Got back this morning. TSA busted the side clasp on one of my suitcases even though it was just a clasp not a lock. Grr. Another annoyance was that before I left I had applied to change the ISP on my ADSL service. They had said it would be done before I left but didn’t get to it until a few days after I left. Then when I got back I found out that they had given me a PPPOE account instead of a bridged static IP account that we’d asked for. That’ll be up to a week to change.
Other than that things went fine.
TSA LOVES to use boltcutters to open locks, even the sort of locks that are “TSA compliant”, that you find in Samsonite luggage (not just the TSA .. a bent hairpin can open them just fine).
You probably ought to file a claim with the airline for damaged luggage, they’ll typically ask you to buy a new bag and send them the bill, if your luggage is new enough – or there’s a graded scale of compensation depending on how old your bag is.
-suresh
(http://livejournal.com/users/hserus)
There’s actually a Samsonite repair shop in Xindian just outside of Taipei so I’ll see if they can fix it cheaply. I’ve had this one for ages and it’s stood up to everything except the TSA.
(http://livejournal.com/users/jlick)