Fear of lost luggage?

[2ndtimecruising]

My wife and I leave for a 12 night mediterranean cruise tomorrow. We normally try and book non stop flights but this flight stops in frankfurt then goes on to barcelona. I always worry about my luggae being lost when you have a transfer. Maybe i'm just paranoid but 2 weeks worth of a TON of clothing being lost would put a big damper on anyones vacation. Is it normal to have a fear of baggage being lost?

[mad4mky]

My wife and I leave for a 12 night mediterranean cruise tomorrow. We normally try and book non stop flights but this flight stops in frankfurt then goes on to barcelona. I always worry about my luggae being lost when you have a transfer. Maybe i'm just paranoid but 2 weeks worth of a TON of clothing being lost would put a big damper on anyones vacation. Is it normal to have a fear of baggage being lost?

 

I was in a dither over this sort of thing before our trip--and during our flights.

We had lots of bags between the two of us. But, we cross packed, just in case one of our bags got lost. This way--each of us would have clothes if only one bag came.

 

I read here on CC--countless stories of lost luggage--and the cruise lines feeble attempts to help.

 

Well--I was in a dither for nothing.

All 4 of our bags (we had two each) came--at each stop--each layover.

(We flew--San Francisco to JFK (NYC)--to Madrid then onto Barcelona).

Not one bag was lost--on the way to our trip--or on our way home.

 

So--that said, I can't promise you all of your bags will make it...but I can tell you that worrying over things that might not be are a waste of space in your head.

If it happens, you can roll with the punches and do what you need to do. But, take precautions, and cross pack like I did--just in case one of the bags don't show up. :D

[texancruzer]

We leave 4 weeks from tomorrow.....same deal. Corpus Christi to Houston- Houston to Paris- Paris to Rome.

 

We have always each had our stuff in our own suitcase....not this trip. I am cross-packing !!!!

 

If it gets lost on the way home..... Barcelona-Newark-Houston-Corpus Christi - - - won't be a happy camper but can live with that......

[7toEleven]

Unfortunetly the lost luggage thing is a reality. Take what you can on your flight. Cross-pack, all very good ideas! The trip we were on there were 50 without their luggage. I have heard stores of the same thing happening on later trips. Our luggage wasn't lost in Europe, the foul-up was in Chicago! Only had the one-stop but that was enough to cause problems. I hope things go smoothly and you don't have a problem.

[aussiecruzer]

Good advice from those above, including Mad4mky ( Hi Peggy). I agree, cross pack, and in your carry on bag, pack a couple of changes of clothes and some spare underwear just in case. Wear whatever pair of shoes you most want to reach your destination. Also pack any medications or other essentials in your carry on bag. That way you won't have to worry so much. However, having said that, like Peggy , our bags arrived with no problems and I hope yours will too. You know , we always read the stories about people's bags that don't turn up - people don't usually write stories about their bags that did turn up!!:) :)

[CAT GIRL]

Our bag got lost on our way home from the Med. One precaution

I took was that I taped a copy of our name, itinerary, and hotel

information on the inside of each bag. In the end what caused

our lost bag was good old human error. It turned out that the

agent put two tags on one of our four bags so one bag recieved

none. Not having a tag on it, it never left the airport. So our name

and address was plastered all over it but they didn't know where

it was going. After filing the proper paperwork and subsequent

emails we received our bag about a week later---all intact. Of

course it was the one with the souvineirs in it so we were happy.

[SarasMommy]

On our Med cruise a whole plane load of people's luggage got left behind at a connection airport. They saw it sitting on the tarmac as they were pulling away to take off. From what I hear, the ship (HAL's Westerdam) was very good about providing them with clothing, and doing laundry, etc.

 

Lost luggage does happen occasionally. Does it suck? Yes! Is there anything you can do as a passenger to prevent it? Not really, other than making sure it's labelled with all your info. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to let it preoccupy your thoughts. I know I always stand at the baggage carousel worried, until I see my bag come rolling out. Cross packing and putting a change of clothes in your carry-on are good ideas.

[tango55]

I live with a man who was paranoid about losing our luggage on our recent med cruise. We were flying from Montreal to Paris to Rome. We had heard nightmare stories about losing luggage so he was really worried. We had cross packed, but still everything was needed for our cruise.

 

Everything arrived safe and sound, both going and coming. You can worry all you want, but if it's gonna get lost, it's gonna get lost. Just be as prepared as you can and hope for the best.

 

Terry

[deltadoug13]

I work for Delta Airlines and I am leaving next week on a 7 day cruise. I prefer to only bring carry-on bags whenever possible, but when you need to check in a bag, there are a few things you can do to help the bags get to the proper destination.

1. Most important!!! When they put the luggage tag on your bag, make sure the destination on EACH bag tag is your FINAL destination. Know your 3 letter country code of your final destination. (VCE-Venice, FCO-Rome, etc.) Most problems start with wrong tags put on by lazy or inattentive counter workers. If anybody needs a country code, just ask on this forum or look on the computer.

2. Whenever possible, book on the same airline on all legs of your trip. When a passenger flies in on Delta and connects on Northwest or United, there is a higher percentage of misconnected bags.

3. As a few previous posters said, put identification on the inside of each bag.

4. Make sure the airlines have a CURRENT phone number to contact you, when bags do get lost. I get quite a few bag claims with old numbers or travel agent numbers. If it's the weekend, then trying to contact a travel agent is very difficult.

5. If your connections are under 45 minutes or an hour in the major airports,(JFK,ATL,ORD) it is more likely to not make the connecting flight. Try to have an hour between legs.

6. If you get an agent that takes pride in their job, they will go the extra mile to try to get your bag to you as soon as possible. Unfortunately not all agents are motivated to do more than the basics. So luck is involved.

I've investigated lost bags in the past and found ways to get the bags to the 1st port and also let the cruise line know whre and when to expect it.

I may not know everything about the operation, but I try to keep the inconveniences to a minimum.

 

Good luck to all and happy travels.

Delta Doug

[SaylorGirl]

My wife and I leave for a 12 night mediterranean cruise tomorrow. We normally try and book non stop flights but this flight stops in frankfurt then goes on to barcelona. I always worry about my luggae being lost when you have a transfer. Maybe i'm just paranoid but 2 weeks worth of a TON of clothing being lost would put a big damper on anyones vacation. Is it normal to have a fear of baggage being lost?

 

I have a great fear of lost luggage so I only do carry on. It doesn't matter to me if the trip is for 2 days or one month I only carry it with me.

[sherry7]

I work for Delta Airlines and I am leaving next week on a 7 day cruise. I prefer to only bring carry-on bags whenever possible, but when you need to check in a bag, there are a few things you can do to help the bags get to the proper destination.

1. Most important!!! When they put the luggage tag on your bag, make sure the destination on EACH bag tag is your FINAL destination. Know your 3 letter country code of your final destination. (VCE-Venice, FCO-Rome, etc.) Most problems start with wrong tags put on by lazy or inattentive counter workers. If anybody needs a country code, just ask on this forum or look on the computer.

2. Whenever possible, book on the same airline on all legs of your trip. When a passenger flies in on Delta and connects on Northwest or United, there is a higher percentage of misconnected bags.

3. As a few previous posters said, put identification on the inside of each bag.

4. Make sure the airlines have a CURRENT phone number to contact you, when bags do get lost. I get quite a few bag claims with old numbers or travel agent numbers. If it's the weekend, then trying to contact a travel agent is very difficult.

5. If your connections are under 45 minutes or an hour in the major airports,(JFK,ATL,ORD) it is more likely to not make the connecting flight. Try to have an hour between legs.

6. If you get an agent that takes pride in their job, they will go the extra mile to try to get your bag to you as soon as possible. Unfortunately not all agents are motivated to do more than the basics. So luck is involved.

I've investigated lost bags in the past and found ways to get the bags to the 1st port and also let the cruise line know whre and when to expect it.

I may not know everything about the operation, but I try to keep the inconveniences to a minimum.

 

Good luck to all and happy travels.

Delta Doug

 

Great advice...thanks! :)

[elynch]

Hi all,

Just returned from a two week cruise in the Med. Sorry to say that Iberia lost a piece of my luggage from JFK to Barelona. Not a great way to start a vacation. I did cross pack so that did save me. I waited almost 2 hours in line in the Barcelona AP. Bag did arrive 3 days later in one of the ports. All in all it was a good cruise.

 

Elaine

[cruisinisforme]

This thread makes me so nervous!!!! It is my biggest fear, and I am a firm believer in a carry on, but you cant take that much in your carry on...although on this cruise I am going to have the largest one the airline allows!

[DonMar]

I too worry about lost luggage, so we travel carry-on only now. We have done land and cruise travel all over the world with just our carry on. I will say that we found the most useful bags that help accomplish this task. (along with editing down what we take and making sure everything multitasks.)

 

These bags (see link below) are carry-on size, on wheels, have detachable day backpack and the whole thing turn into a backpack. We bought our bags about 5 years ago and love them.

 

http://www.highsierrasport.com/ItemDetail?itemNum=AT205

[cruisinisforme]

I have always been a firm believer in a carry on. Although (knock on wood) i havent had luggage lost, I have travelled with several people who have. I would love to be one of those people who get on the plane with just their purse...but I just wont do it, at least not on the way to a trip, too risky for me. I always take a dress, bathing suit, change of clothes, pajamas, some makeup, etc. So if the luggage is lost I can change, sleep and swim.

[NancyChgo]

How about mention of the specific AIRLINE?? A few posts here mentioned them, but not most.

 

Are some airlines worse than others regarding losing luggage - specifically on TA flights with a stopover and includes a change of airplane/flight?

 

I'm flying Aer Lingus (early dec) from Chgo to Dublin with a long delay and then flight to Barcelona. I've heard misc. reviews. What I'm looking for is someone who has done a similar (JFK or Boston, ok) flight and your experience.

 

thanks! appreciate any input! I too am a little worried. Heading for a transatlantic cruise to US. If my luggage goes missing, there won't be a lot of options for retreiving it before or during my cruise.

 

THANKS!

[kdowneymd]

I have to say that three times this year I flew Delta from JFK to an international airport: Madrid, Rome and Honduras. In each instance we checked several bags (parties of 2, 4 and 6)and at each stop we received all of our bags without problems. Our trip to Honduras was LaGuardia to Atlanta to Honduras with carryone bags and three 50 lb bags that had humantarian supplies in them )although the bags were not labelled as such) Our flight from laG was late and our 50 minute lay over turned out to be 10 minutes. We arrived with our bags waiting for us in Honduras. My son and I ran so fast to make the connection, I praised the baggage handlers. There were a number of individuals on our cruise leaving from Rome without luggage, I was astounded and felt blessed we had evrything without any difficulty. We did follow all of the recommended suggestions as listed above but had a great experience with dELTA ON ALL TRIPS (I do not work for Delta or have any connections to them)

[piper28]

As someone that's had his luggage lost on the way to a cruise, it's definitely not fun, but it's not generally going to be the end of the world. For me it ended up basically being all my shorts (on a Caribbean cruise). Bag eventually caught up with me at the 3rd of 4 stops. Princess was pretty helpfull in keeping track of where the bag would be to get it to us eventually, and supplied a shirt for formal night (since that was also in my luggage, they would have supplied the whole tux if necessary). A fellow CC member took pity on me and lent me a pair of shorts, so I made out ok.

 

Obviously it's not something that I really want to go through with again, but it's definitely liveable, and definitely didn't ruin the cruise. I did fare better than some people on that cruise though, there were a fair number that had no luggage at all.

[cruisinisforme]

Myself and several people I know have flown aer lingus at different times with no problem at all. But we all did have direct flights from jfk to dublin we didnt stop anywhere else in europe.

[Happy ks]

I'll add to Dougs post - that you should check all your bags and remove any old tags and bar codes that may have been applied. Baggage handlers are not mind readers and they don't have the time to try to figure out which tag is the proper one.

 

We also tuck a copy of our itinerary behind the luggage tag and put one into the bag as well. I've also started using cable ties on my luggage tags as I've lost a few nice leather tags to conveyor belts. Some of our newer luggage has slide out tags rather than hanging tags, a huge improvement.

 

We do all the above, cross pack, pack an extra outfit complete with unmentionables, check the tags the agent puts on the luggage. So far, so good, no lost bags to date. Only one fishing pole went missing years ago, packed in a PVC tube, we hope someone else caught some fish with it :)