Of course after I packed it the item was 4 lbs over the limit, so NWA wanted to charge me $50. extra. I told them I would take it out of the box, since it had three inches of bubble wrap taped around it. The NW ticket agent said you really think that box weighs more than a couple of pounds….I said I bet it weighs over five pounds. I plead my case to no avail. We could have had four more bags weighing over 120 lbs, but NW was not going to let me slide on the 4 lbs on this one bag. (At the time, I just thought maybe I was an easy target, because she saw me tip the bag handler ten bucks.) But, I know she was just enforcing the rules.

While I took it out of the box and then I was three pounds under weight. She could not believe the box weighed six and half pounds. Her and a co-worker discussed it for a moment… I thought they were going to make the right decision and let me put it back in the box. No dice, would you still like to ship it like this, I need you to sign a form that NWA will not be responsible for any damage since it is not packaged in a box! Yes, ship it please! You'll need to take it upstairs to the oversized shipping area. I get up there and a first class agent and TSA (security agent) say you should really have a box for this thing. I said you know, I know where a box is that will exactly fit this thing. TSA really, where? Right downstairs where they made me take it out because it was 4 lbs too heavy. NWA first class agent, "you got to be kidding me." "go get your box." The TSA guy helped me box it back up. The agents downstairs saw me grab the box, I said they are making box it back up. What a deal, the whole family is elite…we were flying first class and eventually the right decision was made about the it. About a 25 minute ordeal, luckily one of the few times we gave ourselves extra time at the airport.

The item made the trip with no damage and everything work out well. Any yes, NWA did in the end make the right decision....just had to talk with the right agent!