More adventures of the Big Black Suitcase.

My recent trip to Saudi Arabia was spoiled somewhat by some logistical troubles – of a suitcase! – on the way back. It was something that had never happened to me before: ALL the luggage of ALL the passengers got lost! It happened on the Riyadh–Moscow Saudi Airlines flight. The plane arrived in Moscow with… an empty cargo hold: they’d simply failed to load it at the departure airport! As a result, around 90 passengers – mostly Saudis – lined up for the red channel at Sheremetyevo (those are the rules there – only through the red channel if your suitcase is lost). And since it took some 10 minutes to process the paperwork for each passenger, the customs officials joked grimly that the last person in line would still be around to see the next flight and to personally receive their luggage!

But at least we were first in said line. And we were first because I’d heard the announcement in Russian: “Passengers arriving from Riyadh – please proceed to the lost luggage desk”, so my travel companion, NK, and I raced to lost-and-found as fast as we could. But there was more: we still had to then get over to the red channel and separately fill out the customs “baggage without passenger” form.

But enough of such first-world problems. Sure, there was some inconvenience, but we’d survive. At the same time, this minor incident inspired me to put together a review of my lost-luggage adventures over the years on the more than a thousand – maybe even around 1500 flights – in my flying history.

Ok, let’s begin…

In all my flying, my luggage has been lost mislaid, I think, around 10 times; that is, about once every two years, or once every ~150 flights. Still, at least my suitcase was always later found and forwarded on to me. My colleagues also lose their luggage from time to time, but there were never any instances of irretrievable loss, as in – lost forever.

But high‑profile cases of irretrievable losses do exist. For example, in the spring of 2008, London Heathrow Airport held a grand opening of its brand‑new super‑modern Terminal 5, and right away the just‑launched super-duper baggage handling system… glitched. As a result, 28,000 (!!!) cases were lost. Most eventually found their owners, but much unclaimed baggage was later incinerated! Apparently, for British Airways (the sole tenant of Terminal 5) it turned out to be cheaper to pay penalties and compensation than to find the owners of the unclaimed baggage. Yes, that was a big story…

But now to what’s happened to me…

2023 tale: There’ve been times when I had to send someone to the airline office to have it out with them. For example, my connecting flight on Ethiopian Airlines to Kenya in summer 2023 worked out just fine for me  – but my suitcase didn’t make it. And while the airline staff confidently lied that everything would be fine – it wasn’t for days and days until I was forwarded my case. In the end I had to buy new everything for our Kenya safari. Grrr.

2025 tale: Flying Moscow–Luxembourg–Moscow, my suitcase was lost on the way there and then… on the way back too! Here’s the full story.

2017 tale: Two out of three bags went missing between Jersey and London, leaving us without a change of (appropriate) clothes for conferences in the British capital. Grrr.

2009 tale: This was the first time I had my luggage lost – between Tel-Aviv and Tokyo. It eventually turned up – but my rude introduction to having no change of clothes for business events was a memorable one.

2014 story: Another year – another loss of baggage, this time between Zurich and Budapest, with my seeing my errant case all on its lonesome on the apron from the plane window. Why? How? Why just mine?!

All my other luggage adventures were routine: go to the lost luggage desk, fill out a claim, they take a photo of the baggage tag (they usually stick it to the boarding pass – don’t lose it), you give the delivery address for the lost item – and within about 24 hours they deliver it, no drama.

Some well-intentioned folks have suggested down the years that I should pack everything into carry‑on luggage to avoid such adventures. But, please do tell me how I’m supposed to cram into hand luggage:

– a suit with shoes and a shirt (often needed);

– a windbreaker, thermal underwear, fleece, and hiking boots/sneakers for tourist exploits;

– various changes of clothes for many days (sometimes a month);

– various toiletries and other everyday items, including an electric shaver;

– different medications – I’m no spring chicken.

And what if on the way there are three countries and five flights? Plus it can be chilly in one place and tropical-beach weather in another. That happens to me regularly. And on a trip there’s also the risk that people will give you gifts: where are you supposed to put all that? Meanwhile, my carry‑on already contains: laptop, full‑size camera + second lens, headphones for listening to music and watching movies, laptop charging cables – and various other small things (already about 7kg in total). No. It’s cheaper/easier to be left without luggage once every few years. Hand luggage doesn’t cut it.

And that’s why I switched to my Big Black Suitcase a long time ago.

// A quick commercial break: the suitcase is made by Tumi – not cheap, but a good quality, sturdy item.

I don’t remember how many I’ve had. Despite the build quality, even these suitcases don’t stay with me for long.

One day I wondered how many… small women could fit into it. Two or three? The answer is here! ->

Oh, and my most recent, “Saudi” lost baggage tale ended well: the suitcase eventually arrived – albeit 52 hours after we landed at Sheremetyevo ->

P.S. One more thing came to mind on the suitcase topic. Once, I packed this whole pile for a trip (not including the blue ball). The front suitcase and backpack flew to the Maldives, the rear suitcase – to Chita, and the duffel bag with the orange carry‑on – to Magadan. Oof! That was on my Maldives–Magadan–Yakutia–Moscow trip in January 2021.