ptr120

I flew DUS / CDG / MRS on Tue 9 Aug. Unfortunately my checked-in baggage didn't make it. My bag arrived later the same day and handed to the local courier to deliver to my hotel. Unfortunately the courier couldn't deliver it to my hotel in Aix before I checked out the following morning (I called AF to tell them I was checking out). When I got to MRS Airport I went to the baggage office and gave them my temporary address in DUS. Fast forward to today and I still don't have my bag. According to AF their system won't update until the handling agent in DUS sends it out for delivery. Does anyone have a phone number for the AF baggage office in MRS? - I'd like to confirm that they recovered the bag from their courier and have forwarded it on to DUS - I could kinda do with my stuff back!

Also do AF have a limit on how much they will reimburse for essential items?

brunos

A bit surprising that the tracking system does not have the iformation on where your bag is.
The reimbursement for essential items depends on where you are based.
Apparently, you are based in DUS, flew on 9 August and returned on 10 August. A bit surprising (and risky) that you checked in a bag for a one day/night trip. But I would expect that AF will not reimburse for essentials due to your missing bag when you are home in DUS. They will only consider that you were missing it while away from home. This is fairly standard among airlines.As you do not have status, there is a small amount that seems standard but I don't remember how much; others can probably state the amount. Typically, you would be expected to provide expense receipts.

ptr120

Thanks Brunos. My profile isn't up to date and I have Silver status. DUS also isn't my home base even though I flew to / from there. They already told me in MRS that I could spend EUR100 but that was when expecting to get the bag back the same or next day, obviously my costs are now increasing. Understand your point about checking a bag for a 24 hour trip, but I was travelling for a wedding, and also didn't have anywhere else I could leave my things. Regarding the tracking system, I was told that as the bag went out to a courier in MRS, the system will no longer update

Ditto

You will have no trouble getting back more than 100€ as long as those are reasonable expanses, I was once told 100€ per day, and had no issues getting about 180€ back even though my bag was delayed just one day, my expenses included some clothes, toiletries and even sun glasses...

ptr120

I've just had a call back from Air France after having called them again earlier. They confirmed that the bag is still in MRS and that they would now start the process to transfer it to DUS. Quite why that hasn't happened already - they couldn't explain!

brunos

This is really unacceptable, but not totally surprising.
When an airline uses a worldwide tracking system, there is a file where information are entered by the baggage handling company of each airport (could be that airline employees but is often some third party). The file would instruct the MRS baggage handler to send it back to DUS. Having the bag sent to a courrier should not close the file until the delivery is confirmed. Or AF should have opened a new file once the bag was returned to MRS by the courrier.
But your bag probably sat in a corner in MRS and could have remained there for a long time.

I once was flying SFO-CDF on AF in First. I checked a bag and a golf bag. My golf bag never made it. That was a direct flight and AF claimed that they had no idea where it was. Luckily I called the station manager at SFO who sent someone searching the airport and it was standing after custom inspection. It had been selected for special inspection and no one ever picked it up after the inspection. the worse part is that it arrived in Paris three days later and I got a call from AF saying that, as a special F class pax, they would send it immediately by taxi and it should reach me in 40 min. It was like 9pm and I wanted to go to bed but decided to wait. The taxi driver decided to have family dinner first and only came some 2+ hours later. Sorry for the personal anecdote, I could not resist.

There was a fairly recent thread (less than a year), where some poster in the know gave the standard caps applied by AF for essentials reimbursement depending on status. A search might find it.

ptr120

just to update this thread - now 5 days after this saga started I've just spoken again to Air France who have told me that my bag still appears to be in MRS and they don't know why the station haven't booked it on a flight yet. I'd really like to speak to someone in MRS if someone has a direct number? Can't understand why they are not being a bit more proactive!

ptr120

9 days since I last saw my bag. The twitter team say they have no confirmation that my bag in in MRS, the guys on the phone say that it is deffinately in MRS but they don't know why MRS won't forward it to DUS. I'm tearing my hair out now!

brunos

This is really very strange.
I don't know who you are calling, but you should insist that they call the MRS station rather than simply looking at their system.
In Marseilles anything can happen .....

Goldorak

Indeed and unacceptable. But unfortunately that kind of situation is not unique to MRS and to AF.

Nico40

ptr120, have you checked on World Tracer ?
www.worldtracer.aero/filedsp/af.htm

ptr120

Yes I've checked on Worldtracer. The original file was closed after they tried (and failed) to deliver it to the hotel that I was staying in for 1 night in Aix. They have subsiquently opened another file with a different reference number - this simply states that 'tracing continues'.

ptr120

To update this thread, I finally received my bag today - two weeks since I last saw it. I managed to contact an Air France employee at MRS who very quickly managed to locate my bag in MRS and forward it to DUS. It arrived in DUS on Saturday night but unfortunately no amount of emailing, calling or tweeting could persuade Aviapartner in DUS to deliver it until today

brunos

Finally, a happy reunion