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 received’t seem. As soon as all baggage 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, this can be 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 yr, a whole lot of hundreds of luggage nonetheless get mishandled in transit for one purpose or one other. An important factor to do in case your suitcase will get misplaced is to remain calm. Most of the time, it is going to be discovered and returned to you. If it doesn’t, you possibly can obtain compensation in your misplaced gadgets as much as a most legal responsibility decided by the DOT. Listed here are the steps it’s essential take when an airline loses your baggage.

7 Steps to Take When an Airline Loses Your Baggage

1. Affirm your baggage is definitely misplaced.

“Usually, when a checked bag doesn’t arrive at its vacation spot, airways are accountable for finding the bag,” says the DOT. “Airways have monitoring programs in place to attempt to establish the bag’s location. Some airways now supply functions for cell telephones, tablets, and different digital units, which give passengers with information 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. Typically, it simply takes a very long time as a result of staffing points or the airport’s measurement. It may additionally find yourself at a distinct carousel than you thought. When this occurs, having an AirTag or different monitoring gadget in your suitcase is useful so you possibly can rapidly decide the situation. If you happen to’ve waited and checked different carousels and nonetheless can’t discover your bag, you possibly can speak to the airline.

2. File a lacking baggage report.

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

While you fill out your lacking baggage report, you’ll be requested about any figuring out details about your bag: the model, coloration, measurement, any figuring out marks, approximate weight, and so on. You’ll additionally must put your contact data, native tackle, and details about your flight. The extra figuring out data, the higher. So, in the event you don’t already, be sure 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 throughout the baggage location course of,” explains the DOT. Ensure you preserve your case reference quantity so you possibly can lookup 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 differ between airways, so ask the consultant what might be coated for important bills till they find your bag. They may not proactively offer you this data, 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 recognize what they are going to cowl, you possibly can buy groceries. Preserve your whole receipts so you possibly can submit the request for reimbursement. This isn’t the time to go on a full procuring 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 be taught the arduous 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 will differ from one airline to a different,” says the DOT. “As soon as an airline determines {that a} bag is misplaced, the airline is accountable 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 might be delivered to you inside a number 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.

If you happen to booked your flight utilizing a journey bank card, you need to contact your bank card issuer as quickly as attainable. A number of bank cards, just like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, supply 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 number 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 obtained it again, this distinction meant I misplaced a whole lot of {dollars}.

6. Preserve monitoring your bag.

This goes with out saying, however keep watch over 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 probably the most up-to-date details about your suitcase. Ideally, it’s rapidly discovered and returned to you, but when not, it’s essential know the following steps to obtain a refund.

In case your bag is taken into account misplaced and you might be 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 right down to about $1,700. Whereas airways are free to pay greater than this most, they don’t seem to be required to take action.

7. Escalate when obligatory.

If you happen to 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 issue 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 shopper complaints inside 30 days of receiving them and to ship customers written responses addressing these complaints inside 60 days of receiving them.”

Learn how to Forestall Misplaced Baggage

The DOT offers in depth steering on stopping misplaced baggage on its web site. One of the vital useful options is to plan forward to keep away from the extra critical repercussions of misplaced baggage. This implies you shouldn’t pack any small valuables or important, irreplaceable, or fragile gadgets 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.

Ensure to maintain an AirTag or different monitoring gadget in your suitcase. At all times 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, it will assist establish your baggage so it will get again to you sooner.

One other nice method to forestall misplaced baggage is to examine in in your flight early. If you happen to examine in on the final minute, it may be more difficult in your bag to get on board, which could end in it getting misplaced. When the agent offers you your baggage declare stub, preserve it till you’ve got your bag in hand.

Lastly, attempt to preserve your itinerary so simple as attainable. You probably have a number of layovers, particularly quick ones, there’s extra probability 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 obtained on the ultimate flight to Vienna. Fortunately, it was returned to me a number of days later, but it surely was nonetheless a disturbing course of. Lesson discovered: Attempt to keep away from checking a bag on a route with a number of layovers.

Backside Line

Misplaced or delayed baggage generally is a disturbing 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. At all times preserve your most respected possessions with you, and by no means place something you possibly can’t stay with out in your checked bag. After I journey, I all the time preserve my laptop computer, chargers, medicines, and fundamental toiletries with me, simply in case.