travelthunder.com

Despite the “war stories” told by many road warriors about problems with airline baggage handling, the truth is that the vast majority of checked bags do arrive on time and in good condition. However, when your luggage has been lost, delayed, damaged, or stolen, you may face serious inconvenience or worse.
New federal regulations have doubled the airline’s obligation to pay you (from $1,250 to $2,500 per passenger) if your checked bags on domestic flights do not arrive. However, never pack any item in your checked luggage that you cannot afford to lose. Even though the airline must technically reimburse you for the monetary value of your loss, you may not be able to replace some belongings, such as heirloom jewelry or personal items such as prescription drugs that you must have on your trip.
If your luggage is delayed, the airlines are generally responsible for paying your reasonable expenses that result, such as personal toiletry items. (Many carriers now give overnight kits with basic items such as deodorant and shampoo to passengers waiting for delayed luggage.) If you must buy other items, such as a tie for a business meeting that is scheduled before your luggage arrives, keep your receipts and submit a bill to the airline’s baggage services agent at the airport for repayment. (On international flights, the Warsaw Convention caps the value of lost or dam-aged luggage at $9.07 per pound.)
If your bags do not arrive at your destination airport, you should file an immediate claim with the airline’s baggage services agent (usually located near the baggage claim area). The agent will enter your claim into the airline’s computerized tracking system and issue you a receipt with a toll-free number that you can call once you leave the airport to check on your bags. On the claim form, you should list your belongings as specifically as possible. One excellent strategy to insure that you recover the maximum value of your belongings is to make a packing list before you leave on your trip (or take a quick snapshot of your belongings spread out around your suit-cases before you pack them), so that you can later prove that you are telling the truth about your losses.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.