I am the Queen of Lost Luggage with 12 incidents of lost luggage. I recently flew to SYR and we stayed in Geneva, NY. My luggage however, went to Virginia. The tag on the luggage was correct, but my suitcases always prefer to choose their own destinations so they don't always fly with me.

As this has happened 12 times now, I expected American Airlines to put my luggage on the next flight and deliver it to me. I wasn't worried because I've been down this road before and they always brought it to me. WRONG, those days are over.

When they told me the following, it was like adding insult to injury:

AA has an idiotic new policy that they don't deliver lost luggage more than 50 miles from the airport. Our hotel in Geneva, NY was 55 miles away. I called talked to managers and begged them to drive 5 more miles but they refused. I then asked if they would drive 45 miles and I will meet them somewhere. They refused. I reminded them I'm a status member. It counts for nothing.

If you live or are staying more than 50 miles away, they will Fed Ex the luggage to you. This sucks because Fed Ex doesn't work weekends. We arrived on a Saturday night, so the luggage would have been shipped on Monday, and I would receive it on Tuesday. This is insane, all because I was staying only 5 miles outside of the zone.

The next day, we ended up taking about 3 hours out of our day to drive to Syracuse, pay for tolls, gas and parking fees, just so we could pick up the luggage ourselves. This was a terrible inconvenience and it shouldn't have been necessary. I miss the days when they were anxious to get lost luggage to the customers, and not at the customers' expense.

Just a word of warning, the days are over when the Airlines deliver lost luggage promptly, especially if you're traveling over a weekend. Be prepared to go to the airport and get it yourself.

For the record I always get to the airport early. I try to avoid short layovers. When I check in, I double check the tags for errors. I have no idea as to why my luggage has a brain of its own and refuses to fly with me. At least my luggage has a brain, unlike the people at AA who created this new policy.

Oh my, P_M...thank goodness you (and maybe even your luggage?) have a sense of humor. I hope AA reads this post!

P_M, That is outrageous! They can't go 5 extra miles! And you have status. I hope this isn't a new policy for all the airlines. But they tend to do Monkey see, Monkey do.

I thought of that too, they do tend to copy each other. The nice AA employees at SYR begged me to complain about this new policy. Believe me, I did, via email and phone. The people at the airport said they have tried to convince the executives this is a bad idea, but nobody will listen. I don't expect anything to change overnight, but maybe if they get enough complaints they will at least re-visit the idea.

I also hope they read it. The airport people also recommended posting on social media. If anyone has ideaa for other sites where I can post this, I'm all ears.

Or should I say, all eyes. 👀

The refusal because of the extra 5 miles shouldn’t be a surprise as the rule is a profit-enhancing move so, of course, they don’t make exceptions, or why have a mileage limit. The real outrage to me is having a mileage limit at all. Why should their customers who live or visit a distance away be penalized when the airline is at fault for sloppy baggage handling. Checking a bag includes a promise to get it to the destination along with the owner of the bag, or am I wrong about that? I suspect I may be deluded in that regard.

Sue them in small claims court for your expenses in picking up your luggage. Make sure the media know about the suit.

Southwest made me drive back to the Airport to pick up a bag they lost on a non stop short flight. Filed a DOT complaint and got a reasonable voucher. One of the reasons I rarely fly Southwest.

I'll look into a DOT complaint, thanks. I can probably get them to reimburse my expenses, but I would rather put a stop to this nonsense.

I have flown over1.5 million miles to over 150 airports all over the world. Lufthansa mislaid our luggage somewhere in between SFO-FRA-ATH-CHQ where we landed late at night. Bags were at our hotel the next morning. A few years ago United lost my bag somewhere between EWR and LHR the summer that LHR was having a meltdown. Had to buy all new stuff in London. Bag caught up to me three days after I returned home. United reimbursed me for about $500 + worth of stuff I bought to replace some of my clothes, hiking shoes, toiletries etc I needed for my trip. Southwest made me check a bag at the gate I have taken onboard 100s of flights on numerous other carriers so their mislaying it was especially irritating.

Rules may be different in Europe.

Thanks for the warnings everyone, I had no idea. I have to fly to NY for a wedding which is a long way from the nearest airport. I think it will be carryon only!

I have no doubt the rules are different in Europe, as they have better laws to protect travelers' rights.

A carryon is best whenever possible.

Perhaps so, but those European rules sometimes have unexpected consequences. Last year, we were on a Lufthansa flight from Munich to Manchester, England. After a short delay post-boarding, the captain announced that they'd been unable to get a ground crew to load the luggage, so to avoid a longer delay or possible cancellation (i.e., and have to pay EU261 compensation), we would be leaving momentarily with no checked luggage on board. The bags would come on the next flight. People had < five minutes to get off the plane if they wanted. What the captain didn't say was that the next flight was the next day. The couple seated in front of us was picking up a car in Manchester and driving several hours away. Thank goodness we only had carryon luggage. Those who had checked bags not only had to clear a passport control line that was hundreds of people long, but then queue up to file claims for their delayed bags.

** The airport people also recommended posting on social media. If anyone has ideaa for other sites where I can post this, I'm all ears.**

Flyertalk AA forum.

Also, Biden's announcement about stopping companies from making consumers jump through hoops to get things this week had a link (about halfway down) for other things people think they should include. He mentions airline refunds, but not particularly this.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...ime-and-money/

**The next day, we ended up taking about 3 hours out of our day to drive to Syracuse, pay for tolls, gas and parking fees, just so we could pick up the luggage ourselves**

You could have gone shopping at AA's expense if there wasn't anything in the luggage you had to have.

Limits on Baggage Liability

Domestic Baggage Liability

• For DOMESTIC flights, DOT regulation allows airlines to limit their liability for a lost, damaged, or delayed bag. Airlines are free to pay more than the limit, but are not required to do so.
  

• The maximum liability amount allowed by the regulation is $3,800 per passenger.
  

This 50 miles seems especially nuts when AA offers a paid baggage delivery (if you don't want to fool with your own luggage at airports) within 100 miles and 4-6 hours. I would mention this available service with link in any DOT complaint.

~Delivery service is available within 100 miles of the airport and you don’t need to be available to sign for your bags.~

~After you land: Bypass baggage claim and head directly to your final destination. Your bags will arrive at your destination within 4 to 6 hours.~

~Bag delivery charges are in addition to the applicable checked bag charges. Charges are for delivery within 40 miles of the arrival airport. (There’s an additional $1 per mile charge for delivery destinations that are over 40 miles from the airport.)~

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...ry-service.jsp