Five weeks after Lisa Khan jetted off on a family holiday to Europe, she received a surprise text from a stranger.
“Hello, I wanted to let you know your bag is located in Florence, Italy Airport (Airport of Firenze Amerigo Vespucci, FLR). I lost five of my bags here and decided to take some pictures of the bag tags that were visible when visiting,” the message read.
Ms Khan had never even travelled to the Italian city.
But there her bag was among a vast pile of lost luggage, each item having become separated from its owner somewhere along the journey.
Speaking from her home in Florida, Ms Khan tells The Independent the saga all began on 30 June, when her family of four headed off on what was to be their last big trip together before her son went to college.
They had booked with Lufthansa to fly from Orlando to Rome, with a connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany.
From Rome, they were going on a two-night stay in Tuscany, followed by a six-night cruise around the Mediterranean.
When they arrived at Orlando International Airport, Ms Khan, her husband, son and daughter each checked in a suitcase.
Their flight to Frankfurt was delayed, meaning they would miss their connecting flight to Rome, so they were switched to a flight to Florence. However, that flight was also cancelled.
Ultimately, the family ended up being booked on to a different flight to Rome with Lufthansa subsidiary Air Dolomiti.
But while the family continued the journey to their end destination, it seems their luggage did not.
“They told us ‘Yes, we’ll make sure your bags are there,’” says Ms Khan.
“We took the flight to Rome and when we were waiting at the baggage carousel there, none of our bags showed up.”
Lisa Khan’s luggage among a pile of lost bags at Florence Airport
(Courtesy of Lisa Khan)
A 63-day journey
Over the next two months – and thanks to hours of phone calls, airport visits and persistence from Ms Khan’s husband – the four bags finally made their way back to the Khans, one by one.
First came her son’s bag, which arrived one day before the cruise – leaving the other three family members to spend their entire eight-day vacation and return home to Florida still minus their belongings.
About a week after they arrived back home, the bag belonging to Ms Khan’s daughter showed up in Orlando.
Several more weeks passed then Ms Khan received…
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