<p>Just returned from our vacation with extended family. Unfortunately, some of our luggage (7 checked bags for the ext family) was lost and was last recorded in Barcelona. We have not seen it for 10 days and are not sure if it will ever return to us. </p>
<p>Has anyone had lost baggage returned later when traveling abroad? DD has lost pretty much her entire summer wardrobe and is the most traumatized by it all. We will be working on a claim with the airlines, but not sure how long to hold out any hope on return of the bags.</p>
<p>I think traveling used to be more fun somehow.</p>
<p>My luggage once went to london while I returned to the US from elsewhere. The airlines actually brought it to me about 3 days later. That was a long long time ago. Someone once took my mom’s bag instead of their own, and it took a few more days, but they turned it in and she got it back. 10 days seems like a lot, but maybe there is still a chance.</p>
<p>Many years ago, I had luggage lost when I had to change planes and they returned it to me within the week. I had most of my clothes in it and it was stressful but everything was returned intact. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Do you have someone to keep in touch with. I remember calling to check and they called me when they were going to return it…someone had to be home.</p>
<p>It has been 10 days because we last saw it when we checked it in before our first flight. We spent a week on a cruise ship without it because they were trying to locate it and by the time they did (we were calling from the ship every day) we didn’t think it would be able to reach us at the ports we were visiting. When we returned to Barcelona from the ship we were only able to retrieve 1 of the 8 bags that we were missing all week before we had to board our flight home.</p>
<p>Oh wow, a whole week on vacation without your luggage. Contact one of those people, they’ll be able to kick it into high gear for you. Even if the answer is the bags are gone/stolen, you may be able to get better compensation. Don’t forget to file with your credit card in addition with your airline.</p>
<p>My MIL lost a bag when we were doing a cruise and the same thing happened where they kept trying to reunite the bag and her at different ports, but it wasn’t working out. The airline finally got the bag to her in the second to last port, I believe. Coincidentally, our first stop was Barcelona. Seven bags seems impossible to “lose” though. I would keep pressing the issue but meanwhile, start searching for receipts for proof of any expensive items.</p>
<p>Sylvan, sorry this happened. What a disaster. I just got back from a cruise out of Barcelona and can’t imagine going without my luggage. How did you manage? I hope the luggage gets back to you.</p>
<p>Oh Sylvan…that is awful! What did you do for clothes on the cruise?? I agree that seven bags should be hard to lose! I hope you get them back!</p>
<p>I had a bag go missing between Johannesburg and Rwanda. I really never thought I would see it again…and it had most of my clothes for the trip in it (I luckily had two changes in my carryon…and all of my toiletries and medications). There really isn’t good phone communication in Rwanda…we had to go to the airport every day to check for this missing bag. On day three it showed up…God knows where it had been!</p>
<p>Several years ago American Airlines lost my bag from a Rome to NYC flight. It was returned to me a week later and from the tags I could see that somehow it was routed through New Delhi.</p>
<p>Sorry you’re in this situation. Both my parents and I have had luggage lost that caught back up to us … but it only took 2-3-4 days for it to catch back up to us. Personally, I do not see a reason to wait to file the claim … if you’re already submitted the claim and the luggage is found you can always cancel the claim. I guess trying to avoid the hassle of the paperwork would be a reason to wait as long as possible to submit … although I would write down an inventory list ASAP while the contents are still fresh in your mind. Good luck.</p>
<p>How upsetting! I’m very sorry about the lost luggage. It does seems odd that the airline could lose 7 bags. I would definitely follow-up. 10 days is a long time to wait. You should definitely record the contents while the list is still fresh in your memory,</p>
<p>Years ago, DH was scheduled to fly to Romania on business. Unfortunately his overseas flight was delayed & he was unable to make the connection to Bucharest, so he cancelled. But his luggage didn’t get the message & went to Romania without him. His suitcase sat on a Bucharest tarmac for a couple days, where feral dogs urinated on it. :eek: The bag was eventually returned to us about week later, soiled and reeking. The airline paid replacement value for all the shirts & ties that were ruined. </p>
<p>We seldom check luggage on outbound flights anymore. We try to pack light in carry ons & do laundry at our hotel or a laundromat if a trip is longer than 5 days. But we have checked bags on the return trip after purchasing knives, wine, olive oil, or other items that are prohibited in carry on luggage.</p>
<p>^Fortunately, there were other people in the extended family with comparable sizes and we were able to beg, borrow, and shop our way through the week. It was a major hassle. One of the problems is that we apparently arrived in the middle of a baggage handlers strike in Spain, so many people on the ship were also dealing with luggage problems. We also had flight problems and our luggage was not on our connecting flight (which 8 of us were on together) so it went one way and we went another. Overall our trip over was pretty much a nightmare and we were 27 hours from our house to our hotel.</p>
<p>Every time we call the airlines they tell us a different set of bag numbers. On Tuesday there were 4 identified, on Thursday there were all 8, and today there were only 3 including the bag we retrieved and brought home, which is obviously not still there. Apparently their ability to keep track of luggage is nil.</p>
<p>Get on the phone and keep going up the food chain until you are satisfied. Years ago my bag was lost and I kept getting the run around. I was told the bag was on it’s way several times but when I would ask where the bag was they couldn’t tell me. I kept asking to speak with a persons supervisor until I eventually got to the president of Northwest. I got my ticket refunded, plus free ticket and was compensated for clothes and luggage, along with a letter of apology. My bag finally materialized several weeks after that (about 5 weeks total time missing) but I didn’t have to repay Northwest for cost of clothes or luggage.</p>
<p>It took nine days for my husband’s bag to catch up with him on a trip to Scotland. It didn’t help that we were moving almost every day, but we wasted hours every day on the phone with the luggage people. I don’t think they did anything with the bag until the last day when they decided to send it to Orkney the day we left Orkney. By the time it finally caught up with us I was kind of hoping it would stay missing a few more days and my husband could have said he need to buy a kilt for a C</p>