documentation of the theft, helps safeguard towards id fraud, and could also be required for insurance coverage claims. This may probably require a go to to the native police station, which is what we did.
• Report your passports stolen to the closest Canadian embassy or consulate. They will subject a short lived emergency journey doc or passport with the intention to go away the nation and return house. Processing sometimes takes 24–72 hours, so anticipate to stay within the nation for no less than a few additional days. You will want to use for brand spanking new passports when you’re again in Canada. An in-person go to is required, but it surely’s value calling forward to allow them to let you know which paperwork to carry and doubtlessly e-book you an appointment. I additionally extremely advocate emailing them, and I am going to clarify why shortly.
• Get passport photographs taken. You will want passport photographs for the consulate to subject emergency journey paperwork. Do that earlier than your appointment, because the consulate doesn’t present this service.
• Notify your airline when you’ve already checked in for a flight utilizing your stolen passports. They could must reissue your tickets.

Again to our story.

We accomplished the entire above steps, apart from visiting the consulate. By the point we had completed submitting the police report and getting our passport photographs taken, there have been solely half-hour left earlier than the consulate closed for the day.

As luck (or maybe divine intervention) would have it, we obtained a name from the consulate simply 10 minutes earlier than closing. Our passports had been recovered.

They supplied us with the identify, telephone quantity, and handle of the one that had discovered them in order that we may prepare to fulfill. This was solely potential as a result of we had emailed the consulate beforehand, informing them of our state of affairs and offering our contact data. That is why I strongly advocate sending an e-mail in a state of affairs like this.

The person who discovered our passports occurred to be a biking tour information in Madrid. He had noticed them discarded in a planter outdoors his house, which was about 10 minutes away from the parking storage, and knew somebody can be desperately on the lookout for them. 

He first tried to trace us down by means of social media, and when that did not work, he contacted the Canadian consulate instantly. That is how the consulate had his data and was in a position to join us.

What a man. He really saved the day. In the event you ever end up in Madrid and need to see town the way in which the locals do, he runs Biking Tour with Benja. Whereas I am unable to personally vouch for the tour itself, it has wonderful evaluations on-line, and I can let you know firsthand that he is a genuinely good individual. Inform him the Canadian couple who misplaced their passports despatched you.

As soon as we had our passports again in hand, we checked to ensure they had been nonetheless intact and unaltered. If that they had been broken in any manner, we might have nonetheless wanted to go to the consulate and have new passports issued. We additionally knowledgeable the police that the passports had been recovered so they might replace their report and keep away from any points once we later used them to depart Spain.

(un)Lucky Occasion #3: The Cancelled Flight

Simply once we thought we had been by means of the worst and final of our troubles, we had been confirmed mistaken.

On our day of departure, we headed to the airport with over two hours to spare. We checked in our baggage, relaxed within the lounge, and made our strategy to the gate at boarding time. As we had been strolling there, we obtained a notification from Air Canada that my husband’s eUpgrades had cleared. Incredible.

Or so I assumed.

Two minutes later, we obtained one other notification from Flighty, my flight tracker app, that our flight had been cancelled. I admit I used to be in a little bit of shock. I rapidly refreshed my Air Canada app to make sure, and positive sufficient, it confirmed the identical.

The explanation given for the cancellation was a upkeep subject.

When a flight is cancelled, the airline has a responsibility of care to give you meals, drinks, entry to communication, in a single day resort lodging if the flight is rescheduled for the following day, and even transportation prices to get you to and from the airport once more.

What most travellers do not understand is that when a flight is delayed or cancelled whereas flying into or out of Europe, you might also be entitled to money compensation as nicely. That is separate from the airline’s responsibility of care and along with being rebooked on one other flight.

The regulation is named EU261, and it is one of many strongest passenger rights legal guidelines on the earth. Listed below are the fundamental eligibility guidelines:

• Flights departing from any EU airport are lined on any airline.
• Flights arriving at an EU airport are solely lined when you’re flying on an EU-based airline.

So, Vancouver to Frankfurt on Air Canada? Not lined. The identical route on Lufthansa? Lined. The safety is constructed into the ticket. For a full deep dive into how EU261 works, T.J. wrote an ideal breakdown right here.

The compensation quantities are tiered by distance, and in our state of affairs, the quantity can be €600 per passenger.

We had been rebooked mechanically on Air Canada for the following day on a restoration flight. Whereas my husband was re-accommodated instantly into enterprise class, I used to be nonetheless in premium financial system and needed to reapply my eUpgrades. We booked a final minute resort again within the metropolis and loved some additional time in Madrid. The subsequent day, issues went easily and even higher, my eUpgrades additionally cleared in enterprise class.

The flight cancellation was a nuisance, as we needed to make some final minute preparations for work and childcare for an additional day. However all in all, I’d say we got here out forward with some money compensation and a flight house in enterprise class.

Classes Discovered

• In case your bag is delayed, be certain to acquire a PIR from the airline and decide whether or not the Montreal Conference applies. The PIR is your major proof that your baggage was delayed and can probably be required for any insurance coverage claims you submit. If the Montreal Conference applies, you might also be entitled to compensation from the airline.

• The Montreal Conference restrict is a ceiling, not a assure. Airways will typically begin with a low reimbursement provide. Push again in writing, present receipts in your bills, and let your bank card insurance coverage cowl any remaining hole when you’re eligible.

• Know which bank card will cowl your reserving. Most Canadian journey insurance coverage insurance policies require that no less than 75% of the journey price be charged to the cardboard, a requirement that many award bookings fail to fulfill. A number of notable exceptions embrace the Nationwide Financial institution World Elite Mastercard, Aeroplan co-branded playing cards from TD, CIBC, and American Specific (for Aeroplan bookings), and the BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard. These playing cards can present protection on award bookings when the taxes and charges are charged to the cardboard.

• Hold all of your receipts and take a photograph of them as you go. Airways and insurance coverage firms would require receipts for every little thing you attempt to declare. In the event you lose your receipts, you lose your skill to assert.

• All the time make a copy of your passport readily accessible. Retailer a digital copy in a safe cloud drive so you may entry it from anyplace. In case your passport is misplaced or stolen, having a duplicate could make it a lot simpler to show your citizenship and acquire substitute journey paperwork from an embassy or consulate.

• Contact the closest embassy or consulate as quickly as you notice your passport is lacking. I used to be amazed by how responsive and useful the Canadian consulate was. As a result of we had supplied our contact data early, they had been in a position to attain us instantly when our passports had been recovered.

• In case your flight is delayed or cancelled whereas travelling to or from the European Union, test whether or not EU261 applies. Flight disruptions are by no means enjoyable, however when you’re eligible, compensation might help soften the blow.

• Most significantly, do not panic. Simpler mentioned than executed, in fact, however most journey mishaps may be resolved with some cautious planning and a degree head. Even when the state of affairs feels overwhelming, there’s normally a path ahead.

Conclusion

Wanting again, dropping a bag, having our passports stolen, and coping with a cancelled flight sounds just like the recipe for a disastrous journey. But in some way, every state of affairs labored itself out higher than we may have anticipated, due to a mixture of preparation, understanding our rights, and the kindness of a stranger alongside the way in which. 

Journey would not at all times go based on plan, however that is typically the place the very best tales come from. Hopefully my expertise will make it easier to put together fore and navigate these conditions ought to they ever occur to you.