Delayed Baggage

[Mal]

Had a situation where my bag missed the plane, and my bag didn't arrive at my hotel for over 8 hours after arrival. (I assume SYD Intl airport is at fault. Yet another delayed bag to add to their tally for this month!)

I arrived at night, so bought a few "essentials". The bag luckily turned up around 2am or so, so was able to collect it the next morning.

Having a look through the various insurance policies that are relevant to this trip, none cover delayed baggage except for when it is delayed for more than 12 hours.

Should I be chasing up QF for my expenses (~$40AUD)? Do their conditions of carriage allow for delayed bags/IATA etc have any policies on the matter?

 

[Maca44]

I have had two similar incidents when luggage did not arrive, with one being QF domestic and one being Int'l flight. On the domestic leg I had to purchase clothing for the kids and other personal items, and when I returned to Brisbane airport, and on production of the receipts QF reimbursed me 'cash'. It would have been about $150 and after I completed a claim form there was no argument from QF about it.

Edit: Forgot about Int'l/ usa United domestic flight.... In September 2004 flew SFO to SEA and then when the bag with most of the kids clothing did not arrive waited for an hour before being told the bag was on the next flight. Waited a further 45 mins only to be told the bag had been loaded onto a LAX flight and it was still in LAX. We had to drive 90 mins east of Seattle to Ellensburg, and UA said they would have a courier deliver it to us that night. Cut a long story short, did not arrive until two days later with no explanation. HOWEVER, two weeks later when we returned to SEA for our return flight SFO -SYD it was recorded on their computer and received a $250 travel voucher as compensation which was nice seeing that I had forgotten about the incident by them.

 

[JohnK]

Happened to me in KL once. I got there at ~8:00am and bag did not arrive on a later SQ flight from SIN until ~4:00pm and they got it to me around around ~5:00pm.

I was told I could buy some necessities but did not really care as I just wanted to get to hotel and go to sleep.

I hope it does not happen again and I have heard of people not receiving luggage until a few days later. Ouch.

 

[MetroAir]

Happened to me a few times (even once when the airline tried to tell me it was my fault - I must have checked it into the wrong flight :shock: ) however most recently in Hawaii, flying first class interisland (1/2 hour flight) Oahu to Kauai, the bags arrived 3 hours late. They refunded 1, one way fare (my wife and I were flying return) still it was some compensation, just missed the AMEX 4 hours $400 compensation!

John, enjoy your holiday and get out on the beach/in a bar/ at a restaurant/visit a temple - stop posting for a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BlacKnox]

John, enjoy your holiday and get out on the beach/in a bar/ at a restaurant/visit a temple - stop posting for a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agreed . And if you get the chance JohnK please visit the new Sheraton there and give us a trip report :idea: .

 

[JohnK]

John, enjoy your holiday and get out on the beach/in a bar/ at a restaurant/visit a temple - stop posting for a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am enjoying my holiday but my problem is I am now a compulsive aff posting freak. :roll:

Keep running into internet cafes in between bar hops.

Sorry BlacKnox I won't be giving a trip report on the new sheraton. The coughroaches, and every other crawly thing you can possibly think of, and I are trying to come to an arrangement where I am staying. I will leave them alone if they leave me alone. :wink:

Off to the beach now before the sunsets.

 

[BlacKnox]

Sorry BlacKnox I won't be giving a trip report on the new sheraton. The coughroaches, and every other crawly thing you can possibly think of, and I are trying to come to an arrangement where I am staying. I will leave them alone if they leave me alone. :wink:

Off to the beach now before the sunsets.

Understood. Enjoy your holiday in Thailand, and if you can from AFF!

 

[Mal]

Thanks, will chase Qantas up over it to get the form etc.

Is there any chance that Qantas could send me out some compensation without me asking for it? (ala other inflight incidents)? Hate chasing paperwork for such a small amount if they are going to compensate me in other ways...

[oh, maybe that's why I got that domestic Op-up today! ]

 

[kevinwong]

Baggage missed domestic Qantas flight

I travelled Qantas from Adelaide-Melbourne-Sydney and they some how forgot my baggage in Adelaide and it was scheduled to be put on the next flight to Melbourne.
I wasn't happy waiting 30-40 minutes at the baggage collection area wandering where my bags were and being late to a meeting. The staff didn't know why they put it on the next flight. But they offered to deliver it to me - which was useless as I was only staying a few hours and they couldn't redirect it to Sydney.

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Baggage missed domestic Qantas flight

I travelled Qantas from Adelaide-Melbourne-Sydney and they some how forgot my baggage in Adelaide and it was scheduled to be put on the next flight to Melbourne.
I wasn't happy waiting 30-40 minutes at the baggage collection area wandering where my bags were and being late to a meeting. The staff didn't know why they put it on the next flight. But they offered to deliver it to me - which was useless as I was only staying a few hours and they couldn't redirect it to Sydney.

This stuff happens (and seemingly mostly to people that have tight commitments at the other end.), but so could a 40 minute delay in the plane.

My experience with QF is that they have always delivered it to me when it arrives on the next flight.

Air Canada offered nothing, and told me it wasn't their problem how I dealt with the delay and lack of 'essentials' on my person. Fortunately it turned into a 3 day saga, so the insurance company came to the rescue.

 

[JohnK]

I wish I knew where my mind was half the time.

Checked-in at BKK yesterday to return to SYD via SIN,BNE. Didn't think that I needed to collect my luggage at BNE as flight to SYD was domestic. The check-in lady in BKK saw this in my itinerary and still checked my luggage through to SYD as this is what I had asked.

Got to BNE this morning cleared customs and immigration, after what seemed to be about an hour, and would have missed my connection QF513 but lucky flight was cancelled. Was put on to QF517 an hour later.

Arrived in SYD and waited for my luggage to appear but no luggage. Went to baggage services and they told me it was in BNE and I should have collected it in BNE as I was clearing immigration there. Anyway arrived on a later flight and they couriered it to my place around 6pm. Got to hand it to Qantas they do a good job with misplaced luggage.

No-one had told me I had to collect my luggage in BNE as I was connecting to domestic. It is probably in the fine print somewhere but shouldn't check-in agents around the world know these rules. Or is that my responsibility?

 

[delsbells]

Hi,

Iberian managed to lose my bag between Madrid and Sao Paulo and three months later I am still waiting for compensation and my bag (they claim to have found it three days after it was lost but still have not managed to get it to me!).
Unfortunately my insurance company wants me to attempt to get compensation from the airline first before I can make a claim with them.
Fingers crossed I will eventually be compensated by someone and may one day see my bag again?

Moral of the story - don't fly Iberian. All the years I have flown with Qantas they have never lost my bag.

 

[delsbells]

Hi,

Iberian managed to lose my bag between Madrid and Sao Paulo and three months later I am still waiting for compensation and my bag (they claim to have found it three days after it was lost but still have not managed to get it to me!).
Unfortunately my insurance company wants me to attempt to get compensation from the airline first before I can make a claim with them.
Fingers crossed I will eventually be compensated by someone and may one day see my bag again?

Moral of the story - don't fly Iberian. All the years I have flown with Qantas they have never lost my bag.

 

[cabbage74]

Hi,

Iberian managed to lose my bag between......snip
Moral of the story - don't fly Iberian. All the years I have flown with Qantas they have never lost my bag.

Hi, well on my recent trips IB managed to get my bags IST-MAD (via BCN) through checked to EZE with no problems at all. On the other hand QF managed to mess it up on my SCL-AKL-SYD transit to SYD-AKL flights just the other day. They made it to SYD then got taken off the plane, and not put back on. Anyway, when I got to AKL they told me that they were on the next flight. I had to wait for family coming from elsewhere so my bag arrived before they did.

Moral of the story, any airline/airport can lose your bags....but some you may get a better response from.

Malcolm.

 

[vaccav]

lost bags

I regularly fly Sydney to Edinburgh with QF and BA. The bags get lost or delayed between 30% and 50% of the time. I am told by the staff in Edinburgh that it's because "Heathrow is a disaster". BA in Edinburgh have a policy on what compensation you get. I can't recall, but it's something like:

- up to 6 hours: nothing
- 6-24 hours: buy a couple of 'essentials', they will refund you and they give you an 'overnight bag'
- 24+ hours: you can go out and buy some clothes (about $250) and they refund the whole lot on production of receipts.
- of course, they will deliver the bag to your door when it arrives.

Don't quote me on the number of hours, but I'd imagine that other airlines may have similar policies. Also, I have found that being plat and / or flying business encourages them to bend the rules a little: if you pay $8,500 for a business class seat and your baggage doesn't arrive then even the airline staff tend to agree that's appalling.

I think you should be able to get some compensation. Hope this helps !

vaccav

 

[Mal]

The conclusion to this story:

Qantas reimbursed me for my expenses and added a little bit more for the inconvenience caused. This was in the form of a cheque.

So thank you Qantas. Muchly appreciate it. Assuming it was the Sydney Airport's fault, I hope you can get compo from them !

 

[oz_mark]

So thank you Qantas. Muchly appreciate it. Assuming it was the Sydney Airport's fault, I hope you can get compo from them !

So I have been under the misapprehension that SACL run an efficient well regarded baggage system?

 

[Mal]

So I have been under the misapprehension that SACL run an efficient well regarded baggage system?

Nah you have the right idea. Their luggage system is world famous now, having been regarded well by British Airways and other airlines.

I'll aways remember this comment allegedly attributed to BA "the airline's London headquarters regards Sydney as "the worst airport in the world for punctuality"." (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/airport-one-of-the-worst/2006/01/21/1137734189841.html)

I think one of the better articles on the topic is: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...-another-flight/2006/01/22/1137864809575.html

As long as it's all fixed for the next time I head out through Syd. If they lose my luggage that time, I won't see it for a minimum of 24 hours, if they can even track me down on my obscure routing!

 

[jonesy]

It pays to get mad!!!

I regularly flew Syd-Mel-HK on the overnight Sunday special for a couple of years and on two occasions got to HK around 6am and was advised by ground staff that my luggage had not made it to HK with me. Qantas was using a domestic flight to get me from Syd to Melb and it was delayed and invariably the luggage didnt make it (as I had to run the entire way from domestic to international at Tullamarine to make the flight myself).

The first time it happened I had upgraded to Bus. class using points and so I went to the lost lugage counter and waited behind three ladies who had been on my flight to go through the paperwork process which took about 10mins. They werent too unhappy about it as it was their first trip to HK so were more excited about that than the missing luggage.

Then the nice lttle man got to me - and went through the standard apology stuff then took all my details etc and said my luggage would be on the next incoming flight (which I think was late afternoon). Then I launched into a controlled tirade about "what the hell am I going to wear to my lunch meeting in 5 hours time" and so on and asked him to get a supervisor for me to speak to. :evil:

Once again I deliver the controlled tirade - the super was able to apologise much better than his colleague (thats why he was the supervisor) and I thanked him for his gracious apology but pointed out I couldnt wear that to my business meeting.

They then (somewhat reluctantly) looked up their policy and found they had fixed compensation amounts according to what class I had flown (thank goodness for the upgrade) and gave me around US$170 to asist me in buying some decent clothes. Turns out the lunch was postponed to the next day so I had a very nice dinner courtesy of Qantas' tight scheduling!! 8)

The next time it occured I was in economy but still got enough to know it pays to get mad!

 

[acampbel]

Re: lost bags

... I regularly fly Sydney to Edinburgh with QF and BA. The bags get lost or delayed between 30% and 50% of the time. I am told by the staff in Edinburgh that it's because "Heathrow is a disaster"...

I am going SYD-LHR (QF) and LHR-GLA (BA) and had assumed I would clear customs in London (and change to Terminal 1) then become a domestic traveller to Glasgow. Is this not the case, or can you check the baggage through to Glasgow and avoid customs (and hauling bags between terminals) until then?

It may make a difference to what I choose to pack as I will possibly be carrying sleepy children on my 90-minute dash between terminals at Heathrow.


Cheers,

AC