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 will have the sinking feeling that yours gained’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 frequent incidence. 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, a whole bunch of 1000’s of baggage nonetheless get mishandled in transit for one cause or one other. Crucial 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 may obtain compensation in your misplaced objects as much as a most legal responsibility decided by the DOT. Listed here are the steps you have 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 liable for finding the bag,” says the DOT. “Airways have monitoring methods in place to attempt to establish the bag’s location. Some airways now supply 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 routinely assume it’s misplaced. Typically, it simply takes a very long time on account of staffing points or the airport’s measurement. 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 may rapidly decide the situation. If you happen to’ve waited and checked different carousels and nonetheless can’t discover your bag, you may speak 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 must be straightforward to seek out. Present the agent the bag tag you acquired if you checked your bag. They may be capable to find your bag within the system. If not, you’ll must fill out a lacking baggage report.

Whenever you fill out your lacking baggage report, you’ll be requested about any figuring out details about your bag: the model, shade, measurement, any figuring out marks, approximate weight, and so on. You’ll additionally must put your contact data, native handle, and details about your flight. The extra figuring out data, the higher. So, in case 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 robust bag tag.

“Passengers ought to file a baggage declare with their airline as quickly as doable and keep in shut communication with the airline after submitting a declare and through the baggage location course of,” explains the DOT. Be sure you hold your case reference quantity so you may 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 differ between airways, so ask the consultant what will probably be coated for important bills till they find your bag. They won’t proactively offer you this data, 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 what they are going to cowl, you may buy groceries. Maintain your whole receipts so you may submit the request for reimbursement. This isn’t the time to go on a full purchasing spree, however you may 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 exhausting manner 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 differ from one airline to a different,” says the DOT. “As soon as an airline determines {that a} bag is misplaced, the airline is liable 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 will probably be delivered to you inside just a few days. In case your bag is delayed, be sure that they drop it off at your native handle. 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, it is best to contact your bank card issuer as quickly as doable. 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 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 a whole bunch of {dollars}.

6. Maintain 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 if you stuffed 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, you have to 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 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.

If you happen to aren’t getting anyplace along 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.”

The right way to Stop Misplaced Baggage

The DOT offers intensive steerage on stopping misplaced baggage on its web site. Probably the most 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 vital, irreplaceable, or fragile objects in your checked bag. Within the unlikely occasion that your bag does get misplaced, having this stuff 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 along 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 strategy to stop misplaced baggage is to verify in in your flight early. If you happen to verify in on the final minute, it may be tougher in your bag to get on board, which could end in it getting misplaced. When the agent provides you your baggage declare stub, hold it till you will have your bag in hand.

Lastly, attempt to hold your itinerary so simple as doable. When you’ve got 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 just a few days later, however it was nonetheless a aggravating 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 aggravating and irritating expertise, particularly if you’re on trip. If it does occur to you, comply with 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 useful possessions with you, and by no means place something you may’t dwell with out in your checked bag. Once I journey, I at all times hold my laptop computer, chargers, drugs, and primary toiletries with me, simply in case.