Airport blues

So I'm hoping something happens that helps pick up my mood so I could get out of big crybaby mode. Well something did happen that would snap me out of it. But my mood didn't pick up either. It just changed...

So as an intro let's go through my itinerary and baggage allowance. So my flights are Cathay to Hong Kong (from Manila), Air Canada to Vancouver, then Air Canada again to Winnipeg. So normally, Cathay would take care of transferring my 2 balikbayan boxes (check-in baggage) to Air Canada in Hong Kong. I would have to get them in Vancouver for Immigration though.

Now here are the weight limits per airline:
note: I've omitted the size limits

Cathay Pacific
Carry-on
1 item, 7kg (not sure if they followed this)
1 personal item (laptop, briefcase, purse, etc), weights vary

Check-in
2 items, 32kg each

Air Canada
Carry-on
1 item, 10kg
1 personal item, 10kg

Check-in
2 items, 23kg each

So I had my carry-on baggage where I took the lower limit. Then as a personal item, I had my laptop bag (with no laptop) to hold important documents. Now, I had a lot of stuff to put in my check-in baggage/balikbayan boxes, and was sure to go over the Air Canada limit. So I decided to call the Air Canada office to find out by how much I can go over. I found out I could go up to 32kg each box, and just pay a certain amount. I also called Cathay to confirm their limits, and it came out as those listed above. So I assumed that I could check-in my baggage at Cathay with no problems since they have the higher 32kg limit, then I could just pay Air Canada since I'll go over with their limit (but I'm still within their over-baggage limit). Wrong, wrong, wrong...

The lady at the check-in counter tells me that I've gone over Air Canada's 23kg limit (even though I'm boarding a Cathay Pacific flight, and their limit is 32kg), and I have to re-pack a 3rd box, and pay $165 for that excess (this is significantly higher than the excess baggage fee I knew about). So I gave her the reasoning I mentioned above, so she said she'd have to confirm with her supervisor. She comes back, and they still maintain that I have to pack a 3rd box. And on top of that, she said that I can't bring my laptop bag as a personal item, since it doesn't contain a laptop! If only I remembered that I could bring a briefcase, I could have reasoned that my laptop bag was lighter and smaller than a briefcase. But I didn't remember that, so there.

So I moved out of line, then thought for quite a while for what I had to do. This guy approached me (are they called porters?), and offered to find me another box. So I said ok, and off he went. I eventually decided that I'll just leave the excess baggage. So I called up Dad and asked him to come back so I can give him the discarded stuff. So the guy returns with 2 boxes, and I frantically pick out items to discard (I'm pretty much in danger of missing my flight here). Heavy items were first on the list. Unfortunately, most of the heavy items are stuff that Mean's relatives want sent to Canada. So that's probably minus points for me with them. Also a victim of this are my beloved Lord of the Rings Extended DVDs. I also had to get rid of some of my carry-on baggage since I had to get rid of my laptop bag. I also had to occasionally peek out the doors to see if Dad had arrived. So eventually, everything was set. I leave the excess with Dad. Give a generous tip (in my opinion) to the "porter". Thankfully, the lady at the counter didn't give me any more problems. To immigration I go.

Upon arriving at immigration, it's long lines everywhere, so I just pick one. I also spot Senator Mar Roxas or "Mr. Palengke" chatting up a kid in his line. So here I am waiting in line, time is ticking away, and I notice that I, the lucky bastard that I am, have picked the slowest line. I didn't transfer lines anymore since I was almost halfway there. There were also a lot of people cutting in, going straight to the window. I think these are people who were sent away, and just came back with some requirements. I also heard the woman at immigration lecturing someone "In the spirit of Christmas, I'm letting you through, but next time...bla bla". So I was getting anxious, computing in my head how long each person in front of me had to spend at the window for me to make it. I think I came to a number around 5 minutes. Thankfully the pace picked up. I got to the window, then to the security check. Shoes, belts, and metal objects off. I'm pretty much frantically putting all of that back on. I probably had less than 5 minutes left when I left the security area. When I arrived at the boarding area, the passengers were already lined up. So there I made it.

Now, it's really my fault for not inquiring with Air Canada and Cathay Pacific again to know if my plans were valid. Perhaps, there were some problems that would occur during the transfer of the baggage which is why they couldn't accept my baggage at that state. But in my opinion, this is something they should be able to accommodate since it really just makes sense. Maybe I should send a link to this blog entry to both airlines. Yeah, I think I'll do that...

Baggage information for both airlines:
Cathay Pacific
Air Canada

Information on Ninoy Aquino International Airport:
from Wikipedia

Information on Mar Roxas:
Official Site
Philippine Senate Bio
from Wikipedia