# Lost luggage with Air Canada



## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I have a real life horror story to share with you. I write this from Jamaica, where my friend had his wedding.

The groom's parents were taking a simple direct flight with Air Canada (Toronto-Kingston). Air Canada didn't load their luggage, along with many others.

The bags arrived in Jamaica 4 days later, after the wedding was over. The groom's mom and dad had spent months preparing for this, and had nothing to wear - the mom was in tears. The dad's heart medication was also in the luggage (he had some in carry on luckily).

Air Canada could have paid a bit of money to load the bags on another carrier's flight, or even their NEXT flight, but they didn't. Even though they were informed about the wedding and medication.

Because of this sloppiness, now 70 wedding guests know that Air Canada can't be trusted with luggage.

The van that was delivering luggage was absolutely packed full with suitcases. This shows that it's not just one or two people whose bags get lost. Air Canada failed to deliver many passengers bags. The guy was driving all over the island delivering bags!


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Personally I always carry all my medications and adequate clothing in my carry on luggage as I assume something will go wrong lol.In 2014 we went on a cruise with friends from Germany ,their bag did not arrive in Miami and had to board ship with whatever they had in carry on ,luckily they used a travel agent and their bags met us in St.Thomas on day 3 of the cruise.It happens alot more than we think and no airline is immune from it.BTW they received a $250.00 USD voucher promise from the carrier for the lost luggage and went shopping on the ship for essentials and got this when they went home so push for some sort of compensation.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Sorry to hear about that story.

For our wedding, luggage was lost as well but luckily we arrived 4 days before the wedding, the bags arrived two days after we arrived.

It's not uncommon for luggage to be misplaced for flights.

Like Marina, always assume you need to take care of your own things (medications, a day or two worth of clothes, etc.) when travelling.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Thanks for the advice on this. I try to be very careful to pack carry ons with essentials. I will remember going forward that this is a common occurrence.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

Also, if it's something like this you can go out and buy new clothes and bill air canada. It sucks but it happens.

NEVER check meds. That's basic travel knowledge.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Funny follow-up story: and on my return trip, American Airlines lost *my* luggage. My suitcase (including my brand new suit) will hopefully find its way to me soon.

There's nothing essential in there, but I would like to get my suit out of there and hang it up properly sooner than later.


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## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

It is so common that all of my checked luggage is stuff that I _can _afford to lose. Any expensive items are carried on. I have even gone as far as carried on my flight helmet (~$2.5k). The looks you get running a crash helmet through the scanner when boarding a flight are comical.

It is so easy to mis-type airport identifier codes when printing destination labels. YTZ and YYZ for example. (Read you printed labels and ensure they are correct)
It is so easy for labels to get damaged and become unreadable.
It is so easy for the exhausted minimum wage baggage handler reading a black and white label in dark/rain/sleet/snow to misread when hand loading after you checked your bagged in late (this is something you can help mitigate).

There are many reasons as to why they get lost. The sheer volume of luggage that passes through a terminal is impressive. You think the terminal is packed? Start multiplying by 2, 3, 4, and so on for the number of luggage pieces per person. Not one airline is interested in intentionally losing your luggage. It's purely a numbers game and the odds are not exactly the greatest. 

The industry is moving towards new tech baggage tracking. Airlines such as Delta are now moving towards RFID to begin to eliminate/greatly reduce lost baggage. It won't be too long before the process get's a bit better. Aviation is always so far behind new tech.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

My lost bag showed up last night, but it's significantly damaged... the frame is somewhat bent and seams have popped open. The suitcase is no longer usable -- it's been destroyed, now it's trash.

I'm debating whether it's worth filing a damage claim. I'd have to go back to the airport to do this (nearly 2 hours of work to travel there/back and talk with the agents). Of course if they had delivered it on time I would have filed the claim right at the airport.

What are my chances of monetary compensation for my damaged bag? This is American Airlines. My suitcase was probably around $200 new and 60% worn before this trip.

From a financial perspective it doesn't seem worthwhile to put in that effort, but if everyone used that logic the airlines would never be held to account for the damage & suffering they cause.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

So you're ok paying for a new suitcase yourself? If you have the time I sure would followup and try to have them spend the $200. Maybe call first and see what will be involved. Tell them about the hassle to take it in and how surprised you are it was just dropped off in such a damaged state with no followup?


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

My spouse and I used to travel a lot for work and have pretty much had everything happen That you could imagine. Thigh I am really sorry to hear about the wedding. My spouse doesn't bring luggage any more unless absolutely necessary (like traveling th kids)




james4beach said:


> My lost bag showed up last night, but it's significantly damaged... the frame is somewhat bent and seams have popped open. The suitcase is no longer usable -- it's been destroyed, now it's trash.
> 
> I'm debating whether it's worth filing a damage claim. I'd have to go back to the airport to do this (nearly 2 hours of work to travel there/back and talk with the agents). Of course if they had delivered it on time I would have filed the claim right at the airport.
> 
> ...


If you bring the luggage, you should get money back if its unfit able, generally if it's the frame. The last time they broke my luggage about 10 years ago, they just gave us $150. That was the max amount then. The time before that it was $100 that was -about 15 years ago.

If you have the time to go, I would but you need to do it fairly soon


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

OK thanks those are good points, I plan to head over to the airport tomorrow.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Neat-o, American Airlines agreed my suitcase was wrecked and gave me a new one out of their store room. It's pretty similar to my old one, so I'm a happy customer!


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Wow, surprisingly good customer service!


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

james4beach said:


> Neat-o, American Airlines agreed my suitcase was wrecked and gave me a new one out of their store room. It's pretty similar to my old one, so I'm a happy customer!


Hey wait a minute, that's the one I lost last month. I was just about to go and see if they still had it! :biggrin:


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Haha... well I didn't see your nametag on it OmO!

But yes, good customer service. They could tell that I've had a not-so-fun trip. Just giving me a suitcase without fuss saved me ~ $150 and shopping effort. And considering that other AA agents helped me get home that day, despite delays and missed connections, I must say that this encourages me to book with them again. Really not bad overall.

It also seemed like they were aware that Jamaica & Miami are two common places for suitcases to be abused by handlers. There were very few follow up questions after they saw the crushed frame.


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