Traveling Tip For Lost Baggage

Having experienced the HELL of being on a business trip for Star Trek new Voyages and having the airline lose my baggage and my prescription meds for THREE DAYS, I wish I had known this at the time.

I'm reposting this on my blog so that I have unfettered access to it, should someday I (or anyone) has the same problem:

A directive from the U.S. D.O.T. to all airlines. This notice, issued last October, informs airlines that they cannot place arbitrary limits on compensation, not only when bags are lost, but even if they are merely "delayed." Read the directive in full.

As a result, airlines have been fined and some have changed the language on their websites dealing with delayed bags. For example, I found this on Delta.com:

"Delta requires that receipts be presented for all reasonable expense reimbursements incurred due to the delay of a passenger's bag. Reasonable expenses generally are $50 for the first 24hrs and $25 per day for the next 4 days the bag is delayed. The guidelines for reasonable expenses are NOT daily limits or a cap and additional expenses may be incurred and should be handled on an individual basis up to the limit of liability [emphasis added, which, by the way, Delta doesn't specify--more on that below]. Any disbursements will be deducted from the final settlement if the bag is not located."

Clearly, $25 or $50 per day is not enough to salvage a wedding, a ski trip, or an important business presentation. And the D.O.T. has made it clear that there are circumstances where passengers are entitled to dress appropriately at their destination, and replace needed sports and equipment and supplies.

The U.S. D.O.T. directive refers to the maximum $3,300 in liability that airlines face for wholly domestic U.S. trips. A lower level of compensation applies to international trips, usually governed by the Montreal Convention, which is currently 1,131 "Special Drawing Rights." (The value of an SDR is calculated daily, but as of this writing one SDR is equivalent to $1.55). But the D.O.T. is going after foreign airlines as well.

In January, for example, the D.O.T. fined Alitalia $80,000 for "violations...of Article 19 of the Montreal Convention and the statutory prohibition against unfair and deceptive trade practices, 49 U.S.C. § 41712, in connection with monetary claims resulting from delay [emphasis added by me] of checked baggage on Alitalia flights to or from the United States. It directs Alitalia to cease and desist from future similar violations of Article 19 and section 41712. The consent decree continues, "Article 22 of the Convention currently sets the liability limit for damages associated with lost, damaged, or delayed baggage at 1,131 Special Drawing Rights for each passenger.1 Article 19 provides that a carrier is liable for damage caused by delay in the carriage of baggage, except to the extent that the carrier proves that it took all reasonable measures to prevent the damage or that it was impossible to take such measures. Further, Article 26 states that any contractual provision tending to relieve a carrier of liability or to fix a lower limit than that which is laid down in the Convention is null and void."

So bookmark (and tweet and share) this page. And the next time your checked bag is delayed, don't settle for showing up at the wedding in your gym clothes.