<p>We left US right before the recent snow storm through DC. We were lucky to leave with minor delay and without losing connecting flights. Unfortunately, our baggages were not so lucky. It’s Day 4 and the airline, try they may, so far cannot locate the bags. What are our chances to still find our bags? At this point we will be happy to just find them by the time we get home.</p>
<p><a href=“Handling Luggage Problems, From Damage to Delays - The New York Times”>Handling Luggage Problems, From Damage to Delays - The New York Times;
<p>My bags were lost on an overseas trip. It took four days for them to catch up to me. </p>
<p>The east coast and midwest are mighty messed up air travel wise right now. Flights are NOT departing, and there are many delays…many. There are thousands of bags that are not with their owners (think checked bags for canceled flights).</p>
<p>Find out what the airline’s policy is. Often after 24 or 48 hours they have to give you some money to buy some basics. They often do NOT tell you this, so unless you ask, you won’t know. </p>
<p>I once went a week w/o luggage and only after it was found did I find out that I could have bought some stuff and been reimbursed. I was furious that the airline hadn’t told me that.</p>
<p>On a lighter note about lost luggage…which now I can laugh about…</p>
<p>When my luggage was lost, American Airlines called me up and said, “some luggage went thru a shredder. We don’t know if your bags were destroyed. Can you tell us what your contents would look like if they were shredded?” </p>
<p>lol…and what the heck was luggage doing near a shredder anyway???</p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>My sons luggage was lost flying into Boston yesterday. His flight was rescheduled to yesterday from Friday due to weather. He is supposed to leave Boston today for another trip and needs those bags (things that cannot be easily replaced). The airlines contacted him this morning and said they are still actively looking.</p>
<p>I hope you will collect your bags once all these delays clear up. This very morning, a Delta connecting flight from Toronto slid off an icy runway at JFK airport 8 a.m.; entire airport closed until a few minutes ago (noon). Imagine how many flights were impacted in four hours of a closed airport! This whole weekend was such a bad combination of record-breaking cold and end-of-holiday passenger traffic. Surely it’s backed up all the baggage, too.</p>
<p>Just as side entertainment while you wait, one story about concern over missing bags. I was on an airport shuttle bus next to a worried young man from India, studying in the U.S. He was about to go into the terminal in search of misplaced bags and asked me whether I thought it would all work out as he was heading home on a connecting flight soon, and once in Delhi he’d take a train four hours to his family home. I told him, yes, most of the times the bags will catch up to you, even if later into your trip. I added, “That’s only a problem if you are on your way to something like a wedding, and you have your clothes in there…” He looked panic-stricken. He was on his way to HIS wedding, by arrangement, and had all the presents for his bride and bride’s family in those suitcases. I couldn’t have said a worse thing to “reassure” him. Live and learn. All I could do was pump him up for a good conversation in the terminal, and I hope his story ended well.</p>
<p>In a situation like this three to four days of waiting is very likely. Some time ago I had a winter flight from Germany to Florida. As my bags were lost I ended up in my winter clothes trying to survive Florida weather. The airline located the bags in Tokio and finally did ship them.
I have been wondering whether they really try very hard. There are auctions of lost luggage in many towns very six months. Some of those bags have such a characteristic look or color that the owners cannot be difficult to locate. But maybe it is easier and cheaper to reimburse for lost property and then pocket the profit at these auctions, where most suitcases and their contents go for about 200 dollars.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is not a good idea to put difficult-to-replace items in checked baggage.</p>
<p>^ I agree but this is sports equipment. The equipment has been hand altered for him specifically thus not an easy thing to replace. I guess we could have shipped it separately but he has never had a problem traveling with it before. Live and learn!</p>
<p>One thing that hindered us in getting a lost bag was the name on the bag tag. I told the airline I had lost the bag, but my daughter had put her name on the tag.</p>
<p>Unfortunately there are only 2 kinds of bags - lost and carry-on. The only things I put in lost are things I can live without for several days. Everything else goes in carry on. This after my lost bag had my interview suit in it and I never allowed that to happen again.</p>