The baggage carousel was starting to feel like a game of roulette, yet I still stared at it anxiously, worried my gamble of checking a bag wasn't going to pay off. The odds were already stacked against me: I had been on a canceled flight the night before, and it took standing by on two more to finally get from Newark, New Jersey, to London: 27 hours after my original arrival time.
Several airline agents assured me that international regulations dictated that my bag had to follow me. But as I roamed around the baggage claim area for the umpteenth time, I knew it was hopeless. I had strapped a mismatched tan belt around my suitcase to help me easily identify it—and there was nothing of the sort in the terminal lined with endless rows of unclaimed luggage.
The airline app’s baggage tracking function had given me hope, saying that my bag had made the trans-Atlantic journey and was somewhere in Heathrow. But when I filed the missing baggage report, the agent explained that the app was pretty much useless and she had to look in her internal system for the actual status. Sure enough, my bag was still in New Jersey.
Piled on top of travelers’ frustration with flight delays and cancellations this year has been an increase in missing, delayed, or lost luggage, together known as mishandled baggage. The reason, according to luggage storage company Bounce CEO and founder Cody Candee, is the confluence of two pandemic-related factors: increased volumes of travelers and significant staff shortages as result of many airlines employees leaving during the pandemic. “It simply means there is not enough staff to handle the amount of baggage coming through the airports,” he says.
Indeed, the latest Air Consumer Travel Report data from the Department of Transportation shows that nearly 238,000 bags were mishandled this May, up about 45 percent from the same period last year when that number was 132,000. And for me, the odds were greater since international flights are 4.7 times more likely to have mishandled baggage, according to the 2022 Baggage IT Insights Report from airport transport IT company SITA, who run a baggage management arm, including WorldTracer, to manage mishandled bags.
For me, the frustration was punctuated by the lack of accurate information. Before I left that airport, I was given a tracking number for a different system, the airline's Baggage Tracing system, and told it would be delivered to my hotel “later today.” (I also left with $50 I could claim via PayPal after I inquired about compensation for the inconvenience). But every refresh showed the same status: “Tracing process continues, check back later.” When I called the airline, they told me to just keep checking the site.
In my desperation, I tried using Twitter to direct message my airline—and they, surprisingly, were quick and detailed with their help. They told me exactly which flight my luggage was on and gave me specifics on when it landed and was turned over to the baggage delivery service, quoting another six to eight hour wait, but giving me their direct contact info. Soon it became a game of WhatsApp coordination between the delivery guy and the (very sophisticated) digital concierge at my hotel, Sea Containers.
Finally, in the midst of being at the Platinum Jubilee concert in the one “just in case” outfit I had packed in my carry-on, I got a message that my bag was safely in my hotel room. It had been more than three days since I had last seen it, and I had wasted most of that time nagging the airline to track it down.
Whether it would have arrived then if I had just left everything to the fates, I’ll never know. So: I reached out to experts to find out the proper course of action to take each step of the way to make sure your suitcase doesn’t go from missing to lost.
Here are three guidelines to follow when the airline mishandles your luggage.
Take immediate action
As soon as you realize your luggage isn’t at the baggage claim, file a report before leaving the airport, says Mel Jordan, SmartSuite product manager for Brock Solutions, which provides baggage handling support for major airports, like San Francisco, Dublin, Sydney, and New York City’s John F. Kennedy. “Although you legally have seven days to file a claim, the quicker this is done, the quicker the airline has the details to repatriate your baggage to you,” she says.
Jordan also notes that while more carriers are offering passengers baggage tracking capabilities, a “big trend” is that passengers are packing their own trackers, like the Apple AirTag, to have more insight into the exact location. Any method of live tracking will garner better results than ringing up customer service. “It's unlikely waiting for hours on a phone will result in you getting further information to what’s online,” she says.
She adds that if after 72 hours you still haven’t heard any status changes, it might be time to update your claim with more specific details. For instance, rather than listing “clothes” and “books” as contents, say “green chevron-print silk button-down top” or a “used paperback copy of Rick Steves' Eastern European guide.”
Ask for compensation
In general, most luggage will end up being found, so they get classified as “delayed” and not “lost.” But in that immediate time when you’re without your belongings, there should be some level of compensation, depending on the exact nature of your situation.
“Each airline has its own policy as to when a bag is officially considered lost,” NerdWallet’s travel expert Sara Rathner says. The Department of Transportation deems that by law “airlines are required to compensate passengers if their bags are damaged, delayed, or lost.” In order to ensure you get the maximum value, Rathner says to keep receipts for everything you buy while your bag is lost and also be ready to provide a breakdown for the value of everything in the lost lugagge.
If your luggage is lost during an outbound flight, it’s essential to contact your airline immediately, travel insurance company Seven Corners product specialist Angela Borden says. You don’t need to contact your insurance provider right away, but do be aware of what constitutes a baggage delay and what the benefit covers. “Most plans provide between $100 and $500, and some include a daily limit,” she says. “The benefit is intended to reimburse you for the purchase of replacement clothing and toiletries. You can buy the items immediately and then submit a claim to the insurance company when it’s convenient for you.”
If it gets to the point where your luggage is actually lost, then you’ll need to file a claim through your travel insurance (your credit card may also cover delayed or lost baggage). “Most plans include a baggage and personal effects benefit that reimburses you if your baggage and personal effects are lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed during your trip or while checked with a common carrier (airline, cruise line, train, etc.),” Borden says. Claimed items without an original receipt may be reimbursed at a lower value, and the total coverage tends to run between $500 and $2,500, depending on the plan. But the good news is that it usually provides excess coverage, meaning it’s on top of other payments from other insurance or the airline.
Plan preventive measures
Much of what can help you reunite with your bag starts with prevention. SITA’s Head of Baggage Peter Drummond says to start by making your luggage distinctive on the outside. “One of the most common causes of bags getting lost is that they look just like someone else’s bag, and they get taken off the carousel in error,” he says, adding that if standout luggage isn't your thing, perhaps opt for a ribbon or other label.
The focus shouldn’t just be on the outside, either. While trackers are helping people trace bags on their own, Drummond also suggests a few lower-tech tips. He says to pack a copy of your itinerary—including the address at the destination—inside in checked bag, in case tags get torn off. Another idea is to pack an item not typically found in most luggage. “If you have something unusual or unique in your bag, it’s much more likely to come up as a positive match to your lost bag report and be quickly returned to you,” he says. Items like a soft toy or an unusual piece of clothing are helpful because airlines can search the global database for that specific item.
Finally, a couple quick and easy steps can go a long way in tracing your bag. Drummond says to take photos of your bag, both open and closed, not just to use for tracing, but also for your insurance claim. And a simple, yet crucial, measure to take is to make sure the bag tag is on securely, especially when it’s a self-service station, and always take that receipt so you have the baggage number.
Multiple experts also warn not to book flights with a short layover or travel during busy times when you’re checking baggage—after all, if you have to sprint and dodge crowds to get to your next flight, your suitcase will have to as well.
While not checking a bag is—of course—the best solution, there are certain kinds of travel when you'll need to. The stress of a bag not arriving the moment you do can seriously damper a trip, so take the time to properly prepare. A little work now can go a long way to make sure you're not without your baggage for too long.