A delayed bag on a Schiphol transit, and a massage while the airline traces it

A suitcase that never made it onto the aircraft, or that went to the wrong belt, turns a smooth stop into an administrative one. If you were planning a night near the airport anyway, or a long transit with a room, the missing bag changes less than it seems. A Schiphol airport massage needs a bed, a shower and towels, all of which the hotel provides, and nothing that lives in a suitcase.

Report it before leaving the baggage hall

Go to the baggage services desk in the reclaim area before you walk out, because once you pass the exit there is no way back in. Bring your boarding pass and the bag tag sticker, describe the case, and give the hotel address where it should be delivered. Ask for the reference number and keep it with your passport. Many delayed bags follow on a later flight, and the airline's tracking page shows where yours has got to.

What the cabin bag has to cover

This is the night the cabin bag earns its place. A change of underwear, a toothbrush, any medicines you take, a phone charger and a clean shirt see you through to the next flight. Airlines often refund reasonable essentials bought while a bag is delayed, so keep the receipts. The note on a layover with only a cabin bag describes the evening most of these travellers end up having anyway.

The session itself

Write once you are in the room, with the hotel, the room number, the length you would like and the minute you must leave. The reply states her journey time and the hour, and the deposit of half that every airport booking carries follows only when you accept. She arrives with everything the session needs, oil included, so the suitcase is not missed. A long shower first, then the knock at the agreed hour. If you cannot face the evening without fresh clothes, the shops in the Plaza sell basics well into the evening, and a short visit there before she arrives is time well spent.

If the bag turns up while she is there

Delivery drivers sometimes reach the hotel late in the evening. Ask the front desk to keep the case at reception rather than sending it up, and collect it once the session has ended. The page on the unplanned night covers the rest of a disrupted evening, from the voucher hotel to the morning alarm.