Wet luggage - good outcome with Qantas (but still unsure what happened) - QF255 18/9/26

[MZFlyer]

I flew last month from SYD to CDG on the seasonal QF255 via SIN on 18/9/26. On the train in to Paris the next morning, I unzipped the top of my hardshell suitcase to extract my jacket (which was loose inside the bag for this reason) and discovered it was half soaked with what thankfully smelled only like water. Very odd. Upon arrival I opened the bag properly, and found the contents of the internally zipped up half, in which all my clothes in packing cubes were placed, were also soaking wet. Thankfully the other half of the suitcase with electrics, shoes, books and gifts etc was undamaged - protected by my jacket on top!! Having all my clothes soaking wet was a total pain to deal with but thankfully I was dealing with it at 8am rather than discovering it at say 4pm after leaving bags in hotel storage as is common with many travellers.

I photographed everything including the wet interior side of the bag and sent a WTF email to Qantas to the customer care email address. It took several follow up emails (on the third one I cc'd the frequent flyer email address as well) but after nearly 3 weeks I had a human response, and then after one more email exchange resending the photos I had a generous offer of points as compensation for the inconvenience, and any dry-cleaning costs, AND a follow-up phonecall to confirm all this with apologies (from the same consultant with whom I'd been emailing - South Africa based).

I am very happy with the result (full disclosure: I'm WP status, which I'm sure helps) but I'm still puzzled as to what might've happened. The water can only have got in through the narrow external zipper part between the two hard shells, and the bag must have been submerged or under a constant stream of water for some time. So weird. I saw one old forum discussion about water-damaged bags from a storm, but I wonder whether anyone else on my flight is reading this and also had wet luggage, and/or can anyone shed any light on what happened. I can now appreciate the point of those luggage-wrapping services at airports!

 

[defurax]

Flying into BOS my bag came out dripping wet and smelling like fish. Luckily only the zipper and exterior of the case was soaked. AA could apparently not do anything at 2am because everyone was gone. Even worse they mentioned it had happened earlier in the week! I checked into my hotel with my fishy suitcase and used the J amenity kit toothbrush to clean the zipper!

 

[MZFlyer]

Flying into BOS my bag came out dripping wet and smelling like fish. Luckily only the zipper and exterior of the case was soaked. AA could apparently not do anything at 2am because everyone was gone. Even worse they mentioned it had happened earlier in the week! I checked into my hotel with my fishy suitcase and used the J amenity kit toothbrush to clean the zipper!

That is gross, and hilarious, AND I'm sad for you! Great use of amenity kit though

 

[Big John]

I flew last month from SYD to CDG on the seasonal QF255 via SIN on 18/9/26. On the train in to Paris the next morning, I unzipped the top of my hardshell suitcase to extract my jacket (which was loose inside the bag for this reason) and discovered it was half soaked with what thankfully smelled only like water. Very odd. Upon arrival I opened the bag properly, and found the contents of the internally zipped up half, in which all my clothes in packing cubes were placed, were also soaking wet. Thankfully the other half of the suitcase with electrics, shoes, books and gifts etc was undamaged - protected by my jacket on top!! Having all my clothes soaking wet was a total pain to deal with but thankfully I was dealing with it at 8am rather than discovering it at say 4pm after leaving bags in hotel storage as is common with many travellers.

I photographed everything including the wet interior side of the bag and sent a WTF email to Qantas to the customer care email address. It took several follow up emails (on the third one I cc'd the frequent flyer email address as well) but after nearly 3 weeks I had a human response, and then after one more email exchange resending the photos I had a generous offer of points as compensation for the inconvenience, and any dry-cleaning costs, AND a follow-up phonecall to confirm all this with apologies (from the same consultant with whom I'd been emailing - South Africa based).

I am very happy with the result (full disclosure: I'm WP status, which I'm sure helps) but I'm still puzzled as to what might've happened. The water can only have got in through the narrow external zipper part between the two hard shells, and the bag must have been submerged or under a constant stream of water for some time. So weird. I saw one old forum discussion about water-damaged bags from a storm, but I wonder whether anyone else on my flight is reading this and also had wet luggage, and/or can anyone shed any light on what happened. I can now appreciate the point of those luggage-wrapping services at airports!

Thanks for the warning. I'm on this exact flight next month. Will partake of luggage-wrapping service.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Maybe thievery.
Or they did sec check somewhere.
Sad that things like this happens.