anyone ever experienced baggage theft on an airline

chester says on Jun 25, 2008, 19:24:

years ago, i sued american airlines in small claims over lost/stolen luggage.

they settled to avoid the cost of defending themselves.

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latingirl says on Jun 25, 2008, 19:25:

thanks for sharing your experience, do you know what they do with regards stolen items?

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adrienne79 says on Jun 25, 2008, 19:45:

Not sure about Avianca but most airlines have a discloser stating that they are not responsible for jewlry or electronics that are placed in a checked bag. I know with AA that is the case.

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latingirl says on Jun 25, 2008, 19:59:

thanks Adrienne for this tidbit, I will look into this.

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NCMike says on Jun 25, 2008, 20:27:

Hi latingirl,

I live in Charlotte too, btw. It occurred to me that she would have taken another airline from Ft. Lauderdale to Charlotte, as Avianca does not fly from here. Could the luggage have been tampered with in the changeover, or by the other airline? Is your mom the type that wraps the luggage with all that plastic stuff? Sorry about the loss.

I've been to that Plateria, what a nice store, the one in Chipichape. Wish the dollar was doing a little better I'd love to get some gifts this year. I know you miss getting that jewelry, the type of things we don't have here.
Good luck.

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latingirl says on Jun 25, 2008, 20:38:

thanks Mike!
It would have been Avianca because the bags were simply claimed in Ft.Lauderdale for mom to check them in with US Airways for the connection to CLT.

I have actually just read a lot of reports online that Ft.Lauderdale has a high baggage theft claim rate so I suspect it happened there or in Bogota.

No she didnt have them wrapped in all that plastic, but now I see why people go through the hassle of doing that!

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muddie says on Jun 25, 2008, 20:41:

question who in the hell would put any jewelry, cameras, cell phones, anything work any real value ect in a checked bag??? That’s like asking somebody to take it. I am pretty sure they do not cover any jewelry or anything worth any real value. Next time, carry it on with you.

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Buongone says on Jun 25, 2008, 22:14:

Like muddie said. Don't ever put jewelry, camera, cell phone, or anything of value in checked baggage. Simple. Just asking for a Ripoff !!

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Cheers Terry says on Jun 25, 2008, 22:28:

Sorry to say, but your Mom will never see a single centavo of compensation. She made a mistake. Period.

Never, EVER put ANYTHING of value into checked luggage.

Cheers,
Terry

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latingirl says on Jun 25, 2008, 22:37:

Terry

why do say that she will not get compensated? How about for the other items (clothing, leather purse she purchased in Colombia?)

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Man Tequila says on Jun 26, 2008, 00:52:

Sounds like an uphill battle, but I wish you luck.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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dwmte7 says on Jun 26, 2008, 04:46:

bienvenidos a la aduana....where they carefully examine your belongings. dick heads! i've been ripped off many times. the most i ever received out of the ordeal, was an offer to punch my 'tough shit' card a couple of times. regardless the carrier.

dwmte

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El Piloto says on Jun 26, 2008, 06:35:

Latingirl - the good news might be that airline baggage loss/theft claims need to be filed with the airline that lands you at your final destination, not the airline that checked the luggage. Since your mom obviously didn't fly FLL-CLT on Avianca, she can file the loss/theft claim with the airline that landed her in CLT (US Airways???). All this assumes that the bag was checked all the way through on one bag tag CLO-BOG-FLL-CLT (yes I know you have to physically pick up the bag in FLL, clear customs, then redeposit on a transfer bag belt but if it's all on one bag tag you're still fine and need to file with the airline that landed you at your final destination).

The bad news is that as other posters have pointed out all airlines always exclude any liability for jewelry, electronics, and other high value items. But since you mention there were other articles stolen too (clothing, leather purse), the airline should be responsible for those. Does your mom still have receipts? Receipts can be crticial.

My one experience with lost/stolen luggage was with AA - was flying DFW-MIA-BOG but got in to MIA too late to make my BOG connection. At that point I decided to just cancel the trip and fly home to DFW. Took AA 4 weeks to eventually find my suitcase and when it was delivered to be 3 bottles of good wine and a few other articles had been stolen. AA's claim process involves listing the lost/stolen articles along with their purchase price. They asked for receipts for any item worth more than $100 (note to readers of this - ALWAYS save your receipts for purchases of nice clothes - never know when you might need them), and also date of purchase (this is because the airline is going to try and pay you the current depreciated value of an article and NOT the original full purchase price).

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adrienne79 says on Jun 26, 2008, 07:46:

Yep, I too had to fill out that form with AA and it was a pain. They lost my bag flying from DFW to MIA and never found it again. I was lucky because domestic compensaion for luggage is more than international compensation. I think at the time it was 2,700 USD for domestic losses and only about 600 USD for international losses. The form that El Piloto is mentioning is very long. It asked for the name of each article, the color, the brand, where it was purchased, date of purchase, material, price paid of each item and like he said everything over $100 needed a reciept for proof. Also they had given me a deadline of 30 days to get it submitted to them for review and then they took 60 days to respond to me. So for three months I was without my luggage, and no compensation what so ever.

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sanandressi says on Jun 26, 2008, 11:44:

Hey Scott, why do you think the latin girl is a spoiled princess as you say? Show the young lady some love. She just want to know what happened to her stuff? Airlines are not supposed to lose it. Anyway, anything of great monetary value should never be in checked baggage.

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sanandressi says on Jun 26, 2008, 11:51:

To El Piloto and adrienne....if it took the airline weeks or months to get your stuff back it is because (more than likely) you failed to properly identify your luggage. It is absolutely imperative to get those airline tags at the airline counter where you put your name , address, phone number, email address, cell phone number etc. Fill out three at least for each piece of checked luggage and put them on each bags handle if it has several. Put a tag IN YOUR luggage as well. Also, you MUST write your information on the tag in a LEGIBLE way that can be easily read! Do not scribble! Those pre-printed return address labels for snail mail you might have that you can stick onto the tags work very well. If the airline does not know who it belongs to then you will be sorry and out of luck. It does not matter what you have inside!

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adrienne79 says on Jun 26, 2008, 12:05:

Thanks for the advice Sanandressi but that was not the case. My bag was marked in four places all with the same adress, name, etc. I was not new to traveling. I even had a picture of the bag that I was able to show the airlines. It was a brand new bag. I mean come on...between DFW and MIA...non-stop, how do you lose a bag?...simple someone stole it. and it didn't take them weeks/months for mine. They never found it. So instead that had to pay up in the end. I think it is much more common than most people think for luggage to get lost. I used to wok at DFW airport and help people file claims all the time. There are also tons of interesting documenteries concerning this topic that you might find informative as to how this really happens.

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El Piloto says on Jun 26, 2008, 12:50:

My bag had both a name tag on it and my business card inside a business card holder on the outside of the bag. Both of them still there when the suitcase was delivered to me 4 WEEKS LATER.

AA's incompetence, not lack of proper identification, was the reason it took 4 weeks for AA to locate and return my luggage.

They seemed to be perfectly capabale of (quickly?) identifying which suitcase sitting around the MIA or BOG bag room had good wine in it worth stealing! I could have stitched my name and address into the fabric of the bag in 10 different places and it would not have done a damn thing to help AA get it back to me any quicker!

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b bruce says on Jun 26, 2008, 14:08:

Always a good idea to use plastic tie raps on your luggage after it is screened. If it is tampered with you will know immediately. I worked for Alaska Airlines for several years in Seattle. Baggage theft usually happens when the bags sit at one location for a while. Avianca in Ft Lauderdale is pretty squared away. A company named ASIG does the baggage handling for them in Ft Lauderdale. When you have a ground service company as an airlines service contract things seem to disappear and or get lost.

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latingirl says on Jun 26, 2008, 14:30:

Thanks Bruce! Mom called Avianca in FLL all day and no call back from them..She left numerous messages with the baggage claim dept. Do you think it will help for her to call ASIG, or no? I would guess not as Aviance being the airline, any initiation of a claim would have to start through them right? Especially since they are over ASIG. BTW the baggage was sitting idle for a while in FLL. She arrived there at 3:00 and left for CLT at 7:00.

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El Piloto says on Jun 26, 2008, 14:40:

Latingirl - have your Mom file the claim with US Airways. I think you said US Airways was the airline that flew her on the last segment (Ft Lauderdale to Charlotte). You have to file a baggage loss/theft claim with the airline that lands you at your final destination, not the airline on which you start a trip.

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El Piloto says on Jun 26, 2008, 14:45:

Problem with those plastic tie wraps, locks, etc. is that the TSA can cut them off and open your bag if they decide it needs further inspection. Sure you will know that the bag has been opened but since TSA now routinely hand searches many bags (and of course steals lots of stuff too) it really won't protect you from theft by TSA (or by airline rampers downline once the TSA has forceably opened your bag).

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latingirl says on Jun 26, 2008, 14:50:

thanks El piloto, I thought it was the airline in which you first claim the luggage..

I will give her US Airs number then to call tomorrow..

super thanks!

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Buongone says on Jun 26, 2008, 23:04:

Want to hear a good one? My brother flew from Reno to Anchorage. Back a few yrs ago. He was missing his bag. He filed a claim for $1200.00. That's the max. I asked him what was in the bag. He said just two pairs of old holely jeans. He got his $1200. Went back down to Tahoe. Was ovr in a pawn shop in Carson City. Saw his bag, grapped it. Told the pawn shop owner it was his, and he was taking it. They had stolen property. He got his bag back, and the $1200.

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dwmte7 says on Jun 27, 2008, 09:23:

isn't that cheating?

dwmte

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dwmte7 says on Jun 27, 2008, 09:23:

stories, stories, stories...the stuff that myths are made of (tom berenger)

dwmte

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