You’re familiar with this travel scene: It’s been a long flight, you’re exhausted from traveling, and as you wait patiently for the cabin doors to open you silently pray your luggage will be waiting for you at baggage claim. You arrive at your flight’s designated baggage carousel and watch as the parade of luggage circles endlessly. You finally surrender to the notion that your bag is not going to drop from the chute and arrive in your arms. Your luggage is lost.
You’re not the only one. Global travel solutions provider SITA says there were 42 million mishandled bags worldwide in 2007, up from 34 million in 2006.
In its latest Baggage Report, SITA says 1.2 million pieces of luggage are irretrievably lost each year — one piece per every 2,000 passengers. Now, one consumer group is demanding retribution.
Tina Tietjen, head of British consumer group Air Transport Users Council (AUC), says in a statement, “passengers often struggle to get reasonable redress from airlines” after their bags have been mishandled. But AUC wants passengers to be “fairly” compensated for their lost items.
Tietjen says one of the reasons flyers don’t get what they should from the carriers is “because they do not have receipts for the items that were in their bag or because the airline is taking into account depreciation of the value of the items in their bag.” The AUC chief says flyers often have to shell out money from their own pockets because they have to buy essential items, such as toiletries, when they’re without their bag and airlines should reimburse travelers for all goods.
While you can’t control the fates of the luggage gods, you can plan for anything by packing smart. Pack a carry-on bag with all essential items including medications, valuables and a change of clothes. Get more packing tips before your trip.
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