Luggage Luck or BAU?

[vt01]

Well, it finally happened. After 100's of thousand of miles of air travel, my luggage went missing from Sydney to Edinburgh.
I was travelling with a colleague on the same flights. He checked in about 10 minutes before I did in Sydney. We were waiting in Edinburgh around 11:00 am for our bags and his comes through. I'm thinking mine should not be much longer. There's still about 5 of us waiting for bags. Then comes that awful statement from the BA rep -
'That's it - no more bags. You'll need to go to baggage services and tell them your bag hasn't arrived.'
I used to travel with at least one change of clothes in my carry on. However, after so many successful trips, I've become a bit slack. Going to a cold climate and only had one light fleece and short sleeve shirt with me! :shock:
As it turns up I was very lucky.
Over to baggage services I go. Show them my claim tag and they punch the number into the computer. He gives me a pre-printed letter and writes a reference number on it and says when it arrives, they'll courier it to my hotel. I'm thinking how many days is this going to take! I asked if he knew where my bag was and he said it had arrived in LHR - phew - and that it had already been alocated a flight and I could expect it at my hotel between 3 and 4 this afternoon.
.
The thing that struck me about this was that it all seemed so normal to the BA staff. If this is the case then i do indeed feel lucky!
Or perhaps my luck is about to change :shock:

 

[serfty]

Only the one piece of luggage has ever gone missing in any travel I have done and that was mini serfty's bag not getting of the aircraft ex LGW (ex DUB) like the other bags in our party, instead doing it's own thing to Zurich.

To help mollify SWMBO, I advised her that our TI would cover up to $200 emergency expenditure - which immediately became a challenge for her. She saw this as a free $200 spend - shame she spent over $300. :shock:

 

[vt01]

Only the one piece of luggage has ever gone missing in any travel I have done and that was mini serfty's bag not getting of the aircraft ex LGW (ex DUB) like the other bags in our party, instead doing it's own thing to Zurich.

To help mollify SWMBO, I advised her that our TI would cover up to $200 emergency expenditure - which immediately became a challenge for her. She saw this as a free $200 spend - shame she spent over $300. :shock:

hahahahaha.. it's a bit like estimating the cost of a project - get a figure and double it.. Except in this case you need to halve it!

 

[munitalP]

Only the one piece of luggage has ever gone missing in any travel I have done and that was mini serfty's bag not getting of the aircraft ex LGW (ex DUB) like the other bags in our party, instead doing it's own thing to Zurich.

To help mollify SWMBO, I advised her that our TI would cover up to $200 emergency expenditure - which immediately became a challenge for her. She saw this as a free $200 spend - shame she spent over $300. :shock:

Sounds like she's related to Mrs!

Good job on getting the luggage in such a short time! LHR has had "luggage problems" in the recent past and I expect that the BA attendents have learned to expect the unexpected...

Mr!

 

[straitman]

Sounds like she's related to Mrs!

In a spending sense, aren't they all related :!: :shock:

 

[simongr]

I am still confused as to what BAU refers?

 

[NM]

I am still confused as to what BAU refers?

Business As Usual

 

[serfty]

I am still confused as to what BAU refers?

Business As Usual ...

 

[matt.blak]

Not all lost luggage is a disappointment.

A few years ago I was backpacking around Malaysia & Thailand, including a few days camping in the jungle, when I returned to Australia my luggage was lost.

I had to leave on my next trip before my luggage turned up.

Australian Customs took one look at my dirty stuff and everything got washed and folded before it was delivered to me, I never saw a bill - Great Result!

 

[harvyk]

I think (although this is based on my own experiences only) that it's rare that luggage is lost forever. I've only had "lost" luggage twice, and in each case I got it back within a few hours.

Whilst I can't comment with BA, QF seems to have the lost luggage procedure down to a fine art.

First time it happened it actually worked in my favour, I flew into ADL from BNE one morning and then flying back to CBR (home) that night. I made a bit of a fuss about it that afternoon when I pick my bags up and they put me in the QP as an apology. In reality it did me a favour as I didn't have to cart around bulky luggage all day and I didn't have to find and pay for a locker.

Although I guess they had the last laugh, I decided I liked the QP too much and became a member within a couple of months.

 

[JohnK]

I think (although this is based on my own experiences only) that it's rare that luggage is lost forever. I've only had "lost" luggage twice, and in each case I got it back within a few hours.

Whilst it may be rare to "lose" luggage forever I don't think anyone wants it to happen to them. I didn't worry about it much until I visited the "lost" luggage room at ATH airport 2 years ago. I cannot imagine too much of that luggage is reunited with it's rightful owner and it feels like I won a major prize in the lottery when I spotted my luggage in that room....