You’re tired and looking terrible. Just had a long flight and you are finally arrived at the luggage carousel. You’re waiting and waiting….realizing that your luggage isn’t where it has to be. Great! “What should I do now?” Is what I hear you say. You have some plans and important meetings where you have to be in a few hours. You still have some things to do before the plans…What now?
Where should I start?
What should you do first? The first thing you’ll need to do when your luggage gets lost is at the airport itself. Go to the luggage counter, which is mostly close to the luggage carousel and talk to a representative. Make sure you have the luggage receipt for every piece you’ve checked in when you first arrived at the airport. Why do you need these pieces when your luggage gets lost? These are very important to keep with you. You can use them to determine when something is wrong with your luggage.
Fact: according to The Travel Insider, only 2 percent of “lost” luggage is really lost. The luggage is likely to be either delayed or on board another plane by accident. So that’s a bit positive on this subject!
What are your rights?
If the airline loses your luggage, you have rights. As soon as you aren’t upset about it as much as you did and you drank a delicious coffee to calm down, then it’s time to get your head up and working on getting your things back! If your luggage is lost, many airlines have a maximum claim allowance, which is usually indicated on the back of your ticket, baggage receipt or on your airline’s website. If your luggage has been declared officially lost, the airline will reimburse you for it. You’ll need to fill out a claim form and detail what was inside each bag. It’s important to take these claim allowances into careful consideration, especially when you’re packing.
Tip: when you have a claim limit around 250 euro, then it’s not really smart to pack a 900 euro laptop in your luggage.
Tricks to prevent that your luggage gets lost
- Avoid tight connections when you’re planning your air travel—if you’re struggling to get to your next flight, chances are, the people in
charge of your luggage are feeling frazzled too. - Take off any old tags from flights you have taken before as these might confuse the person responsible for directing the luggage.
- Make sure that when you check in to your flight, the person checking your bags attaches the correct destination tags to all of your bags.
- Put your name and phone number on the outside and inside of your luggage.
- Use something to differentiate your suitcase, such as a colorful ribbon, to help avoid someone with similar-looking luggage from grabbing it by mistake.
- Take a photo of your luggage, which you may help the airline employee identify it later.
Hopefully you understand what to do, but we rather want you to travel save without losing any luggage! Still need a save bag or cabin luggage to travel with? Check out our travel bags for sale at the online web shop.