Airline travel this summer has been difficult to say the least. I personally know many people who lost luggage, including my own adult kids. In fact the luggage they lost took nine days to find them, and several items had been stolen from the bag when it finally arrived. But, up until this year, our travels since April 2016 have indirectly but quantitatively taken us around the world nine times, only lost luggage twice.

Alas times have changed. You can stay on top of this issue here.

All the trickle down from Covid and staff losses, combined with a pent up demand for travel have made this summer unique in the history of air travel. I feel really blessed to have had such good luck with the 161 flights we have taken since beginning the Grand Adventure in April 2016.

The Numbers

These numbers are pretty remarkable so I wanted to share them with you, in an effort to show how reliable air travel has been up until now. In our 161 flights over a period of six years we only lost our bags twice. The first time was on Air Maroc in Casablanca and it was only for two hours. The second time was on Iceland Air from Reykjavik to Copenhagen and it was for four days. It shows the system has been really reliable when you consider the following numbers;

Total Miles Flown April 2016 to July 2022 is 235,000 – an equivalent of nine times around the earth.

Total Number of take off and landings 161

Total number of airports 127

Farthest flight Seattle to Dubai 7410 miles

Shortest flight Mahe Seychelles to Praslin Seychelles 29 miles

Smallest Airport and Airplane (six seater) Placencia Belize to Punta Cana Belize

Top Four Airports;

Seattle USA 29 flights

Don Muang Thailand 7 flights

Rio de Janiero Brazil and Kahului Maui tied at 6

Heathrow England, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Bangkok Thailand and Casablanca Morocco tied at 5

Top USA Airports after Seattle are Las Vegas and San Francisco at 4, JFK at 3 and Boston at 2

Total number of airlines 55

Most frequent airlines;

Alaska 17

Air Asia 10

British 8

Qatar and Agean tied at 6

Delta and GOL tied at 5

Highest mileage airlines;

Alaska 32,000

British 20,400

Emirates 17,200

Qatar 12,500

Iceland 12,300

Moving Forward

It’s hard to know if the airline industry will ever get back to the way it was. I think it’s doubtful. There are many things that the PanDamit has changed, and it’s likely those changes are here to stay. We have a three week trip coming up next week. It involves multiple flights. To avoid lost luggage we will carry on our bags for the first time. I’m working hard on a capsule wardrobe that will cover my needs during this three week trip. I’ll tell you about how I’m doing that in a blog next Friday so please check back.

Meanwhile, I can do some things to help make my trip a success, like packing light and checking on, arriving for my flight well in advance and having all my documents ready. But of course I don’t have control over canceled or overbooked flights, staffing issues or weather. C’est la vie.

Around the World Nine Times Only Lost Luggage Twice

Around the world nine times, only lost luggage twice. I’ve never had a flight canceled ( though we have had many delays) and we only missed a flight once which was our fault. Fingers crossed these statistics will stay the same by the time I return back to Seattle after three whirlwind weeks in the end of September.

Here is some more valuable information for you What to do if Your Flight is Canceled.

Shout out to my hubs for his incredible Excel spread sheet that has the most amazing and in-depth and detailed information about the Grand Adventure. You wouldn’t believe the data I have at my fingertips. Thanks honey for that. Ask me anything…we probably have the answer on the spreadsheet!

Be sure to come back for next week’s blog post about my capsule carry-on wardrobe for three weeks in the English Channel Islands, France and then Acadia National Park Maine.

We love it when you pin and share our blog posts. Thank you.