About To Get Some Baggage

(I am 20 years old and on my first cross-world trip, alone, flying from Ottawa, Canada to Cape Town, South Africa via long layover in London, UK. I also have a very short connection in Johannesburg (Joburg), South Africa before arriving in Cape Town. My dad wanted to help me and has set me up with his beloved travel agent to book all my flights and make sure everything is in order. She starts off by booking my flight from the Toronto airport because that’s where she lives, instead of the Ottawa airport, 400 km away, but that’s not relevant to this story. Before the flights are booked, approximately eight months before the trip:)

Me: “Can you make sure my bags are checked all the way through? Because I don’t want to have to worry about grabbing them before my connecting flight.”

Travel Agent: “Yes, absolutely. I will make sure that is done for you.”

(At the time we are booking the flights, approximately six months before the trip.)

Me: “Do I have to claim my bags in London? Because I really don’t want to lug my suitcase around with me the whole time.”

Travel Agent: “No, your bags are checked through. You won’t have to touch them until you land in Cape Town.”

Dad: “Yeah, it’s easy; I’ve done all this before.”

(A week before the trip I get an e-mail saying that my flights have changed.)

Me: “Are my bags still checked through?”

Travel Agent: “Of course, they just changed the aircraft. Nothing else.”

(The day of the trip at the Ottawa airport.)

Me: “Can you double check that my bags are checked through to Cape Town?”

Airport Attendant #1: “Yes, they are. You’re all set.”

(Almost a day later when I am boarding my flight to Joburg from London.)

Airport Attendant #2: “Now, don’t forget to pick up your bag before your connection. You’ll need to take it with you through customs.”

Me: “I was told my bags would be checked all the way through. I have a short layover in Joburg and won’t really have time to wait for baggage claim.”

Airport Attendant #2: “Well, it’s impossible to check a bag through like that. You need it with you when you go through customs and you need to go through customs to get from the international terminal to the domestic terminal in Joburg.”

Me: “So you can’t change it and check it through?”

Airport Attendant #2: “No.”

(After I pass through security and am waiting for my flight I call my dad. He flies often for work so he has a lot of experience in this matter. I am now crying for more than one reason: I am anxious that waiting for baggage claim will make me miss my flight, I hate last minute changes in plans that I can’t control, especially for something this big, and I am really upset and confused as to how I was assured multiple times by multiple people that my bags would be checked through.)

Me: “The woman here says that I need to claim my bag in Joburg before going through customs to my connecting flight. She says it can’t be checked through when it’s international to domestic.”

Dad: *totally unfazed* “Yeah. That’s normal.”

(I cannot tell you what happened next. I would have to censor the entire conversation.)