Delayed Luggage

[SpringHeeledJack]

Up until recently my general luck with baggage has been very good, however, 2 weeks ago Lufthansa managed to mislay my baggage and aside from it causing major inconvenience for several days of my holidays, it has proven thus far difficult to get into contact with the correct department to claim back expenses and compensation. The flight was short from MUC to GVA and the suitcase arrived 7hrs after I had landed and gone on my way to the final destination. Thanks to an Apple AirTag, I was able to see where the case was at a glance. Lufthansa's agents (Swissport) didn't even acknowledge that it was there (GVA) for over 2 days and then it took another nearly 2 days for it to arrive by taxi-courier. I've obviously not heard a peep out of LH since.

Lufthansa's involvement seemed to be an AI service that took your passenger details, but not much more. Do any of you well-travelled souls have the magic email/tel no./address where I can submit my claim before too much time passes ? Any help much appreciated.

[S.o.S.]

SpringHeeledJack mentions GPS linked bag tags. So, as well as someone being able to help him with contact details - please could we also have feedback from Pax about either GPS or BlueTooth tags and their real life experiences with them?

[BTNH]

When LH left my suitcase behind you could to all of it over the LH app. Or better then that after 2 hour waiting at the baggage belt the app said my suitcase is not coming and it open the stuff to fill in itself. Hey that would be way to easy these days.

[PAXboy]

I have looked at the air tags and similar products but as I do not travel as much as I used to, I am not sure the subscription is worth it for me. I can see how helpful it would be to know where your bags - and frustrating that the airline do not seem to want the information!

[James 1077]

I have looked at the air tags and similar products but as I do not travel as much as I used to, I am not sure the subscription is worth it for me. I can see how helpful it would be to know where your bags - and frustrating that the airline do not seem to want the information!
No subscription for Air Tags, they just need someone's (anyone's) iPhone to be nearby and they'll update their position. I'm travelling to Europe in a few weeks and, due to the horror stories I've heard, have forked out for a set!

[SpringHeeledJack]

Great, I've started a dual thread 😁 I got one of the iTags due to a poster within this forum highly recommending them on their many trips some months back and how it allowed them to recover their suitcase from within a crowded arrivals hall heap using the direction facility. My limited experience would suggest for £25 it's a no-brainer and if you're travelling regularly even more so.

Any help with the main topic ?

[TCU]

I've just had a rather pleasant delayed luggage experience with Emirates....it rather took me aback!

Flew EK, LHR-DXB-CPT, on Saturday/Sunday using the EK030/EK772 combo. All in Y. This involved a rather tight connection in DXB of just 1.05hrs based on schedule. Despite a 30 minute late departure from LHR, the boys stepped on the gas and we landed a tad ahead of schedule in DXB. Unfortunately we then had the longest taxi I've ever experienced at DXB, so got off EK30 with around 50 minutes to departure of EK772.

EK however looked after us royally, with a rather nice chap waiting for us and whisking us through security and the huge terminal to our departure gate, which we arrived at with 30 minutes to go...superb

My wife and I were luggage heavy and had checked in 3 full cases and 2, lets say non-standard items! EK were however super and had kept the excess for the 5th item to a very fair price.

So, an hour and a half out of CPT I'm approached at my seat by the Chief Purser. One of my cases didn't make the connection. He took all my details via an iPad type device. He gave me a reference number and contact detail and asked that I just check in with the EK luggage desk on arrival. This I duly did and, rather encouragingly, they were expecting me and had all my details. They advised my bag would arrive on tomorrows EK772 and be couriered to my home

Forward to Monday, I get a call from the luggage desk early pm to say my bag arrived and that the courier was on his way....and yes it naturally arrived on a bakkie...nice to be back in Africa. I asked the driver if he had been busy today due to the tight connection. No he said....this happens every day!

So credit where credit is due. Well done to EK for operating such a slick system which has the key component of keeping the passenger informed.

....I may invest in the tags though

[redsnail]

I don't have a magic email/contact number for Lufthansa. It's often worth taking time to scratch around their website. Failing that, either log a complaint or there's merit in using Twitter to get their attention. Keep everything from Lufthansa. Such as your boarding pass, any email stating the lost bag and when it was returned. This will affect the amount you're entitled to.

If folks have an iPhone, the AirTags are the way forward. £25/tag. Replaceable battery. It should last a year. No subscription required. Connect it to your phone. :) Job done. :) I use mine ALL the time. I have one on my car keys, they're stashed in the nav bag, I have others scattered throughout all my bags. Honestly, best thing ever for travel.
If folks have other phones, consider the Tile. It works in a similar way using bluetooth. I don't know anything about the Tile.

[alserire]

There's a thread on FlyerTalk under the Miles and More banner where a couple of LH employees offer limited help and info.

Reading it suggests that LH are still in a mess. They used to be my second airline from DUB via FRA when going somewhere EI don't go direct. Not any more. It's EI and a train. LH have been totally unreliable since August 2021 imho.

[PAXboy]

It is a pity that Air-Tags only work with Apple phones but a good USP for them. I have looked around at similar for Android but nothing seems to leap forward. Please do mention if you have found something that works.

[teeteringhead]

It is a pity that Air-Tags only work with Apple phones but a good USP for the Does it need an iPhone or would it work with an iPad?

[teeteringhead]

It is a pity that Air-Tags only work with Apple phones but a good USP for them Was wondering if they worked on iPads as well as iPhones.

Checked the Apple website and they do - in fact any Apple product with the "Find My" app it seems.

[S.o.S.]

Thanks for the updates everyone. Anything related to Android also useful. I can see that Apple use BlueTooth to access the wider network - which droid does not have of course. BUT is there a specific item? I often see advertising for a well known Korean Brand of mobile (Cell) phone and their accessories.

[SimonPaddo]

Tile do something similar to Air-Tags (think its mentioned up the thread). Bluetooth works nearby. If its out of range of your phone anyone running the Tile app nearby will update the position in the app. So guessing Apple win as every iPhone will broadcast Air-Tag positions. They also just switched back to a design with non-replaceable batteries which I think is a backwards step.

Tile tracking tags (https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiz-bGiuND5AhUS7e0KHWxwAVUYABATGgJkZw&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESa-D2tS_6KgSpVp2ziiBjRU14yx9dCROF1YxnS4aptOuhw7vkyiciAK2Y0AwpaP e3zWc03v8IMn7f8Klg8GVebzKm2U7uBJip7DCitD9fnBF-dprpSM5Ou7JWuyW_4r4ZAAbqcaMhmtB6f58d&sig=AOD64_3_nUIVcLpVcBKiJI6Aq1m1nNbqaA&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwjVj6eiuND5AhVWFcAKHZo0A2cQ0Qx6BAgDEAE)

[S.o.S.]

Thank you SimonPaddo. I have read about Tile but was not aware of the links it could make. Certainly non-replaceable batteries is very poor. It might make them watertight but is contrary to the overall direction.

[Mr Mac]

SOS
I do quite a bit of flying and invested in some bright orange Tags with White A/C symbols which glow in the dark on wire traces. Cost about £25 for a pair but have worked very well for me.

Cheers
Mr Mac

[SpringHeeledJack]

For anyone interested no magic portal was found, but I received a generic CS mail a week or so ago and this allowed me to put my claim in before the 18days limit was reached (not remotely alluded to beforehand). I'm hoping that LH won't mess me around and deal with the claim in a decent and timely manner.

[Ignore the HUD]

As mentioned on another thread in this forum when our luggage was delayed for 4 days at JNB. Apple Air Tags enabled me to track it at the airport all the way to our hotel room. I did wish though I had written down the manufacturers information and color/ size of our luggage and taken photos of it . This would have helped a lot at the lost luggage department at Windhoek.

[crewmeal]

I’ve found my AirTag isn’t that brilliant. After checking in at Terminal 2 for my flight to Cairo, my luggage was located in a container adjacent to the terminal. When we taxied out it was still there. I can only guess that the signal does not penetrate baggage containers and aircraft holds.

On arrival at Cairo it still indicated it was at terminal 2. However on my connection to Luxor I checked with an agent using my baggage tag and all was well. My AirTag worked properly when I was in my hotel room. It showed my luggage was located in the middle of the Nile!!!

[PAXboy]

This is interesting, as it sets out a lot of the detail that is missed in the short and fast reporting of these days.
A long-serving baggage handler employed at Gatwick airport gives a candid account of working life
It also mentions Bluetooth bag trackers.

The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/03/its-carnage-the-life-of-a-gatwick-baggage-handler-during-a-summer-of-flight-chaos)

[SpringHeeledJack]

A question to the panel regarding my thread starting post.

I received an automated email from Lufthansa over Xmas saying just how terribly sorry they were and not up to their normal standards blah blah and that they were happy to send me the requested money for incidentals purchased back in August (circa 200euro) when they didn't get my suitcase to me for several days. On the one hand I'm happy to hear this, but also a bit peeved that it's taken them 5 whole months to do this and, of course, the partial ruination (several days) of my holiday due to their issues. Should I simply accept and forget, or is it worth pressing them for more due to the circumstances ? I'm not particularly greedy, but feel as though I've been badly treated in the matter.

[SpringHeeledJack]

No-one ?

;-)

[S.o.S.]

I suspect that your experience is the 'new normal'. Whether carriers are still rebuilding after Covid staff reductions, or have decided to stay at those level staff levels, we may never know. Personally? Even if you push, you would probably not get much more.

[Kiltrash]

My son tells me the story that he and his wife arrived at Heathrow a bit early for their flight to New York. He had apple air tag and when he boarded their flight the tag showed no results. Upon arrival at New York the tag showed it was already in the terminal. At the baggage relaim belt it showed it was there but not quite. Case did not appear and they went to ' lost luggage ' and the case was already there ...it appears to have been put on the earlier flight ( BA )

[Hartington]

Baggage already there? I had that happen to me many, many years ago with United on a flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

[SpringHeeledJack]

I suspect that your experience is the 'new normal'. Whether carriers are still rebuilding after Covid staff reductions, or have decided to stay at those level staff levels, we may never know. Personally? Even if you push, you would probably not get much more.

Thank you for the response. You are, most likely correct. The 'new normal', what a shame it has got to this though. I'll contact the bot/Indian service centre and ok the 'compensation'.

Back in the 80's I was flying from Honolulu to London using World Airways, remember them, DC-10's with a red cheat line swoosh and a globe on the tail ? Anyway it was a 'stopper', which included OAK, MCI and BWI before hopping over to LGW. My bags got put on the wrong trolley at BWI and ended up on the earlier FRA flight. Once realised on landing, it was sent 'RUSH' on an Air India flight to LHR, but instead ended up on the Air India BOM flight, whence it made it's way back to FRA and then LHR. I ended up on my delayed flight at LHR as well, a fog diversion, sat on the tarmac for 2hrs next to the old Terminal 2 multi-storey before the 10min flight to LGW. My bags arrived the next day by taxi. I don't imagine these screwups would happen these days due to the scanning done in the baggage processing.