What to Do When an Airline Loses Your Baggage

It’s each traveler’s worst nightmare — you present as much as the luggage belt and wait in your suitcase to reach. As every individual picks up their baggage, you’ve got the sinking feeling that yours gained’t seem. As soon as all luggage are off the airplane and yours is nowhere to be discovered, what do you have to do? I spoke with the Division of Transportation (DOT) to develop this information on what to do when an airline loses your baggage.

Sadly, it is a comparatively widespread prevalence. My suitcase has been misplaced earlier than, and numerous others have had the identical expertise. Though the numbers are trending decrease than the identical time final 12 months, tons of of 1000’s of baggage nonetheless get mishandled in transit for one cause or one other. An important factor to do in case your suitcase will get misplaced is to remain calm. Most of the time, will probably be discovered and returned to you. If it doesn’t, you possibly can obtain compensation in your misplaced objects as much as a most legal responsibility decided by the DOT. Listed below are the steps it’s good to take when an airline loses your baggage.

7 Steps to Take When an Airline Loses Your Baggage

1. Verify your baggage is definitely misplaced.

“Usually, when a checked bag doesn’t arrive at its vacation spot, airways are answerable for finding the bag,” says the DOT. “Airways have monitoring methods in place to attempt to establish the bag’s location. Some airways now provide purposes for cell telephones, tablets, and different digital units, which offer passengers with knowledge on the situation of their baggage.”

I’ve waited over an hour on the carousel to obtain my bag earlier than, so don’t mechanically assume it’s misplaced. Generally, it simply takes a very long time as a result of staffing points or the airport’s dimension. It may additionally find yourself at a unique carousel than you thought. When this occurs, having an AirTag or different monitoring machine in your suitcase is useful so you possibly can rapidly decide the situation. For those who’ve waited and checked different carousels and nonetheless can’t discover your bag, you possibly can discuss to the airline.

2. File a lacking baggage report.

You have to to find the luggage desk for the airline that operated your closing flight and allow them to know that your bag is lacking. The bags desk is often beside the carousels, so it ought to be simple to search out. Present the agent the bag tag you acquired while you checked your bag. They may be capable of find your bag within the system. If not, you’ll must fill out a lacking baggage report.

Once you fill out your lacking baggage report, you’ll be requested about any figuring out details about your bag: the model, coloration, dimension, any figuring out marks, approximate weight, and many others. You’ll additionally must put your contact info, native tackle, and details about your flight. The extra figuring out info, the higher. So, in the event you don’t already, ensure you have one thing notable in your bag to assist establish it, whether or not that’s a brightly coloured ribbon, stickers, or a powerful bag tag.

“Passengers ought to file a baggage declare with their airline as quickly as attainable and keep in shut communication with the airline after submitting a declare and in the course of the baggage location course of,” explains the DOT. Be sure you hold your case reference quantity so you possibly can search for the standing of your case on-line after you permit the airport.

3. Decide what the airline will cowl.

Most airways have insurance policies for misplaced or delayed baggage. This can range between airways, so ask the consultant what can be coated for important bills till they find your bag. They may not proactively offer you this info, so it’s essential to ask. (I didn’t notice the airline had insurance policies for expense reimbursements on delayed baggage, so I paid out of pocket for my necessities when my bag was misplaced.) As soon as you already know what they’ll cowl, you possibly can buy groceries. Hold your whole receipts so you possibly can submit the request for reimbursement. This isn’t the time to go on a full buying spree, however you possibly can sometimes purchase belongings you deem important whereas ready in your baggage.

4. Perceive the distinction between misplaced and delayed baggage.

One other lesson I needed to study the onerous means is that there’s a distinction between misplaced baggage and delayed baggage. “Most airways will declare a bag misplaced between 5 and 14 days after the flight, however this could range from one airline to a different,” says the DOT. “As soon as an airline determines {that a} bag is misplaced, the airline is answerable for compensating the passenger for the bag’s contents – topic to depreciation and most legal responsibility limits.”

“Delayed baggage” implies that it has been discovered and can be delivered to you inside a couple of days. In case your bag is delayed, be certain that they drop it off at your native tackle. You shouldn’t have to return to the airport or pay for it to be delivered. “Misplaced baggage” means it’s genuinely misplaced and can’t be discovered.

5. Contact your bank card firm.

For those who booked your flight utilizing a journey bank card, you must contact your bank card issuer as quickly as attainable. A number of bank cards, just like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, provide baggage delay insurance coverage, which could cowl as much as $100 a day for 5 days in case your suitcase has been delayed. Understanding the distinction between misplaced and delayed baggage is essential right here.

My airline-branded bank card coated misplaced baggage, so I went out and spent a couple of hundred {dollars} on garments and toiletries to cowl me for the primary few days. As soon as my bag was discovered and returned to me, it was thought-about delayed baggage, which the cardboard doesn’t cowl. This meant I used to be on the hook for the cash I spent and wouldn’t get reimbursed. Though they sound very related, and my bag actually felt misplaced earlier than I bought it again, this distinction meant I misplaced tons of of {dollars}.

6. Hold monitoring your bag.

This goes with out saying, however control your bag and the standing of your declare through the use of the reference quantity given to you while you crammed out the lacking baggage report. Keep in fixed communication with the airline to obtain essentially the most up-to-date details about your suitcase. Ideally, it’s rapidly discovered and returned to you, but when not, it’s good to know the subsequent steps to obtain a refund.

In case your bag is taken into account misplaced and you’re given a reimbursement, the maximums are set by the DOT. “For home flights, DOT regulation permits airways to restrict their legal responsibility for a misplaced, broken, or delayed bag to $3,800,” explains the DOT. For worldwide flights, that quantity goes all the way down to about $1,700. Whereas airways are free to pay greater than this most, they aren’t required to take action.

7. Escalate when essential.

For those who aren’t getting anyplace together with your contact on the airport, escalate issues to a supervisor or one other individual on the airline. If all else fails, contact the DOT. “If a passenger experiences problem associated to mishandled baggage or compensation for mishandled baggage, then that passenger ought to file a criticism with the airline,” says the DOT. “DOT requires airways to acknowledge client complaints inside 30 days of receiving them and to ship customers written responses addressing these complaints inside 60 days of receiving them.”

Methods to Forestall Misplaced Baggage

The DOT supplies intensive steerage on stopping misplaced baggage on its web site. Some of the useful options is to plan forward to keep away from the extra severe repercussions of misplaced baggage. This implies you shouldn’t pack any small valuables or important, irreplaceable, or fragile objects in your checked bag. Within the unlikely occasion that your bag does get misplaced, having these things in your carry-on prevents any main penalties.

Be certain that to maintain an AirTag or different monitoring machine in your suitcase. All the time label your bag together with your identify and telephone quantity on a baggage tag and the within of the bag. If it does get misplaced, this may assist establish your baggage so it will get again to you sooner.

One other nice approach to stop misplaced baggage is to examine in in your flight early. For those who examine in on the final minute, it may be more difficult in your bag to get on board, which could lead to it getting misplaced. When the agent offers you your baggage declare stub, hold it till you’ve got your bag in hand.

Lastly, attempt to hold your itinerary so simple as attainable. You probably have a number of layovers, particularly brief ones, there’s extra likelihood that one thing may occur. When my bag was misplaced, I flew from Mexico Metropolis to Vienna with two layovers — one in Atlanta and one in Amsterdam. My bag made it to Amsterdam however by no means bought on the ultimate flight to Vienna. Fortunately, it was returned to me a couple of days later, nevertheless it was nonetheless a demanding course of. Lesson realized: Attempt to keep away from checking a bag on a route with a number of layovers.

Backside Line

Misplaced or delayed baggage is usually a demanding and irritating expertise, particularly while you’re on trip. If it does occur to you, observe these steps to make sure you get it again rapidly, or on the very least, you obtain compensation for the bag’s contents. All the time hold your Most worthy possessions with you, and by no means place something you possibly can’t dwell with out in your checked bag. After I journey, I at all times hold my laptop computer, chargers, drugs, and fundamental toiletries with me, simply in case.