Community Chat

[Nataliesgramma]

We have been lucky so far. My daughter had her large piece totally destroyed and but they replaced it right away.

Just wondering what you do since we will be traveling again in the fall and now my daughter is paranoid abou it.

[FrostyBabe]

Totally lost? Never. Not in over 1 million miles flown. I've had it misconnect and catch up to me later, but that was typically because of changes to my itinerary while the trip was in progress (weather, mechnical delays, etc). I did have one bag destroyed. I had to gate check my rollerboard because the commuter jet doesn't have large enough overhead bins, and when I got it back it had clearly been run over by a tug. I filed a claim with the airline and it was taken care of. 

[Burnsite]

It has happened to me, Nataliesgrandma. I've had two suitcases seriously damaged (in each case, the airline actually had, at the baggage claims desk, a cheap suitcase as a replacement).

My bag was lost (but eventually recovered) 3 times by different airlines, making the first day or two of those trips rather uncomfortable.  One of those times I had to attend an awards banquet on the first night in my travel outfit, which happened to be jeans, white cotton shirt, and a sweater.

You can Google  "Airlines Lost Bags" and see who is most prone to losing bags, but they all do it once in a while.  Still, if I counted the problems against my full number of trips as a fairly frequent traveler, the ratio might be about once every 30-50 trips.

[KonaKat]

This has only happened once several years ago. I always take a picture of my luggage and enclose a copy of the intinerary inside the luggage and in its outside pocket. In the case of the lost luggage, the tags including baggage tags were sheared off in baggage handling during a connection transfer.  They were able to identify the luggage and get it to me late that night. I told the airline that I had a business engagement that evening and they gave me a voucher to purchase an outfit.

[VaBelle35]

Misdirected and missed connections a few times, but every time it was on my way home, so it didn't matter when it arrived.

Never completely lost.

The last time my bag missed a connection in Dallas and I asked for and received the checked bag fee refund.  My bag arrived a lot worse for wear, so I used the $25 toward a new, updated  suitcase.

Once they completely destroyed the inside contents by leaving my bag out in the pouring rain or dragging it through a river.  United made good on it.  I was going to Florida for a conference and I had white and fuschia clothing when I left my house and pink clothing when I arrived.  I sent United the receipts for all of the clothing destroyed and they refunded my expenses.

It's still annoying, but thankfully the airlines have always made good on it to me.  And my issues have always been with United for some reason (probably because I have to fly them the most).

[VaBelle35]

When my bag missed the connection in March, I realized my favorite Starbucks VIA travel cup was in there.  That was the only thing I would have hate to have lost.  I quickly ordered a replacement off of eBay so that I have a spare.  They are about 10 years old now and Starbucks no longer makes/carries them, and I would be lost without it.

Other than that, I never check anything that can't be easily replaced or has sentimental value.

[Lipstickdiva]

Someone I  know had her luggage lost but it eventually got to her.  She was traveling Southwest and had planned to carry her bag on since she was only going for a weekend trip.

However, she was in boarding class C and by the time they got to her, the overheads were full and they took her bag to check it.  However, they never did.  It was left sitting at the airport.  About 3:00 in the morning, there was a knock on her hotel door with her suitcase.   

[Scooby Doo]

We did several years ago.  We took the grandkids to Disneyland and when we got there one of the bags with the kid's clothes was missing.  We searched for a long time, then filed a missing claim.  The bag did not show up during the whole trip.  We had to find a store and buy clothes for 3 girls which was money we didn't plan on spending.  
The airline told us to send them a list of what was in the suitcase, along with receipts for what we spent, and they would reimburse us. 

The bag finally was delivered to our home several days after we got home.  Apparently someone at the airport put the bag with those in a group going to a different hotel.  The bag sat at that hotel for a week before it was sent back to the airline.  Then it sat in the lost bag office for a while before they identified it.

[harcon]

On my last trip not only was my luggage lost but the luggage from the whole plane was lost.  The airline traced it to a bin but had no idea where the bin was.  So we all had to fill out lost bags paperwork.  Early the next morning the bin was located and my suitcase was delivered to my house intact with the liquor bottles unaffected.

[lulu2]

We've never had it totally lost but we've had it disdirected a number of times.  Fortunately most of the time, it was on the return trip.