They don't know where it went between Munich and Berlin, are saying i could be "2-3 days" -- he's only there for 4 at a big mtg -- needed his good clothes? What is policy for European airlines re: compensation, vouchers, replacement, etc.? What can he expect and what should he be asking for?

You may look up the passenger rights here:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_portal/

But if "he" is flying from the US when the luggage is lost, then it may be different.

Most airlines have some "care package" and can give "him" some spending money, and an allowance to buy some clothes and toiletries for the time being. Save all receipts and

I can feel your pain. I've always got back my lost luggage, but it's happened 7 times to date. (one of the many reasons rkkwan refuses to fly on the same plane as me) ;-) It's not so bad when it happens as you come home, but it really sucks when you arrive at your destination with only your carry-on. And in your case it's even worse since it's a business trip. Good luck.

First, he shall tell Lufthansa that he needs clothes urgently and that he will buy new clothes.

Second, he should buy some clothes. He will be refunded 50% of his expenses by Lufthansa.

Thirdly, if his baggage remains lost he will be compensated according to the Montreal treaty. Then, he has 30 days to fill out a form.

In 95% of cases, lost baggage will be delivered to your hotel within two days.

ttt

tempusfugit,
I think your keyboard is stuck at ttt (whatever that is)

ttt = to the top.

But I agree - he's either got a broken keyboard or no life. Has topped about 30 threads just today.

Yes, I just had the same thought about 20 minutes ago. Tempusfugit seems to love to jump from forum to forum and top (ttt) various threads. What IS that all about? And WHO is it, lol.

HKP, how terrible, it is bad enough for a traveller on a pleasure trip but having that happen on a business trip..disaster. I hope your husband doesn't need to wear a business suit for the meetings, a well fitted business suit cannot quickly be replaced.

Having been prompted to update:

It wasn't fun, esp. (he wouldn't be happy to know I shared this) with diarrhea. The bag showed up on the 3rd day, but in the meantime he'd had to go to the nearest "mall" to buy replacement necessities. He was horrified by the prices and couldn't find any cheaper underwear than Tommy Hilfigger. They said he could get vouchers for 50% discount, but I haven't found out whether he actually got them or used them or kept receipts or what. He just got back yesterday.

Except for that (and it seems that the reason the luggage got lost is that his connection ended up being too tight, although I'm still not clear on that -- he was going from Amsterdam to Berlin), he really liked flying with Lufthansa after years of dealing with AA and its partners.

HKP,
thanks for the update.
I am sure Lufhansa is a very good airline (I have used them before) but they do seem to have this problem.
Our friends were flying Lufthansa from DC to Istanbul via Munich to catch a cruise. Their luggage didn't make the tight connection and they cruised without their luggage (one arrived 6 days later, the second was returned on arrival back to Istanbul LOOTED). Maybe just a coincidence, but I would avoid tight connections with any airline.
All's well that ends well - sounds like Mr HKP did OK in the end.

HKP - Thanks for the update and glad things eventually worked out. We've flown LH several times in the last few years and have been very pleased with FAs, service, actually decent food, free drinks, etc. (though IFE not great).

I think the baggage issue is sometimes a luck of the draw and can happen on any airline. 3 yrs ago a small group of us were on LH from FIR-MUC-ORD with 1.5 hr connection. Plane in FIR had problems and we were over an hr late getting into MUC. Screwed we thought. LH had agent at gate meet us and escorted us to connecting flight. When I ask about bags, he said with typical German precise seriousness: "Your bags have a better chance on making it than you do. Our baggage handling system is very good. I'm here to see that YOU make it." We did and every single piece of luggage made it to ORD. Still think we were lucky.

I talked to him more about it this evening. It seemed the problem was that it was a holiday weekend and they had very few people to check in a lot of bags. He'd checked in 1 1/2 early but even then, his bag only made it with 30 min. to spare, which was apparently not enough time.

Then - according to the LH person he talked to on the phone - it turns out that LH (and maybe all European airports/airlines?) has an elaborate system in which just eyeballing the airport code on an orphan bag isn't enough -- they have to key in a lot of information (no barcode scanning for them!), follow some arcane rules about which can go on what flights, etc. There was a later flight to Berlin but they weren't allowed to just put the bag on it because there were lots of other bags whose info hadn't been processed yet, and it wasn't his bag's turn.

Shrug. He did get it back, and has learned to check in at least 2+ hrs. early for any international flight, regardless of the airport.

I hope.

Knowing what the holiday weekends are might have been a plus, too.

All's well . . .