Traveling from San Diego to Albany, New York, I get bumped from my original flight on American Airlines to US Airways. I patiently walk across the terminal to check in.

I get to pay $15 to check luggage. I don’t have to pay at American, but so be it.

The agent can’t get rid of the American Airlines  leg on the computer, so she cannot print my luggage tags. She hand-writes one, which makes me suspicious.

When I go to my seat, there is somebody already sitting there. I get another seat.

When I get to Philadelphia, the pilot for the plane going on to Albany is not there and we sit there waiting for two hours for him to arrive. I can attribute that to the weather. So far, so good.

I finally arrive in Albany at 12:30am, three hours late. My luggage is not there. I stand in line for a half hour until  they take down my claim.

There are no taxis at the airport at that hour, so I stand in 20 degree weather with only a light coat, no car, no luggage, no taxi, stranded.

Next day: I check online based on the tracking number they gave me.

This does not look good at all.

I call the airline every two hours. The agent (in India, no doubt) confirms that they have no idea where the luggage is and they keep sending emails to Philadelphia, over and over.

The various telephone numbers all send me to the website which clearly has no record of me or my claim. The agents tell me they have no idea.

I fly very seldom on US Airways.  I do it only when I absolutely have to.

But I can honestly say that I cannot remember ever flying on US Airways and not have something go wrong.

Please,  Travel God, don’t ever let me fly on US Airways again.