Have Detectors, Will Travel

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By admin

Published: March 28, 2010

Well, I finally retired and made the move to Thailand with all my worldly possessions. I departed Honolulu, Hawaii 4 1/2 hours late on 25 March, 2010.  The flight arrived late from Taipei, Taiwan, so we just had to wait.  But, I caught a lucky break.  I had 5 bags with me – 4 to check in and one carry-on.  Three of the four bags were definitely overweight and my carry-on was also a stuffed laptop bag on wheels.

When I finally made it to the check-in counter, the girl started marking all of my super heavy bags as “Priority” which is normally reserved for 1st class travelers.  She also gave me a voucher to go to the China Airlines lounge.  I asked her if this was because of the delay and she told me that I had reached the next level in the Dynasty Card thing that China Airlines has.  So, I was now able to check 3 bags instead of 2 and my weight allowance per bag increased.  So, I only got charged for one extra bag – the one that one of my detectors was in along with two beach scoops.  She was extra nice and called it a “golf bag” which got me a 50% discount – only $48.  I was expecting to pay a few hundred dollars.

So, my wife’s ACE 250 was in the original box in one suitcase, my Minelab Excalibur II was in another suitcase and the main shaft was with the Minelab X-Terra 705 in the Minelab long bag.  Other electronics that I packed were a DVD player, scanner, photo negatives scanner, DVD burner, laptop, Video Camera, still camera, and a ton of wires and chargers.

I thought that the long, red Minelab bag, along with my one-way ticket would arouse suspicion and get the TSA all over me – but it didn’t happen.  I did ask the girl if I could carry on my Minelab bag – but she said it would be treated like a rifle and would be better to just check it in.  She was also nice enough to mark everything “Fragile”.

Since my flight was so late, I missed my connecting flight in Taipei but they were ready for us and already had us booked on an alternate China Air flight – but the one I was scheduled for was to arrive at 0115.  I expressed my discontent and let the check-in guy know that I was dissatisfied with the service as I was supposed to arrive in Bangkok at 1600 and my wife was waiting for me.

He said that he would check with his supervisor and see what he could do.  I waited about 1/2 hour and he came to me and gave me the choice of an upgrade to Business Class on the 0115 arrival or switch to Thai Airways with a 2240 arrival.  I chose the earlier arrival.

I actually arrived closer to 2300 but it was still 2 hours earlier that the China Airlines flight.  My wife was dutifully waiting for me – close to 10 hours and we finally arrived at the hotel at about 0030.

Showered, had one beer and went to sleep.  Got up and got re-organized for our upcoming visit to Koh Samet resort area for some fun in the sun and metal detecting.  It will be my wife’s first attempt at finding goodies on the beach and I hope that she has golden luck.

I got all the detectors assembled and tested and all are in fine working order – so we are ready to head out tomorrow for the beach.  It will be fun showing her the few tricks of the trade that I know.

We got everything re-packed and went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant.  Food wasn’t all that good but the beer was cold.

Singha Beer

Over-Priced Dinner at 11-Gallery Restaurant

I still have to get the detectors up to my wife’s home town of Khon Kaen after we spend the week at Koh Samet.  I am guessing that will cost me some more bucks for heavy luggage.

Tagged with: ace 250, Bangkok, China Airlines, delay, excalibur, flight, Khon Kaen, Koh Samet, minelab, Thai Air, travel, X-Terra 705

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