Reimbursement of Expenses for Delayed Baggage on Qantas Flight

[serfty]

FWIW, I have an Annual policy obtained using this web site membership's 20% discount. It has a $125 excess with a maximum claim of $500.

So the most I could be reimbursed for delayed baggage is $375.

Moreover, if my emergency item purchases came to, say a more realistic, $150-$175 I would be reimbursed $25-$50.

IMHO, 'tis far better to get the liable carrier to ante up before departing the airport.

YMMV

 

[Mal]

My understanding is they will give economy passengers A$50, business passengers $150 and First passengers $300. BA seem to do the same. Have not had the problem with anyone else !!!

Sounds about right. Even on an F award ticket flying into Singapore (when Qantas lost my bags), Qantas ground staff provided a decent chunk of cash straight away. I then claimed a lot more (bag took about 48 hours to arrive), and it was approved.

 

[thomsonjs]

Whilst living in the EU, i often arrived home without my bags - generally when transitting through LHR.

However on an outbound trip with BA, i arrived in HGK bagless. Upon arrival they called me to say that my bags did not make the transfer, and provided me with $USD 100 to buy necessities (i was flying Business and was an Emerald FF with oneworld). Within 12 hrs, my luggage was delivered to my hotel.

All of this is a gentle reminder as a business flyer - to always fly in something you can turn up to a meeting in!!

 

[sampson]

Look at the Civil Aviation Montreal Convention legislation (Commonwealth) and the compensation for delayed baggage and flights.

 

[Dave Noble]

FWIW, I have an Annual policy obtained using this web site membership's 20% discount. It has a $125 excess with a maximum claim of $500.

The excess on the Columbus policy does not apply to delayed baggage; you would get the full $500 if delayed >24 hours

Seems a lot easier to me than trying to get the airline to pay

 

[straitman]

Look at the Civil Aviation Montreal Convention legislation (Commonwealth) and the compensation for delayed baggage and flights.

I think serfty can quote this line for line if needed :!:

Mere mortals like myself have it written down.

 

[serfty]

It is Columbus!

And there is a $125 excess.

Look at the PDS: http://www.columbusdirect.com.au/docs/PDS_P_V5.pdf

 

[Dave Noble]

It is Columbus!

And there is a $125 excess.

Look at the PDS: http://www.columbusdirect.com.au/docs/PDS_P_V5.pdf

I'd settle for looking at the credit that has appeared into my bank account when claiming since I have claimed twice off of Columbus

however

If you read section 6, you can see that it does not state

that You are NOT covered for

the first part of each and every claim as shown in the
Schedule (the Excess).

unlike sections 5 and 7. The full amount of $125, $250, $375 or $500 will be paid under section 6

If claiming for lost baggage, then , if within the coverage of the carrier, it would be worth pursuing the carrier but for delayed baggage , why worry

Dave

 

[serfty]

I'd settle for looking at the credit that has appeared into my bank account when claiming since I have claimed twice off of Columbus

however

If you read section 6, you can see that it does not state

that You are NOT covered for
...

Experiential evidence is good enough for me.

I noted the following:

SECTION 6
Delayed Baggage
You are covered for the reasonable cost of buying
immediate replacement necessities if your Personal
Baggage is lost, misdirected or misplaced by a Carrier on
the outward journey for at least 6 hours from the time of
your arrival at your Trip destination. We will pay up to 25%
of the amount stated in the Schedule for the first full 6 hour
delay and up to a further 25% for each full 6 hour delay
thereafter up to the amount stated in the Schedule. You
must provide original receipts for the items you purchase.
If your baggage is permanently lost, any amount we pay
under this section will be deducted from the total claim.
You are NOT covered for

• any claim excluded under the General Exclusions of
  this policy.
• any claim as excluded under Section 5.

and I saw section 5 exclusions as:

You are NOT covered for

• any claim excluded under the General Exclusions of
  this policy.
• the first part of each and every claim as shown in the
  Schedule (the Excess).
• ...

I course, with insurance companies I expect them to look for the most beneficial result for them.

 

[Dave Noble]

You are misreading it.

It is the list of cases where cover is not given that it refers to
The excess is not an exclusion of cover, but a limitation in payout

When I 1st claimed I had some concern that they might try to claim the excess, but for that section there is no excess liable. The full amount of $125-$500 is paid

Dave

 

[serfty]

You are misreading it. ...

It is not very clear, as indeed your anecdote shows.

As I indicated I always expect the worst when it comes to insurance companies - that way I am rarely disappointed. :-|

 

[joystick]

Delayed Baggage – V Australia style:

You guys reckon you’ve got a problem with QANTAS…… Read On;

My partner & I flew MEL, SYD, LAX, DFW return in early March this year. On arrival LAX (Wednesday) we were told my bag "could not be scanned" and it would arrive on the next flight on Friday, and be delivered on Monday to DFW. I said that was not good enough as it contained medical supplies and I needed it earlier. To cut a long story short, after numerous phone calls and promises re delivery, I never received the bag, and I told V Australia to send the bag back to Australia if they ever found it.
When checking in at LAX to return home nearly 3 weeks later, my partner mentioned in passing, that we had lost a bag. The check in girl said she would have a look. 15 minutes later I was reunited with my bag - the one which was supposed to be returned to Australia. On arriving home I wrote 2 letters to the V Australia customer service manager and sent 2 emails to their "contact us" address on their website. It took 7 weeks to get a response, and a further 4 weeks and 5 more emails to receive a letter with a definite "tough luck" feel to it and stating no compensation would be paid. After several more emails and another 4 weeks, I received a letter for insurance purposes (stating my bag was returned to me 8 days after being delayed (a tale of fiction, try 18 days)) - 19.5 weeks since my first unanswered letter.
I never received a thing, no 8 frequent flyer points, no free baseball cap..... NOTHING! So now I'm out of pocket (over US$550), for 3 weeks of clothes and personal items, a wasted half a day in a Fort Worth Hospital to replace my medical supplies, and wasted time waiting for phone calls to be returned (which were not) while in the U.S.
The ticket may have been cheap, but the customer service was non-existent.

On a lighter note, the cabin service was excellent.

P.S. Even a letter to Sir Richard Branson remains unanswered, I didn’t expect him to, but I thought one of his PAs might answer; and still I have received absolutely nothing from V Australia.

The saddest thing is that I will be repeating this trip next March (excluding SYD) with V Australia, so you can all look forward to the reporting of their next/same screw-up!
:-|

 

[straitman]

joystick,

Welcome to AFF.

Two quick points come to mind.

1. Never put in checked baggage what you cannot afford to lose. In your case the medications.
2. There is a Virgin Blur management member on this forum who may wish to look into the matter for you if you contact him. (crazydave98)

There is no excuse for people telling you stories and giving you a hard time in these instances and crazydave98 has in the past sorted out a few of these issues for forum members.

Good luck.

 

[Dave Noble]

It is Columbus!

And there is a $125 excess.

Look at the PDS: http://www.columbusdirect.com.au/docs/PDS_P_V5.pdf

As a confirmation on the policy excesses, I was buying new insurance today from Columbus and on the policy purchase page it does actually state

EXCESS

$250 for claims under the Overseas Medical Expenses section.
$125 for claims under the following sections: Cancellation and Curtailment Costs; Personal Baggage; Personal Money and Travel Documents; Personal Liability; Abandonment of Trip.

Sections 5 and 7 ( Personal Baggage and Personal Money and Travel Documents ) are listed as having the excess whilst section 6 (Delayed Baggage) is not

Seems to substantiate the experiences

Dave

 

[EmilyHoward]

My experience with lost luggage was just before Christmas last year.

I live in Perth but was in Sydney and from there was flying out to London. I had booked to fly business class but got upgraded on the first leg. On the 2nd (London leg) I travelled in business. It was early morning in London when I arrived (on a Sunday), it was freezing cold and the only warm clothes I had were my T shirt and the First Class pyjama pack from Qantas. When my suitcase hadn't arrived after an hour I went to the counter where the luggage people were who handle the Qantas luggage in London.

They were most helpful, could not have been more helpful I don't think. I filled out a form and they gave me 60 or 65 uk pounds cash. (I think you get different amounts depending on the class of travel?)

The problem I had was that by now it was still only 7.00 am and even with 60 quid I couldn't buy any clothes at that time and I was booked on a train out of Paddington at 8.00 am.

So I travelled all the way down to Wales in my t shirt and Qantas pyjama top.

My luggage arrived 2 days later.

I think Qantas and its luggage handler were both excellent in dealing with the situation.

My only suggestion would be that perhaps Qantas keep some warm jackets there at Heathrow that maybe could be lent to people who find themselves in my circumstances.

SC

 

[sampson]

Delayed Baggage – V Australia style:

You guys reckon you’ve got a problem with QANTAS…… Read On;

cut a long story short, after numerous phone calls and promises re delivery, I never received the bag, and I told V Australia to send the bag back to Australia if they ever found it.
When checking in at LAX to return home nearly 3 weeks later, my partner mentioned in passing, that we had lost a bag. The check in girl said she would have a look. 15 minutes later I was reunited with my bag - the one which was supposed to be returned to Australia.

The VA staff were great in our case.

Due to a 1 1/2 hour delay at LAX's Immigration area, VA's staff put our oversized baggage into an elevator shaft for safety. Luckily the staff stayed on the job at the carosels and remembered where they put it. Of course, if the elevator went 'up' or 'down' over the 1 1/2 hours, someone might have wondered what was in unaccompanied baggage

 

[straitman]

It was early morning in London when I arrived (on a Sunday), it was freezing cold and the only warm clothes I had were my T shirt and the First Class pyjama pack from Qantas.

My only suggestion would be that perhaps Qantas keep some warm jackets there at Heathrow that maybe could be lent to people who find themselves in my circumstances.

SC

I would never fly to London (or a similar climate) without having some appropriate clothes with me for when I got off the aircraft. In other words, is it not more sensible to carry your own warm jacket :?:

 

[EmilyHoward]

Actually very true, I should have carried a jacket, but despite how much I travel this is the only time I have had my luggage lost!

Since then in any case I have pretty much made the decision to travel only with hand luggage so I'm helping save the planet etc. etc. I've been back the UK twice since then and to Manila and LA with only hand luggage. It's great!!!

But, you did make a very good point dude!

SC

 

[straitman]

Actually very true, I should have carried a jacket, but despite how much I travel this is the only time I have had my luggage lost!

Since then in any case I have pretty much made the decision to travel only with hand luggage so I'm helping save the planet etc. etc. I've been back the UK twice since then and to Manila and LA with only hand luggage. It's great!!!

But, you did make a very good point dude!

SC

Not quite the same extremes but I recently travelled from West Palm Beach, Florida to Seattle, Washington and was very thankful for my jacket when I arrived.

 

[hedge]

I remember I traveled to ATQ in December and it was quite hot in Sydney (where I live). So I hopped on the plane with a pair of shorts and a light t-shirt.

Got a shock when I got to ATQ....

Always take warm clothes!