By Amanda Falzon

As most students know, spring break is supposed to be a relaxing week off from school, whether you spend it at home, go visit friends, or lay out on a beach in Cancun or Miami.

Unfortunately, due to some major setbacks thanks to US Airways, spring break left me more stressed out than before I left.

I planned my trip to Cancun, Mexico for months and worked to pay for it. It was supposed to be six days and five nights of hanging out on the beach and partying, but I didn’t get to experience the craziness of spring break.

The trouble started once my connecting flight from Philadelphia to Cancun was delayed. We sat on the plane for over an hour waiting for two late passengers. The reason for their late arrival was not mentioned either. The staff on the plane was rude, not to mention they also made us pay for food on board. Silly me, I thought food was included in the insane price they made me pay to fly down there in the first place.

We arrived in Cancun around1 p.m. central time, only to stand in a crowded, un-air-conditioned airport for an hour to go through customs and immigration. Finally we got to baggage claim and after watching the carousel with the luggage on it go around for about 15 minutes I started panicking. I asked a baggage attendant if everyone’s bags were taken off my flight and he said yes. The airline lost my luggage! I was furious. I filled out a claim report and was told my bag would be sent to my hotel the next day in the early afternoon. They were very mean about it, too. Luckily, my parents always told me to keep a change of clothes or a bathing suit in my carry-on, and I did. My first night in Mexico was spent in my room because I didn’t have any clothes to go out with and I didn’t really fit in to anything my friend had.

The next day my bag still didn’t make it to the hotel. After I tried calling the airline a few unsuccessful times, the concierge called and had no luck. My parents, as well as my friend’s parents, knew the situation and they called the airline only to find out that my bag was still in Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, on the third day my friend got sick so we planned to come home early. Luckily, the airline did not make us pay to change flights. They said it was to compensate for my lost luggage. I was still angry though because I had to buy all knew toiletries and attempt to fit into my friend’s clothes. Finally my bag made it to the hotel at around 3 p.m. Great timing, considering I was already off the beach and using my bathing suit for the second day in a row. At least I was able to have one night out, though.

The next day, our flight was at 12:30 p.m. We got to the airport early only to stand in the check-in line for and hour and half to find out our flight was delayed. It was supposed to be delayed a half hour, but considering how disorganized they are, we again sat on the plane for almost and hour and didn’t take off until 2 p.m. and our connecting flight from North Carolina to New York was at 5:50 p.m. Half of the passengers missed their connecting flights; those going to New York still had hope, but if we missed this flight, we would have all been stranded until the next morning. We landed at 5:15, and had about a half-hour to get our bags, go through customs, re-check the bags, go through security and run to the next plane. Only two attendants unloaded the bags from the plane and we didn’t get our bags until about 5:35. I was already crying and trying to call home to tell them I was going to be stranded but hey I still had my luggage, right? Now after sprinting through the Charlotte Airport, I made it to the plane. We even landed on time in New York. But then I had to wait at baggage claim. A half hour goes by, my luggage, including half of the plane’s luggage, is missing. They lost my bags again! I mean, is it that hard to transfer bags from one plane to another? Then the people at baggage claim had the nerve to tell all of us that it was our fault because we had to run to our plane! I’m sorry but we were all boarded at the time we were supposed to be on our first flight. It was someone from US AIRWAYS without a brain that forgot to fax the names of the passengers to the hub in the United States.

I’ve traveled a lot and in my 20 years of life I have never had such a bad experience flying anywhere. This may sound like a huge gripe, but I’m letting the Hofstra community know as warning that if you want to have a good time on your vacation and you want to keep your luggage, do not fly US Airways. They are over priced, disorganized, and rude. They gave me a free flight for the grief they caused me, but I know that I will definitely not be using it.