Luggage question

[fernytickles]

My other half is stuck in Minneapolis thanks to weather, and will probably be there for two days. NW told him that he couldn't have his luggage back as it was already checked into the system, but not yet on its way to their destination.

I know that a lots of bags travel without their owners every day, but how can it be that they couldn't retrieve his bags from the baggage area before it departed?

[Rainboe]

If it's a weather problem, there are probably thousands of bags building up. Try finding one by baggage tag number! It's in the system and irretrievable. As long as it has been 'screened', it can travel independantly. But at times of disruption, it is just impossible to give individual attention like that.

[fernytickles]

Rainboe

Hmm, yes, I guess so, but it does suck when you're stuck for 2 days without any of your gubbins....
Feigns I sit next to them when they fly out of MSP....:uhoh:

[BOFH]

If Mr Fernytickles paid for his ticket with a credit card that rhymes with Bamerian Depress I believe there is/was some sort of insurance to cover the cost of buying smalls and the like.

It used to be about 200USD, but that is going back a few years (when I could read fine print)

Normal travel insurance can also help. Nonetheless, my condolences.

BOFH.

[surely not]

Itoo have suffered at the hands of indolent US baggage services staff when a flight has been cancelled for bad weather. It took 5 hours of hectoring, and a shift change which produced a young lady that still believed in customer service, before we got our bag back.
There was no way that we were prepared to leave our bag overnight at JFK, and the idea that this is acceptable is untenable both on the grounds of customer service and security of the bag.

Returning bags is a pain, been there done that in my working life, but it is not rocket science. The bags are made up for each flight and stored together by flight number, plus in Europe the application of triple 'A' baggage procedures would mean that the individual baggage bin or baggage dolly holding your bag could be quickly and easily identified.

So does the reluctance of NW to return the bag mean that yet again the organisation and security applied by USA domestic carriers is less than that found in Europe?

FernyT I think your other half should stick to their principles and insist on getting their bag back. They can recheck it in when they know that the flight is going to operate.