<p>Here's a new wrinkle in D's trip. She managed to soak her phone and camera on a boat trip 2 days ago. (No, I have NO idea why she took her camera and phone -- However, apparently the trip has not been this wet in previous years - the folks in charge decided to "show the group a good time" this year.) So now she flies home without any way to reach us, or for us to reach her. My anxiety just increased significantly. I don't even know if she knows how to use a pay phone - and I can't call and ask her!</p>
<p>Cell phones do not always self destruct when immersed in water. If this ever happens to you, remove the battery immediately, dry the phone and battery separately as best you can under the circumstances and store them in the driest place you can find. Use a hair dryer to dry them some more when you get back to civilization then let them air dry for another day. Reinsert the battery and recharge and it just may work. I had this happen twice to one cell phone and it came through fine both times.</p>
<p>I have never tried this with a camera, but you would have little to lose by giving it a shot.</p>
<p>If she is able to find one, I have every confidence that your daughter will be able to figure out how to use a coin phone.</p>
<p>You don't know my D, BassDad! :) But thanks for the vote of confidence. I've heard that pay phones are becoming harder and harder to find in airports, with the proliferation of cell phones. But D is not shy, and won't have any trouble asking someone for help. My concern has more to do with standing at the gate, being offered the option of checking her violin or not boarding -- and her saying, "Wait, I need to go find a pay phone and call my mom."</p>
<p>Unfortunately, since it happened in the evening in Portland, it was the middle of the night here, so we didn't get the message till morning - too late to tell her what to do. I feel certain the first thing she did was turn everything on to see if it worked, immediately shorting everything out! I did send her some steps I copied from Google, but barring a miracle, I think it's too late.</p>
<p>It was a tour boat, and she had everything in her purse (which I would have thought was at least somewhat waterproof). Her Ipod still works. And the book and notebook she was carrying in there both stayed dry.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, we have contacted her student insurance company and found out that both items are covered ($50 deductible) - so it's not as bad as it could be. We are probably at the point where we are eligible for a new free phone on our plan, too, but would have to sign up for another 2 years, and we aren't sure that's the right thing to do right now. She will have just 4 days at home to replace the phone and camera before we have to take her to college.</p>
<p>Sad thing is the camera was brand new. She used her birthday money to buy it this summer, and this was the first time she'd used it. H has a card reader and we are hoping the pictures can be retrieved.</p>
<p>Stringfollies, I heartily recommend flying Southwest. I fly 10 or more times per year with them and have rarely had a problem. S2 has flown 4 round trips (3 of which had a connection) with his instrument which is large enough to require a ticket. </p>
<p>Of all the airlines, I have found SWA personnel to be the least capricious in dealing with rules. Common sense prevails. They will enforce the boarding order and the number of carryons, but I can't imagine a violin causing a problem. They would be very sensitive to the value/fragility issues. Their number one goal is pleasing their customers within the framework of doing so safely.</p>
<p>S2 flew for the first time alone at 16 with his instrument. We knew it couldn't be checked and purchased a ticket (S flew on a free ticket, but we had to pay child's fare for the horn). The one thing we haven't tried is to have a carryon + personal item + instrument. Technically, since the instrument has a ticket, he should still be able to have a carry on + personal item. </p>
<p>Instrument has ridden in the jump seat in the cockpit when they didn't scan its boarding pass, thought they had an extra seat and sold it. Even then, they didn't make him check it, and we HAD paid for a seat. The error was theirs.</p>
<p>Also, in the event any item has to be checked at the gate, it is left at the entrance to the plane and delivered to you there. You can generally see it the whole time, and it doesn't have to encounter the baggage handling equipment. Just like people who leave baby strollers as they board.</p>
<p>S2 also flew to Europe alone with his alto sax. No problem on two flights in U.S. but he was made to check the alto in Amsterdam (he wasn't sure why because other passenger had roller bags and the case was the same size). When he arrived in France where we met him at the airport, we were waiting in the customs area to reclaim his luggage which had arrived directly from the U.S. All of a sudden, I realized that the alto had been checked inside Europe and would be arriving at another carrousel outside the customs area. I raced out there while H waited with S and grabbed it. Fortunately, no damage done. We had no difficulty with it on the way home on the same airlines. Go figure.</p>
<p>binx, that's too bad about the phone and camera. I dropped my cell in a bucket of water a few years back, and it was worthless. If I had access to an air compresser, I might have been ok.</p>
<p>Well, at least they're insured. As long as your d doesn't try sending a text message from the payphone, she'll do fine. ;)</p>
<p>BassDad's recommendations are the prescribed methodology for attempting salvage. </p>
<p>Good luck trying to recoup the pictures.</p>
<p>Thanks, Tango. Actually, we've also flown on SWA w/violin many times. Unfortunately we had a very very bad experience with them several years ago. It's a long story, but perhaps worth sharing. We were flying from Florida north in the high season down there. We were among the last to board a crowded flight (we were not getting on the first leg). When we found our seats there was no more overhead space where we were sitting so the flight attendant offered to take it up to put in space she said was available at the front of the cabin. She returned after the plane had been locked down with a receipt for checked luggage telling us there had been no place to put it so they had stuck it in the hold! Noone had suggested in any way that this would be done and we would have gotten off the plane if they had. It wasn't an insurance issue - it was about the special quality of the instrument. My son was about 12 at the time and still played a 3/4 violin. We had gone through about 3 different instruments until finding the unique one that we had (when we were done with it, people were lining up to buy it from us). I asked to be taken off the flight and we were told that we couldn't get off because they had already sealed the doors. Furthermore, because the doors were sealed, they could not retrieve it from the hold. It was quite a nightmare. They don't return flight-checked luggage at the plane in BWI where we were going. It goes out with all the other luggage getting thrown around. I was sure the violin would be returned to us in shards. I was so upset that I burst into tears. The flight attendant was actually quite hostile. I asked to speak to the boss who helped me to resolve the problem by asking the baggage handlers to take it out and give it special handling. They put it on a non-luggage trolley and it never went on the conveyor belt. It was okay, but no thanks to the original flight attendant. We have found SWA great in so many other ways that we decided that, rather than give them up, we would just be sure to be at the front of their boarding lines. Boarding placement has become easier now with online checkin and boarding groups and numbers instead of their old system with huge lines. We've never had another problem with them, but I do warn everyone to be sure not to board last. They allow people to bring a lot of big stuff on the plane and it doesn't all always fit. You don't want your instrument to be the thing that doesn't fit. And don't let ANYONE take the instrument to "put up front" - if I had it to do again, I would have simply gotten off the plane.</p>
<p>stringfollies, yes, I see what you meant about boarding last. And of course, one never thinks of all the questions that need to be asked or that you needed to follow the flight attendant up front, etc. Boarding last was something I always tried to avoid as I usually fly with a roller bag that has my laptop in it, rather than a separate laptop case, and I know that if you aren't an early boarder those roller bags often go in the hold.</p>
<p>The major inconsistency that my son found was whether or not they would let him pre-board. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't. We found the reason they should on the last flight we took home from an audition. The instrument with the ticket has to go in the front seat next to the window. They wouldn't let him pre-board and when we got on, one front seat was taken by a couple with a small child in a car seat, and the other was taken by two very heavy set people who walked with canes and pre-boarded. They had taken the aisle and window seat respectively. At first, they were happy to accept the instrument, although S was not happy to not be able to sit with it. That was until they discovered that it had to go by the window and not between them. They were forced to scrunch together in aisle and middle seat and were none too happy about it (I don't think they were traveling together). He was 8-10 rows back and we were even further back. </p>
<p>It is so fortunate that we are all able to share these stories and learn from everyone else's experience about what documentation to have, what to ask, whom to ask for, what alternatives to suggest, when to refuse to board. When we have trouble with these situations, how much more difficult it must be for our kids.</p>
<p>DS is flying home for two days at the end of the month. I have suggested that he bring ONLY his instrument case and a quart sized ziploc bag with his medications in it to be placed in a jacket pocket. The reality is that he has clothes, a toothbrush and anything else he needs here...and we can do the laundry too. His instrument case meets the carryon requirements but it is also designed to be durable and protective for those very few times when he is on a teeny tiny puddle jumper and can't fit the case (or anyone else's cases) into the overhead bins.</p>
<p>DD will bring her instrument case on the plane and check one bag..which she'll pay for (flying United). We just can't fret about $15,000 worth of instruments, and her clothing just isn't that valuable.</p>
<p>Neither of them will bring their own computers...they can just log on from one here at home.</p>
<p>Binx...hope your daughter makes it home easily...and that the pics are ok on that card.</p>
<p>Thanks, Thumper. Hope your kids' travels go well, too.</p>
<p>D called last night on her roommate's phone. Said initially she thought both devices were going to be okay. Said after phone dried, it turned on, but indicated that the battery didn't have a charge. She plugged it in, and it died completely. I assume it was still damp somewhere, and sent a new short throughout.</p>
<p>Her camera turns on, but says battery expired. None of her other batteries (which all got wet) work in it. So she doesn't know if it's a battery problem, or also a total wash, as it were.</p>
<p>We are hoping to retrieve the photo card from the camera, and the SIM card from the phone. We'll see.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, she has assured me she knows how to use a pay phone. :) And she said she also knows that she can't send text messages that way. ;) Guess I'm not giving her enough credit. (I've spent the summer trying to teach her how to cook - somewhat of a blind leading the blind scenario - but her inability to follow the most basic of written instructions has still surprised me. She's doing pretty well, though. And with technology stuff, she's usually way ahead of me.)</p>
<p>Enroute</p>
<p>My kids are both enroute. First phone call came from S, who said, "Umm, what day were you expecting to pick me up?" Tomorrow, we said. MAW had him on the list to leave today, so he did. Didn't realize dates were crossed till he actually was at the airport trying to figure out why his check in info wasn't working. (Don't know who's mistake it was - Did he give them the wrong date, or did they write it down wrong? But typical of him to not question it.) So he paid $50 extra to bump up his flight and is coming home today. Supposed to arrive within minutes of D's flight. Saves us a trip to the airport, and he gets an extra day at home. All is well. He didn't have a seat assignment - I'm sure they're going to squeeze him in the middle somewhere, but he's little, and he can sleep anywhere, so he'll be fine. I told him to try to board as early as possible, to make sure there is room for his horn.</p>
<p>Second phone call was from D, on a borrowed phone. Puddle jumper is running late, and is going to leave her only 10 mintues to make her connection. If she doesn't make it, next flight is an overnight flight, so we may not pick her up till tomorrow morning. Just hope she can find another opportunity to contact us and let us know! When I checked flights online, it looks like she will actually have more like 40 minutes to connect (delayed flight, but faster air speed?), if all goes well. We'll see. I really hope she makes it. She will probably lose her first class seat. Oh well, easy come, easy go. We were just counting on those big first class overhead bins for her violin.</p>
<p>binx, I hope the flights are safe and uneventful.</p>
<p>One out of two! Safe (the important one.) Both are home now.</p>
<p>S2's was uneventful, once we got past the part about him showing up at the airport on the wrong day. (This is sooo S2 that we don't hardly flinch anymore.) As far as I know, he had no problems with the horn or extra suitcase. Just the $50 for switching flights.</p>
<p>D arrived in Atlanta at 6:30 this morning. She had only one minor quibble with a flight attendant who wanted to take her violin because he was sure it wasn't going to fit in the overhead. This was on the puddle jumper - not much good to say about Alaska Airlines, I'm afraid. Fortunately, the faculty cellist was on the same flight (in the front seat of the cabin, of course) and intervened. D didn't have to say a word. Of course the violin fit just fine in the overhead, once she was allowed to try.</p>
<p>The Alaska Air flight was delayed nearly 2 hours. It landed 9 minutes after the other flight took off. Alaska Airlines dropped them off at the terminal, then everyone disappeared. There was no one there to help direct toward other terminals or to help with missed connections. She had no clue where to go or what to do, and eventually phoned home in tears. </p>
<p>Her seat mate on AA was a fireman. He saw her crying while talking to us, and took her under his wing. He helped her find a Delta counter (not sure why it was so hard, but many were deserted). They blamed everything on AA and nearly refused to help her! (D was flying with FF miles, booked through Delta entirely. They are the ones that put her on the "partner airline" so it seems disingenuous to then refuse all responsibility.) Fortunately after she called us, we called Delta and got her rebooked over the phone. So when she called us again, I was actually on the phone with Delta, and got it all worked out. They first booked her into a middle seat in coach. I begged them to keep her in first class, and the lady I was working with was so nice and helpful, and pulled some strings. That was a nice counter to the folks D was dealing with in person.</p>
<p>Then the fireman walked her back to the AA terminal, where she asked for a meal voucher. (For her 9 hour delay). They said they "don't do that anymore." The fireman was able to produce his (this was his second delay of the day) to prove her wrong, so after "checking with the manager", D got an $8 voucher as well. (She told me this morning that it probably helped that she was still crying.) The fireman then allowed her to use his cell to call us again.</p>
<p>So, if I doubted before that firemen are really angels, I don't anymore!</p>
<p>She said it was very uncomfortable and boring in the terminal, waiting for hours and hours. When she finally boarded, she crawled into her comfy first class seat, took her pillow and blanket, and slept the entire way.</p>
<p>She apparently had a fabulous time at Britt and is already begging to go back next year. That is a discussion for another day and another thread!</p>
<p>Binx, I'm so glad they both made it safely home. After we worry so much about the instruments, it's all the other snafus that create havoc. Traveling alone is certainly one way to make a person learn how to be assertive. That's so hard for a kid sometimes.</p>
<p>Air travel is so difficult these days. My daughter (not with an instrument) was returning home Saturday from a summer program at her college in Vermont; got bumped for overbooking, next connecting flight was canceled, and they (Delta!) couldn't guarantee her a flight out of Kennedy for another 18-24 hours. She took the bus to Port Authority and an overnight bus home--arriving 20 hours late. She already is experienced writing complaints to Delta and is annoyed that she'll probably get a voucher instead of a refund. The good news is, she didn't mind the bus ride at all!</p>
<p>Glad your kids made it home. Mine make the trip next week. I hope it's an easy trip for both of them. I don't think either is traveling with a computer...and they don't need clothes either...so the instrument will be their only "baggage" and it will be carry on in both cases. DS has a puddle jumper on the first leg of his trip...but DD flies big planes the whole way. </p>
<p>Binx...I imagine DS's instrument case is about the same size as your son's horn case. So...hopefully all will go well. DS is flying Delta and DD is flying United on these trips. At Christmas, DD is flying Southwest and DS is flying USAir (also ff miles). We'll certainly have plenty of airline comparisons by December.</p>
<p>...just a short and fortunately sweet "traveling with instrument story". DD left for Houston/Rice on Saturday via Air Tran with laptop and wayyyyyyyy overstuffed viola case. (And 3 checked bags for an additional $50.)</p>
<p>All went well...no problems whatsoever. Occasionally the traveling gods are merciful. Good luck to all of our musicians over the next several weeks.
(And their parents too!)</p>
<p>Binx - sorry to hear about the hassles with Alaska. DS has flown numerous times in and out of Medford with Horizon (Alaska) and has never had a problem with carrying on his violin. In fact, he's flown United, Alaska, Delta, and US Air - and many of those flights are with the very small puddle-jumper planes - and has had no issues at any time. He leaves Thursday on US Air for Dallas - so we'll keep our fingers crossed. </p>
<p>Glad to hear that your DD loved Britt (even with the crazy weather we've had here in So. Oregon the last few weeks). Will be looking forward to hear her impressions of the program and staff, etc.</p>
<p>My D flew to school this week on United and boarded with her viola and a backpack - no problem.</p>
<p>I HOPE I can convince DD to board her United flight with ONLY her instrument case and a backpack....If I can do that, I honestly won't care if they lose her luggage:)</p>
<p>follow up to my post #41 - nothing to do with flying, just tying up loose ends: D's camera has dried out and suddenly began working again! She didn't even lose any photos. No such luck with her phone, but the SIM card was still good, and we have just slipped it into one of our old phones. She saved most of her phone numbers - lost a few that had been saved only to the phone itself, along with any photos. (The old phone is German, so now she has to make sure she takes the plug adaptor with her!) Overall, a pretty positive result.</p>