Maybe we should start calling this the lost luggage column. Last week, we tried to untangle the case of a skier who lost his gear in Telluride, Colo. Today, meet Rita Rosenfeld, whose luggage was misplaced by Alitalia on a trip to Italy.
LUGGAGE
When Rose Satz showed up at the luggage carousel in Baltimore after a recent American Airlines flight from Dallas, she found her almost-new American Tourister bag in bad shape.
Maybe you heard about the students who “rioted” on a recent Ryanair flight because of the airline’s confiscatory luggage fees. And maybe you heard the emphatic declarations from the blogosphere that this was the final straw, that enough was enough, and that airlines had finally gone too far with fees.
Think you’ll never fall for one of those email scams — you know, the ones where someone hijacks a friend’s Gmail account and pretends to be a traveler in distress?
Federal law says an airline can’t limit its liability for lost, damaged or delayed baggage to less than $3,300 per passenger. But if you’re flying on Delta Air Lines, you might have thought otherwise.
Next time you fly, look up. Before you open that overhead bin, think about Shari Altarache and the injuries she says she sustained on a recent flight.
Article 17 of the Montreal Convention holds airlines liable for loss of or damage to baggage, as long as it took place when it was in their possession. No exceptions.
This chart, which comes to us courtesy of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, is quite revealing. And at the same time, misleading.
At the end of yesterday’s post about TSA damage claims for luggage, I asked readers to take a look at the raw data released by the agency. And you did.
Then again, maybe not. Before I get into the substance of this post, let me acknowledge a few of my biases. Although the Transportation Security Administration has never damaged my checked baggage — because I don’t check my baggage, probably — they did kinda ruin my last New Years Day. And Kari just had an [...]
Alitalia lost Carole Pollack’s luggage, and it stayed lost for five days. It’s been more than five months since she submitted her expenses to the airline, and she’s wondering if she’ll ever be reimbursed for the incidentals she had to buy for herself and her teenage daughter “so she wouldn’t have a major meltdown.” As [...]
Last week’s post about excellent customer service brought a few me-toos out of the woodwork, including this noteworthy account of United Airlines doing the right thing.
To get an idea of how badly airlines might treat your luggage in the summer of 2010, consider the latest offer by The Stafford London by Kempinski. It’s called the “Baggage Emergency Response Squad.”
Calling it the “next phase” of unbundling, Spirit Airlines a few hours ago announced that it would begin charging passengers for carry-on luggage. Seriously.
Here’s a new phishing scam that could cost you a lot of money — $940, in my case.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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