Hi,
I apologise if this has been covered before. I assumed it would have been, but I did some searching and couldn't find anything, but perhaps I didn't search for the right thing.
I'm interested in what avenues one has if one's hand luggage, or something inside it, has been damaged while in the overhead compartment, by another passenger on a plane. Consider the following scenario:
I get on and put my laptop bag in the overhead compartment. For the sake of argument, let's say I'm in a bulkhead row, so can't put it under the seat in front of me. Boarding continues and a few minutes later another passenger looks around, finds not enough space for his bag, so starts to try to shove it into the same overhead compartment.
After take off I stand up, remove the other passenger's bag to get to my laptop, remove my laptop bag, and replace the other passenger's bag in the locker. I sit down and try to use my laptop, only to find the screen is broken.
What options do I have regarding claiming the cost of damages?
Morally speaking, it seems clear to me that the other passenger damaged my belongings, so should have to compensate me. Legally speaking, however, I suspect that I have no recourse with that individual or the airline, and would have to revert to a travel insurance claim. This seems even more likely if I didn't actually discover the damage until after landing (say, the following work day).
Would anything change if I had been in a non-bulkhead row, stored the laptop under the seat in front, and the passenger in front had damaged it with his feet? Or if it wasn't a laptop, but instead some other personal belonging?
(This is actually a hypothetical situation, but I have often wondered about it.)
Thanks!
mrpooky.
I apologise if this has been covered before. I assumed it would have been, but I did some searching and couldn't find anything, but perhaps I didn't search for the right thing.
I'm interested in what avenues one has if one's hand luggage, or something inside it, has been damaged while in the overhead compartment, by another passenger on a plane. Consider the following scenario:
I get on and put my laptop bag in the overhead compartment. For the sake of argument, let's say I'm in a bulkhead row, so can't put it under the seat in front of me. Boarding continues and a few minutes later another passenger looks around, finds not enough space for his bag, so starts to try to shove it into the same overhead compartment.
After take off I stand up, remove the other passenger's bag to get to my laptop, remove my laptop bag, and replace the other passenger's bag in the locker. I sit down and try to use my laptop, only to find the screen is broken.
What options do I have regarding claiming the cost of damages?
Morally speaking, it seems clear to me that the other passenger damaged my belongings, so should have to compensate me. Legally speaking, however, I suspect that I have no recourse with that individual or the airline, and would have to revert to a travel insurance claim. This seems even more likely if I didn't actually discover the damage until after landing (say, the following work day).
Would anything change if I had been in a non-bulkhead row, stored the laptop under the seat in front, and the passenger in front had damaged it with his feet? Or if it wasn't a laptop, but instead some other personal belonging?
(This is actually a hypothetical situation, but I have often wondered about it.)
Thanks!
mrpooky.