Lost Airline Luggage | FerrariChat

Lost Airline Luggage

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Billy10mm, Sep 25, 2005.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Billy10mm

    Billy10mm Formula Junior

    Nov 11, 2003
    664
    Westchester
    Full Name:
    Billy Ng
    Anyone had their luggage lost by the airline before? I got back yesterday from Puerto Rico with the wife and only 1 of our 2 bags came down the conveyor. For the record, it was American Airlines and after this ordeal, I will never be flying with them again. It's been 24 hours and the wife and I have been on the phone with baggage claim at JFK and in San Juan every few hours, but no one has any idea where the bag is. I'm so pissed you can't imagine.

    I had 8 rolls of film from two great natural-light photo-shoots with my wife on the beach (she's pregant and many of these photos were destined for a sort-of photo-documentary of our first pregnancy I'm putting together) .... and more than anything I want those back. I had a stethoscope I've been keeping with me as I try every few days to hear my baby's heart beat for the first time. My wife had a pair of earrings in my bag that were a gift from her some ex-coworkers of hers. Those are just the things we really miss.

    We've made up a list of contents, and we're only out about $1420 including the cost of the bag itself, but the emotional loss of the items is soooo much more than any price. I'd give $5K for my vacation photos back ... arghhhhhhh.

    American Airline first told us that we'd probably have the bag in our hands in twelve hours, then another twelve, now maybe another 24. We keep hearing things like, "Don't worry, this happens all the time, and 99% of bags get returned to their owners" ... but guestimated number from $7-an-hour customer service personelle does little to quell my feelings that the bag is long gone. As I mentioned earlier, I called San Juan a few times, they don't have any sort of tracking system aside from when you first check in the luggage, so no one can tell me if it made my plane, or any plane for that matter. NY/JFK has no clue either, AA has been absolutely worthless. As I'm writing this, my wife is on the phone again and from the tone of her voice I can tell she's getting the runaround again. What gets me the worst is that there is no security whatsoever in the baggage claim area. Anyone can walk in off the street, stand by the baggage claim belts, pick up a random bag and walk out. The airline keeps trying to tell me not to worry, that that sort of thing doesn't happen, but it sure would make me feel better if there was SOME sort of security involved with removing a bag from baggage claim.

    Anyway, I'm looking to hear who else has lost their luggage and what the outcome was? Anyone lost a bag with AA specifically? Anyone lost a bag and gotten it back after the next day .. they keep telling me that I should've had it back in the first 24 hours, and since it's past that point and its still not back, I'm feeling like it must be gone.

    Bill in Brooklyn
     
  2. LetsJet

    LetsJet F1 Veteran
    Owner

    May 24, 2004
    9,334
    DC/LA/Paris/Haleiwa
    Full Name:
    Mr.
    Yes,

    I've had a bag misplaced. I don't recall the airline, though it could have been AA or UAL. The bag was delivered out to me in a day or two.

    I was upset when I waited at the conveyor belt and it didn't show. Then I had to fill out the info. But after that I just went home and tried to forget about it. It showed up and I'm sure your will also.

    So, put it behind you and let them worry about this.

    Side note - Try and keep valuables & film (digital too) with you in carry on.
     
  3. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    51,459
    SFPD
    Full Name:
    Dirty Harry
    Been there, done that - certain items were obviously searched to no avail. took 2 days before suitcase was delivered.

    Diaper smuggling does not pay.
     
  4. Billy10mm

    Billy10mm Formula Junior

    Nov 11, 2003
    664
    Westchester
    Full Name:
    Billy Ng
    I was in Mexico with the wife 6 months ago. I don't like my film getting X-rayed (I've lost a few rolls of 800 speed in past years, so I have to assume there's at least damage to slower film). Departing JFK, if you have your film seperated ahead of time I can request that it be hand inspected, Newark too. But coming home from Mexico, Los Cabos airport made me X-Ray it, I didn't want to take that change in PR as well so I secured it in between t-shirts in the luggage. Looking back now, that was a dumb move, but then again I never lost a bag before so I wasn't too worried.

    The jewelry thing was just dumb, and I'm not sure why I did it, especially considering we had 4 carry-on bags and we could've put the jewelry in any of them, but that doesn't fix the fact that its gone.

    Bill
     
  5. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    I've had my bags miss connections at least 4 times, every time they were delivered to me within 2-3 days.
     
  6. Gilles27

    Gilles27 F1 World Champ

    Mar 16, 2002
    13,337
    Ex-Urbia
    Full Name:
    Jack
    Have faith. My folks just went to Europe via London. En route, British Airways went on strike and they weren't able to get their bags at Heathrow. They were re-booked on some Eastern Euro airline to Budapest and had to spend 3 days of their tour w/o luggage. Eventually the bags caught up to them and the world made sense again.
     
  7. LetsJet

    LetsJet F1 Veteran
    Owner

    May 24, 2004
    9,334
    DC/LA/Paris/Haleiwa
    Full Name:
    Mr.
    Bill,

    As you can see, you're not the only one to go through this. I never lost film in an xray machine when I was shooting film. I've gone through Mexico and I'd shoot 50 - 200 speed. Now, it's all digital Canon 20D and I usually D/L to laptop.

    You will most likely get everything back.
     
  8. Ducky355

    Ducky355 Formula Junior

    Sep 21, 2005
    469
    Oaks, PA
    Full Name:
    Matt
    When I was younger I lost my luggage on a trip to Zermatt. The killer part about this trip is while i was on transfer in England.... I watched my bags get onto another plane.

    The other killer was that I was going to Zermatt for some intense ski/race training and didn't have any of my gear for the trip.

    Zermatt is quite a bit of a P.I.T.A. to get to as it requires a series of taxi's and trains (no cars can actually go into Zermatt). Regardless the airline company was able to get my gear to me within a few days and I was able to borrow sponsored gear from the trainers.
     
  9. TigerAce

    TigerAce Formula 3

    May 29, 2003
    1,793
    Dallas, TX
    Full Name:
    Yoshi Ace
    I had luggage problem few times since I started to fly in 1975.

    In 2001, I lost a content of a check-in luggage. It was LV purse. Airline send me to negotiate w/ the airport (it was after 9-11 and randomly selected luggages were opened & inspected by Airport workers)

    In 2000, my 1 whole luggage was lost for 1 week, but recovered badly damaged in Miami Airport even though my route was Narita-DFW. They couldn't explain why my luggage was found in FL. Airline repaired the luggage to almost original shape, and paid about $1,000.

    In 1990, both of my check-in luggage were lost in Portland, but they delivered them to where we were staying on the same night.

    So chances are you'll recover your luggage. Don't be distressed too much (although I sympathize your situation), and wait for a good news.
     
  10. SrfCity

    SrfCity F1 World Champ

    It'll show up. Just be patient.
     
  11. PeterS

    PeterS Four Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 24, 2003
    47,933
    Goodyear, AZ
    Full Name:
    PeterS
    Quite often. That is why I always carry a toothbrush, hair brush and some shower in the can (Deoderant) in my carry-on. I got wise though. Whenever I fly from San Jose to O'Hare, I simply route my bag to Boston and it always ends up at O'Hare!
     
  12. ylshih

    ylshih Shogun Assassin
    Honorary Owner

    Mar 21, 2004
    19,809
    Northern CA
    Full Name:
    Yin
    I usually go carry-on these days. But I've had a bag lost on 2 separate occasions in the past, each was a 2-day delay for it to be returned. However, a friend just visited (LA-SF, so no connections) and her bag was lost and it still hasn't been found after 2 months.
     
  13. Kram

    Kram Formula Junior

    Jul 3, 2004
    867
    Park bench, Canada
    Full Name:
    Mark
    #13 Kram, Sep 26, 2005
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    There was a period of time during which my suitcase was lost so often I took to carrying around a picture of it - it made filling out the description part of the ‘lost’ forms a lot easier. I always got it back, though one time it took about a week. Things are improving however; my suitcase hasn’t been lost once - since June 15th this year (Vancouver - Toronto - Florida).

    Here’s a good tip: When you pack your case put a sheet of paper on top of your clothes with your name, address, email and phone number on it. That way when all the baggage and name tags are ripped off by the handlers and the case is opened by lost luggage they will know where to send it and who to contact.

    Do you remember the Aloha 737 disaster in ‘88? Due to metal fatigue the top of the fuselage just ripped off. Unbelievably all the passengers were fine. I must confess that after the shock I couldn’t help but see the black humor that could have been there:

    The good news is that Uncle Fred’s suitcase is on carousel No: 6. The bad news is that we can’t find Uncle Fred......
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  14. justhrowit

    justhrowit Formula 3

    Feb 12, 2004
    1,027
    Dallas
    Full Name:
    Jay D.
    Any news on this one? Hope the airlines comes up with your bags!

    J
     
  15. Malfoy

    Malfoy Formula 3

    Mar 22, 2004
    1,960
    Hampton, VA
    Last school year, I flew home about 5 or 6 times. My luggage didn't make it at the same time as me 4 or 5 of those times (either going or coming back). Always 8 hours to a day before I was reunited with my stuff. I flew United.
     
  16. REMIX

    REMIX Two Time F1 World Champ

    I fly weekly and I have a rule to never check anything. I can pack a roll-on bag pretty well to last me three or four days and can always call room service to take care of cleaning/pressing my clothes if my stay ends up extended for some reason.

    The rule is don't check it or else pack only what you can live without should it disappear.

    Besides, it just kicks total ass to walk out of the terminal straight to your car or to a waiting cab while everyone else waits for their luggage.

    RMX
     
  17. WAR EGL

    WAR EGL Formula Junior

    May 8, 2003
    726
    SE Connecticut
    Full Name:
    TWS
    Flew to Key West a couple of years ago. It was a United flight that was actually codeshare flights with the first two legs on USAir, the final leg on Continental. We were late landing in Philly (end of our first leg), and I didn't expect the luggage to make the connection. When we got to Key West the luggage didn't show and we had to deal with Continental for paperwork related to the lost luggage. When filling out the paperwork we found that the USAir attendant had never put the destination tracker tag on the luggage when we checked in in Providence. All of the tags were stapled inside the boarding pass paper sleeve they give you when checking in. At that point with three different airlines involved them not being overly helpful, combined with the fact that the luggage only had an address tag on it, I never expected to see that luggage again. Less than 24 hours later it showed up at the guest house we were staying at.

    So don't lose your faith. If that luggage made it to us in less than 24 hours, your luggage will likely appear at some point...
     
  18. Billy10mm

    Billy10mm Formula Junior

    Nov 11, 2003
    664
    Westchester
    Full Name:
    Billy Ng
    No, we're now at the 48 hour mark and no one at AA in PR or AA in NY has any idea where the baggage might be. The wife and I are still pretty convinced it was lifted off the belt by someone, so I'm going to have her call and see if she can get security to check the security cameras from that time.

    Bill in Brooklyn
     
  19. branko

    branko F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 17, 2003
    3,710
    Birmingham, Alabama
    Full Name:
    Branko Medenica
    The airlines have lost my luggage from time to time, but they managed to find them a day or two later. One time I had a large, hard shell, Samsonite case that the gorillas in baggage claim, somehow, smashed the feet up into the case. At least, I got a new case out of it.
     
  20. TigerAce

    TigerAce Formula 3

    May 29, 2003
    1,793
    Dallas, TX
    Full Name:
    Yoshi Ace
    Why do you think some American employee would do that? Was your luggage some popular brand's? Was it stands out from all luggages going through?
     
  21. Billy10mm

    Billy10mm Formula Junior

    Nov 11, 2003
    664
    Westchester
    Full Name:
    Billy Ng
    Never said I thought an American employee did that. When we got off the plane at JFK, my wife thought she saw a late teenage kid pick up a bag similar in color to ours off the belt. She didn't think anything of it at the time because she figured that if he grabbed the wrong luggage, he'd be back for his own soon enough.

    When the belt finally served up the last piece of luggage, there was nothing left at all. When we walked towards the exit, we realized that the doors were locked open and there were no security guards whatsoever in the baggage claim area. There was nothing at all preventing someone from just walking in off the street, picking up a bag, and walking out with it.

    In Puerto Rico, the ticket on each piece of luggage has to match your boarding pass before you can walk out of baggage claim with it, there was no security whatsoever at JFK. We tried getting the terminal to check the security tapes from the cameras ... but we're getting stone-walled. When my wife asked to speak to a manager, the asswipe on the other end of the line asked, "Why do you need to speak to a manager? What do you think I am, stupid?" and she hung up!! Between losing my personal belongings and getting the absolute worst customer service I've ever heard of much less been privy too ... I'm out of my mind.

    Bill in Brooklyn
     
  22. mike550

    mike550 Formula Junior

    Aug 20, 2003
    859
    California - LA & SF
    Full Name:
    Mike G
    Bill not many Airports match luggage tags these days. I don't think the airline lost your bag. As you mention - it was likely taken at the carousel. I am a very frequent flyer (Global Services on United - 2 million actual flight miles) and had a bag taken accidentally years ago (I know because there was one bag left on the carousel that looked vaguely like mine). I now never leave that to chance and rarely check a bag and if I do, I great it personally at the bottom of the carousel ramp.

    I think you are correct in your assumption about the theft - sorry to hear about this. It sucks. I hope you get it back.
     
  23. stevep

    stevep F1 Veteran

    Jan 19, 2004
    8,345
    Geordie Land
    Full Name:
    steve
    mine was lost and claiming onthe insurance is a nightmare
     
  24. robert biscan

    robert biscan F1 Veteran

    Jan 17, 2003
    5,066
    Nashville and Palm b
    Full Name:
    robert s biscan
    My wife and I went to Italy last week and our bags didn't show up either. About 12 midnite they rang us with our bags. On the way home, same thing . The Atlanta security sent our bags to Delta instead of KLM which only added an hour to our time to get home.
     
  25. TigerAce

    TigerAce Formula 3

    May 29, 2003
    1,793
    Dallas, TX
    Full Name:
    Yoshi Ace
    I see what you mean now. Thanks for explaining.
    Based on your post, you can submit your complain to AA at aa.com.
    Be detailed on complain, date & time you called, the name of person you spoke & her reaction (like what you posted)
    It's better to handle over the net than phone calls for claim/complain nowadays.
     

Share This Page