According to the AAA Travel Forecast released earlier this month, this Memorial Day weekend could kick off the busiest summer travel season seen in over two decades! AAA projects 42.3 million Americans will travel this weekend with nearly 3.4 million traveling by air. As you prepare for your summer travels, it’s important to know how to properly handle your belongings and what to do if your bag doesn’t show up on the carousal.
Airlines have an impressive track record of reuniting over 99.5% of bags with their owners, and it is only after an extensive three-month search that an unclaimed bag is truly deemed lost (which only happens to less than 0.03% of all checked luggage!) If a bag cannot be reunited with its owner over this time, airlines pay out a claim to their passengers.
If you ever get to the point where you feel your airline has lost your luggage, there are steps you can take to get your luggage back and get reimbursed for potential expenses. Here are four steps to take if your luggage is lost:
1. File a claim
The first thing you must do is contact the airline. Either head to your airline’s lost baggage counter and speak to the representative or, if you cannot find a representative, call the airport. It is important to note that in many cases the luggage is not lost, only delayed. Filing a report with the airline and providing them with all the necessary details about your missing luggage is the most important step towards getting your luggage back. Make sure to keep a copy of the report or a reference number for future use.
2. Provide detailed information
When reporting the loss, provide as much detail about your luggage as possible. This includes details such as the color, brand, size, and any other distinguishing features on the bag, like unique stickers or tags. It is also helpful to identify the contents of the bag. This can assist in speeding up the process if there are multiple bags or suitcases like yours.
3. Keep copies of important documents
Airlines almost always provide copies of travel documents (like your ticket and boarding pass), but it is also important to hold on to your baggage claim ticket and any other relevant receipts or identification. Some airlines will reimburse your checked bag fee after a certain period of time, and most will compensate you for expenses from your lost or delayed bag. These expenses could include toiletries, cell phone chargers, and even clothing.
4. Follow up with the airline
As mentioned earlier, airlines reunite over 99.5% of bags with their owners, so just keep track of your reference number for your claim and regularly follow up with the airline to ask about the status of your luggage. Additionally, if you have travel insurance, you can call your provider and inform them of the situation so that they can guide you through the process of filing a claim.
Losing luggage can be a frustrating and headache-inducing experience, but taking immediate action with these listed steps can increase your chances of recovering it.
In the rare instances that a bag becomes completely lost, Unclaimed Baggage steps in as a salvage partner and purchases those bags from airlines and gives the items a second life by either selling them through our retail and online stores or donating them to local and global non-profits through our Reclaimed for Good foundation. In fact, for every item we sell, another is donated to help those in need.
Planning to spend your Memorial Day weekend in Scottsboro, Alabama? Join us for our Big Tent Event! Enjoy treasure hunting through tens-of-thousands of fresh product in our 50,000 sq ft retail store AND under the jumbo tents in the front parking lot. Free popcorn and lemonade will be provided while you dive into a treasure trove of unique and unexpected finds.
For more information on our Big Tent Event this Memorial Day weekend, visit our store event page here.