Lesson learned

We saved maybe $1k taking an early flight out of Madrid through Lisbon and Newark. Per the counsel of the folx at our hotel and also my old colleague Todd, who's been living in Madrid not much shy of a decade and showed us how Madrilenos eat lunch, we were at the airport early and were first in line for our flight on TAP (Air Portugal). 

I had some concerns our carry on bags weren't going to pass muster with TAPs size requirements but the last thing i wanted to do was check and then have to retrieve my bag in Lisbon for customs on the way out of the EU and then again in Newark coming into the US.

So there we were, first in line at the gate, standing there because it seemed like standing was the protocol. The first woman from TAP arrived at the desk and said: "Those are too big. You're gonna have to check them." It ended up costing us $330 but they are checked through tlo RDU. Had I known that was an option I would have checked them from the jump street for maybe $100-$150.

Then we got on the plane. Our bags would have totally fit in the overheads and -- and this is what's most galling of all -- there were people who boarded later with American-sized carry ons like ours. I think that -- like traffic cops in smal rural towns-- boarding teams at discount carriers like TAP probably have revenue quotas they need to hit and that once that's done they just need to get people on the plane. The moral to this story is, clearly, if you're worried your bags are too big don't stand in front of the check in desk and call attention to it during pre-boarding. You'd've thought I might have known, sigh.