Mariastefnyc

I came back on Aug. 17th, after 4 weeks in Italy. 2 weeks were in Florence attending Koine language school. The next 2 weeks were in Taormina attending another language school. I had a fabulous time. I used my award ticket for travel I thought I would be saving lots of money but at the end I'm making up for it.Here is why:
Aug. 17th was the day I would fly back home to NYC.I flew with AirOne from Catania to Rome, then I flew from Rome to Milan with AirOne. Once I arrived into Milan I went to look for my luggage and found out that it was left in Rome, it did not make the connecting flight. I had to leave and catch a American Airlines flight into London then another AA flight from London to NYC JFK. I really hoped and believed that my bag would of made it into NYC by now.That is not the case. It seems that on
Aug.21, my bag was put on AirOne flight to Chicago then on an American Airline flight into JFK. AirOne kept telling me when I would call that it is in ny. I decided to go to JFK and check the luggage storage rooms. My bag was not there. American Airlines says that they don't think they received it because it was not in their system. All bags that come off the plane are entered in their system.
I called Chicago to get someone to check their storage room, someone finally did and said that it's not there. My bag had a big orange tag with my address and name. The tag was secure and could not have fallen off. I called Milan and had them check their airport luggage room and they found nothing. It has been 9 days since I have seen my luggage.Should I give up? I did file a claim with both airlines. AirOne says it is American Airlines fault. American Airlines says it's AirOnes fault. Today I spent around $500 purchasing items that were lost and really needed. I still have more to buy. So at the end of it all I did not save anything. What do you all think? From your experience do you think I'll receive my luggage?
MS

casey_reed84

you're annoying.

kleeblatt

Ignore Casey. He's one of those bad apples that hasn't been deleted yet.

Sorry to hear about your dilemna. I can't help you but hope someone can.

jdc26

Casey's comments was really un-called for. I do hope that the airlines are able to locate your luggage and you're reunited with said luggage soon.

Best of luck!!
jdc

alanRow

$500 of important stuff in the checked luggage????

caroline_edinburgh

Claim on your travel insurance. You do have travel insurance, don't you ?

J62

In my experience a luggage tag with your name/address means little to nothing. I do believe baggage agents worldwide go to a special school learning how to ignore info like that. The key item is the airline barcode tag - that identifies the bag with you in the airline computer systems.

I'd keep working with AA over the phone. If it traveled on one of their aircraft it really should be in their computer system. Do you have the luggage tag with the AirOne barcode id? If not, can you get that info from AirOne - it may help AA track down the bags. I would also file a claim with both AirOne and AA. If they don't agree, let them work it out who's responsible.

And please ignore the other snarky comments about "$500 worth of stuff in your luggage" or "You do have travel insurance, don't you".

goddesstogo

Also, call your credit card company and check the details of your card. Some points cards offer lost baggage $$$.

(why do people bother posting if they have nothing to say?)

casey_reed84

The rambling was annoying. I'm sure she's a nice person as is all of you but it doesn't change the facts.

Micheline

You are the annoying one Casey_reed84.

casey_reed84

whoa, good one.

Sue878

Mariastefnyc:

My bag was lost by United from Milan to Denver. I had to itemize everything that was in the bag and they reimbursed me for all my stuff. Though I would rather have had my bag back.

Never did get it back.

goddesstogo

"The rambling was annoying."

So? Stop reading and move along.

Travelnut

If all else fails, call:

The Clark Howard Consumer Action hotline: 404-892-8227


Conde Nast's Traveler's "Ombudsman" column features a traveler's complaint column. Send in your complaint to Ombudsman, Conde Nast Traveler, 4 Times Square, New York, NY 10036.

Lynn_Gibson

I lost a bag in a hotel (it was stolen from where I checked the bag with the hotel prior to check-in, because my room wasn't ready yet). The hotel only paid $500 for the contents (I was there for my daughters wedding and my outfit cost over $700, plus my other daughter's outfit, shoes, makeup, etc.). In any event, my homeowners insurance picked up the remainder of what the hotel didn't reimburse me for.

I've had lost bags many times on airlines, but never permanently lost a bag. Good luck!

nytraveler

After this amount of tie I would assume that you belongings are in luggage hevean.

Write to both airlines (with receipts) loutlining the problem and explaining what you want them to do.

Also - look into your credit card on which you bought the tickets as well as your homeowners or renters insurance.

It would be nice to get your things back - but IMHO anything beyond 2/3 days is very doubtful

As for those who don't understand $500 worth of things in a piece of luggage - not everyone shops at Walmart. (If my luggage went astray on a business trip - with 3 suits, silk shirts, pumps, evening outfit, lingerie, etc - I would be out at least $2500.)

goddesstogo

oh nyt, that $500 comment was just silly, wasn't it? Even if you don't buy expensive clothes or shoes, replacing a suitcase worth of them could easily be that much. Plus the poster has just returned from Italy and probably had new items she purchased there.

My god, hair products and costume jewellery alone...! (To say nothing of replacing the suitcase.)

Pegontheroad

Lynn mentioned homeowners insurance. If your luggage doesn't come back, do put in a claim with your homeowners insurance.

When I moved from California to Washington, the movers lost my mattress (a new double mattress) and tried to give me a stained queen mattress instead.

My refrigerator was damaged and couldn't be repaired. The movers reimburse by weight, so I didn't get much fom them. I put in a claim with my homeowners, which replaced my fridge and helped with the mattress.

I was out about $200 in deductible, but other than that, I was very satisfied.

Ann1

1. The last and final time I traveled on Alitalia a few years ago they lost our luggage. Alitalia was non responsive (big surprise) so I left in the hands of our travel insurance (CSA) They were the ones who located it and got it to us in a couple of days at our next stop.

2. American should be able to help you. We traveled on AirOne on our last trip. Our luggage did not make the connecting flight to no fault of AirOne. We literally ran full speed to the next flight so there was no way it could have made it. We were connecting to another AirOne to Frankfurt and then to Lufthansa. When we got to Frankfurt and found no luggage, Lufthansa found it and had it to our door at home the next night.

justretired

It's easy to say to ignore Casey's or some of the other comments, but several folks on Fodors have become increasingly difficult to deal with. It is the snide comments, the anger, and the plain unpleasantness of some people's comments that have pushed me to consider asking and answering questions elsewhere. Who wants to be insulted after taking the time to write. I'm against censorship, but I absolutely hate the way some of you treat others, So, Casey, time for another nasty comment, huh?