At Reykjavik airport, I was preparing to board my flight to Baltimore, when one of Icelandair's boarding staff asked me to place my carry-on bag on the scale. I had failed to note the weight restriction (my fault) and although meeting the size requirement, was somewhat over the weight limit. The man indicated that I would be required to leave the bag to be checked.
I explained to the man that the bag contained several bottles of wine and that some of the bottles were quite expensive and difficult to replace. Although I had taken great care to wrap the bottles in bubble-wrap, I was very concerned that the bottles could be damaged during handling. I requested that I be allowed to re-distribute some of the bottles to my hand bag, thus lowering the weight of both articles to within the acceptable threshold. I'm not sure if it would have worked, but I did not have the opportunity to find out, since he refused.
Instead, the agent informed me that he would place a "FRAGILE" label on the bag containing the wine. He seemed to understand that I was very apprehensive and assured me that he would see to this detail personally. Still not happy with how things had worked out, I had no real choice but to board the plane and leave my bag with him.
When I arrived in Baltimore and went to claim my baggage, three of the bottles were broken, and wine had completely saturated the bag, staining some clothing I had just purchased overseas and also ruining a guidebook.in addition, in the confusion at the boarding gate I had forgotten to remove my birth certificate and a library book, and both of these were also stained and partly saturated with wine. Most significantly, there was no sign of a "FRAGILE" label anywhere on the bag.
I do understand that the agent was simply doing his job, and I have no complaint with having had to check the bag due to the weight restriction. However, he DID promise to place the fragile label on my luggage, and this was apparently NOT done. Perhaps if the baggage handlers had been aware of the fragile nature of the cargo, the breakage would not have occurred.
I have tried several times to write or email but have received no response. I'm not too happy with this airline and will most likely avoid it in the future.
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