What to Do When an Airline Loses Your Baggage

It’s each traveler’s worst nightmare — you present as much as the bags belt and wait to your suitcase to reach. As every individual picks up their baggage, you could have 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, it is a comparatively frequent 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, lots of of 1000’s of luggage nonetheless get mishandled in transit for one purpose or one other. Crucial factor to do in case your suitcase will get misplaced is to remain calm. As a rule, it is going to be discovered and returned to you. If it doesn’t, you possibly can obtain compensation to your misplaced gadgets as much as a most legal responsibility decided by the DOT. Listed here are the steps you might want to take when an airline loses your baggage.

7 Steps to Take When an Airline Loses Your Baggage

1. Affirm your baggage is definitely misplaced.

“Typically, 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 placement 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 because of staffing points or the airport’s dimension. It may additionally find yourself at a special 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 placement. When you’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’ll need to find the bags desk for the airline that operated your ultimate flight and allow them to know that your bag is lacking. The luggage desk is usually beside the carousels, so it needs to be simple to search out. Present the agent the bag tag you acquired whenever you checked your bag. They may have the ability to find your bag within the system. If not, you’ll have to 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 so forth. You’ll additionally have to put your contact info, native tackle, and details about your flight. The extra figuring out info, the higher. So, in case 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 robust bag tag.

“Passengers ought to file a baggage declare with their airline as quickly as potential 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 maintain your case reference quantity so you possibly can lookup the standing of your case on-line after you allow the airport.

3. Decide what the airline will cowl.

Most airways have insurance policies for misplaced or delayed baggage. This may fluctuate between airways, so ask the consultant what can be lined for important bills till they find your bag. They may not proactively provide you with this info, so it’s essential to ask. (I didn’t understand 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 realize what they may 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 procuring spree, however you possibly can sometimes purchase belongings you deem important whereas ready to your baggage.

4. Perceive the distinction between misplaced and delayed baggage.

One other lesson I needed to be taught the laborious method 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 may fluctuate 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 can be delivered to you inside just a few days. In case your bag is delayed, be sure 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.

When you booked your flight utilizing a journey bank card, it’s best to contact your bank card issuer as quickly as potential. 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 lined misplaced baggage, so I went out and spent just a few 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 definitely felt misplaced earlier than I obtained it again, this distinction meant I misplaced lots of of {dollars}.

6. Hold 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 whenever you stuffed 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, you might want to know the subsequent 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 aren’t required to take action.

7. Escalate when essential.

When you 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 grievance with the airline,” says the DOT. “DOT requires airways to acknowledge client complaints inside 30 days of receiving them and to ship shoppers written responses addressing these complaints inside 60 days of receiving them.”

Find out how to Stop Misplaced Baggage

The DOT gives in depth steerage on stopping misplaced baggage on its web site. Probably the most useful solutions 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 that to maintain an AirTag or different monitoring gadget in your suitcase. At all times label your bag together with your title and telephone quantity on a baggage tag and the within of the bag. If it does get misplaced, this can assist establish your baggage so it will get again to you sooner.

One other nice strategy to forestall misplaced baggage is to examine in to your flight early. When you examine in on the final minute, it may be more difficult to your bag to get on board, which could lead to it getting misplaced. When the agent offers you your baggage declare stub, maintain it till you could have your bag in hand.

Lastly, attempt to maintain your itinerary so simple as potential. When you have a number of layovers, particularly brief 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 just a few days later, but it surely was nonetheless a irritating 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 generally is a irritating and irritating expertise, particularly whenever 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 maintain your most precious possessions with you, and by no means place something you possibly can’t reside with out in your checked bag. Once I journey, I all the time maintain my laptop computer, chargers, drugs, and primary toiletries with me, simply in case.