ihe

My baggage was delayed for 30 hours and arrived damaged (it appears it was left out in the rain so I had water damage).

I am covered under my travel insurance but I can also claim from the airline. Can anybody advise who best to claim from in the first instance.

SDDep

I'd say the airline first, as i'm guessing it was their fault? or was it the Ash..in that case I'd sue Iceland...

srefre

On a recent trip, my baggage got delayed by a day and a half.

I claimed from the airline and got it sorted pretty easily. I also got them to authorize some money in advance to go and buy some outfits whilst waiting for the luggage.

Insurance would be my second preference, due to losing out on any excess. Unless the missing\damaged items were particularly valuable and you have a special policy that covers them to a higher value than the airline will compensate.

dfjordan

If I recall correctly, the airline wont accept responsibility unless you make the claim before you leave baggage claim area. Or at least that was the rule the last time I had problems.]

dbj1000

How can that apply to baggage that was not present in the baggage claim area, and turned up 30 hours later with water damage?

md95065

I assume that the first part of "making the claim" consists of filling out the form that says "you lost my bags" before leaving the baggage claim area ...

... the second part happens when the bags show up damaged.

srefre

You would assume that the OP didn't just think, "Oh well, my baggage hasn't turned up," and then leave the airport without doing anything, or hang around the baggage area for 30 hours, although I guess anything is possible!

In my case just telling the airline my bag hadn't turned up, started the process, and in the end the bag got delivered by courier.

You probably have to report damaged baggage before you leave, because otherwise the damaged could have been caused later on.

dunroving

My Samsonite (old, battered) was broken (corner smashed in) on a trip back from the States last month. The ticket (Cindy booked it) was USAir to LGW, then British Airways LGW to GLA.

I tought I'd have trouble claiming becasue it was two diifferent airlines (you know, the old "It wasn't us it was them" line). However, the BA rep completed the damage form in 5 mins and my brand new £200 Samsonite hard-side will be arriving next week.

Sometimes these things surprise you and actually work out well.

dfjordan

dbj1000, I see that your user name is arrogant, so understand why you made the comment you did without thinking! As others have posted; the fact your baggage hasn´t turned up on the same flight, should mean that you would make your claim while in the airport; it´s only logical isn´t it? I understand that the purpose of these forums is to try and help other people, and not to try and be smart?

dreamercon

Many credit cards provide free insurance for luggage if you use them to purchase your ticket, for example visa signature offers this.

Dudette

If you didn't report to the lost luggage in arrivals as soon as your bag didn't turn up, not all is lost, call the airline and explain the situation, tell them where you flew in from etc. If your bag has since turned up, you can still call them and explain the situation, you can also call the airport lost luggage and find out who delivered your bag, so may be able to claim water damage from them, try both avenues because you don't know where the water damage actually happened.

My bags didn't turn up and they were left outside in the snow, I was lucky they actually covered then in big plastic bags before hand, but due to them being left out overnight and no one calling me to say there were even on their way I got airmiles as compensation.

Oh and yeah I used to work for the airlines, so I kinda knew some of the tricks

You may even be able to claim for damaged clothing etc, just make sure you take photos of the case and clothing/items that were destroyed.

Bates Motel

Be careful when checking valuables because there are limits to the amount airlines will compensate you for lost luggage. I only received $1300 when they lost my $7,500 set of Majesty Prestigio's. I don't want to mention the name of the airline but it starts with a U, ends with a D and has a INITE in the middle.