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ARCHIVE: Lost baggage /luggage delay, loss, damage - advice, etc. (pre-2018)

Old Aug 13, 2014, 3:03 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
Lost baggage /luggage delay, loss, damage - advice, compensation, etc. (consolidated)


This is the archive of older posts for this subject. For the current thread, please see:

Lost baggage /luggage delay, loss, damage - advice, compensation, etc. (2015-onward)
Note: Live AA baggage tracking became available 15 Sep 2015.

Track your bags Link
September 18, 2015:

Hello, Addressee,
AAdvantage Platinum Number:

You can now follow your checked bags from check-in to carousel with your smartphone, laptop or tablet. See real-time information about your bag's status, including when your bag is checked in, on a plane or at baggage claim. All you need is your bag tag number or your record locator.

And, if your flight has Wi-Fi onboard, you can track your bags in the air for free.

Here's how to get started:
  • Go to aa.com/baggage
  • Click "Track your bags"
  • Enter your last name and bag tag # or record locator
Keep track of your bags from check-in to touchdown using your record locator or bag tag number.
NOTE: On itineraries with more than one airline, the responsible airline for lost or delayed baggage is the final carrier; that carrier's procedures may differ from AA's. In any case, most do require if you arrive at your destination and your baggage has not arrived (or has been damaged), be sure to fill out a baggage claim form prior to leaving the airport.

American Airlines: Delayed Baggage
:Baggage delayed less than 5 days
Phone: +1-800-535-5225
24 hours, 7 days a week

Baggage delayed longer than 5 days
See www.aa.com/bagstatus for further information.
American Airlines: Delayed or missing baggage:

We do our best to ensure that your checked bag travels on the same flight with you. If your bag does not arrive on your flight, our goal is to return your bag to you within 24 hours. The measures may take longer for international itineraries due to flight frequency or Customs and Immigration procedures.

Note: These procedures apply when American Airlines or American Eagle are taking you to your final destination.

If you are unable to locate your checked bag:

Notify an American Airlines/American Eagle baggage service agent prior to leaving the airport (If you purchased the American Airlines baggage delivery service provided through BAGS VIP Luggage Delivery in advance of travel, notification must be made within 12 hours of the arrival of the flight on which you traveled.)
  • You will be given a confidential file locator ID and a brochure explaining the recovery process
  • Our Baggage Service desk will contact you periodically to keep you informed of our progress in locating your bag (aspirational statement)
  • Refer to your confidential six-letter file locator (not your PNR) in all conversation and correspondence regarding your delayed bag
  • Use your last name and confidential six-letter baggage file locator (not your PNR)to check the status of your bag.Check Baggage Status
If your bag isn't located in five (5) days:
  • Central Baggage Service will take over the tracing effort
  • Fill out and return a Property Questionnaire within 30 days from the date you traveled
  • Available on the 6th day at www.aa.com/bagstatus.
  • Mailed to your permanent address within 10 days of your travel date.
  • Complete the questionnaire in its entirety including specific details such as colors, sizes, brand names and logos as well as information such as book titles, medication, electronics, gifts, souvenirs and food items
  • Retain a copy for your records
Damaged baggage:

Prompt notification of a damaged bag helps us get your property to you promptly therefore all American Airlines and American Eagle airport locations are equipped to handle the initial report, evaluation and settlement of damage claims. If your bag is damaged, please notify us:
  • In person before leaving the airport
  • At the latest, within 24 hours after you receive your bag for domestic itineraries
  • Within 7 days for international itineraries
Please notify us as soon as possible. Failure to report damage to baggage within the prescribed time limit releases American Airlines and American Eagle from any liability.
Wheels, "protuberances" etc. please see:

Notice regarding damage to wheels, handles, and other components of checked baggage

Baggage_Guidance_rev_11242015.pdf (link)

About this Document

In September 2015, the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement Office) conducted extensive inspections of U.S. and foreign air carriers operations at 16 U.S. airports. The Enforcement Office found, among other things, that carriers routinely exclude from liability damage to specific parts of checked baggage, such as wheels, straps, zippers, handles, and protruding parts. Carriers often post signs indicating that they categorically refuse to compensate passengers for such items. In some instances, carrier agents also discouraged or refused to accept reports of such damage.

Link to aa.com Delayed Baggage; FAQ.

Link to aa.com LIABILITY LIMITATIONS regarding baggage - but see

USDOT reminder to airlines compensation is due for damaged wheels, straps, etc.

Link to aa.com DAMAGED BAGGAGE

Link to aa.com Delayed Baggage tracking form (need baggage claim file locator number to use)

American Airlines Conditions of Carriage (See BAGGAGE et seq., including Liability.)

Q. What can I do to help prevent or resolve baggage loss?
  • Don't place valuables in your checked baggage; such loss is generally not covered by airline policy. Some airports have higher pilferage and theft rates.
  • Have two baggage tags, affixed at different points on each bag; handles do get torn off.
  • Use a baggage belt: some have TSA-approved locks, and a belt may keep your bag from spilling contents if it becomes damaged. A bright color helps distinguish your bag from similar ones.
  • Add a pom, ribbon or other device enabling you - and others - to distinguish your bag from similar / identical bags.
  • Have identifying information and an itinerary inside your case where it will be seen if the bag is opened (which will occur if external tags are lost). Some use an itinerary tag such as this Magellan's retriever tags.
  • Have a photo or two of your bags on your smartphone to show the baggage clerk exactly what your bag looks like.
Others suggest:
  • Don't use high end luggage; fancy, famous brands and fine finishes make your bag a target of thieves.
  • Airline status tags mark your bag as belonging to a high value customer, but nobody's provided evidence that helps. Some have reported status tagged bags may be targeted for delays during industrial actions such as employee slowdowns or strikes.

Updated: 31 Dec 2015

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ARCHIVE: Lost baggage /luggage delay, loss, damage - advice, etc. (pre-2018)

Old Jun 7, 2011, 12:56 pm
  #271  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: AA 1MM
Posts: 3,182
Originally Posted by JumboD
This is probably, unfortunately, dead on . It's not worth a letter to the DOT, etc as this is really just about AA taking a minor annoyance and making it worse.

What they need to understand about me is this: Flying J is a necessity, flying F is a luxury. Now that I don't worry so much about buying Y and upgrading to J and instead base my travel partly on buying J and upgrading to F (transoceanic flights) the commitment to a given frequent flyer program doesn't have to be nearly what it was a few years ago. Not happy with buying AA J and upgrading to F? I can always just buy VS J and try something else entirely. Will I bail over this? No, that would be almost as silly as them throwing the rules in my face when all I wanted were some miles, but I don't consider myself nearly as tied down (especially since I'll hit 1mm this summer and always have the ability to get exit rows and request upgrades on discount tix for domestic travel).
Update: Today I got an email from AA saying they were sorry I was not satisfied with their response, but were still not going to "accept my claim". However, they said that in order to keep me flying AA they were giving me 6k miles.

That's all I'd really wanted in general (hey, that's 3/4 of a cent per mile), so I'm very happy with the result.

Something tells me that they were technically denying my claim but giving me miles "to keep my business" because then they don't have to report this in their baggage handling stats to DOT. However it doesn't really matter to me, I got what I actually wanted anyways (now under 50k to go to 1mm ).
JumboD is offline  
Old Jul 15, 2011, 1:36 am
  #272  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: SPG Plat, Hyatt Dia, Hilton Gold, AA ExecPlat
Posts: 81
Damaged Bag Claim Questions

I just picked up my bags from LAX and noticed tears on one of them. I went to the baggage claim and was asked to empty the bag out and leave it with the agent. The agent informed me it would take about a month before I get a response concerning their decision to repair, replace, or compensate for the damages. Is leaving the bag with the agent normal? FYI, this would be my first damage bag ever.
TheFlyingPapaya is offline  
Old Jul 15, 2011, 2:36 am
  #273  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: AA EXC PLT, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt PLT, National Car Executive
Posts: 200
it varies but they send the luggage to a repair facility. You can have the luggage repair "rushed." Expect a call in about ten days. My last experience the frame cracked and the luggage shop called and gave me the option either repair or replacement.
jerroranda is offline  
Old Jul 15, 2011, 2:49 am
  #274  
Hoc
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: San Juan Capistrano, CA
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Diamond, AA 2.5 MM, United Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,460
It's very normal at LAX. Particularly if the agent suspects that the bag can't be repaired, but must be replaced, they will send it to Dallas to make the final determination.
Hoc is offline  
Old Jul 15, 2011, 9:28 pm
  #275  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: DFW
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, HH Gold, AA Lifetime Gold, United Silver, BA Gold
Posts: 864
Perfectly planned trip turning into the worst nightmare ...

This is a little long post and I apologise for the same, but so many issues came up that the length was unavoidable.

Background: I am an Exec Plat for the last 3 yrs and have been travelling for over 12 yrs. This is the 2nd occasion in my life where I am having a baggage delay. I am on a 30 day vacation to India. Original Flight was DFW - ORD - DEL - PNQ. Tickets were upgraded using eVIPs. This was for a family of 4 (2 Adults and 2 kids 5yr old and 2 yr old). The first segment (DFW-ORD) got cancelled for no reason (definitely not weather). This made it impossible to connect to the ORD-DEL flight (There was another flight out but it was completely sold out and so I was going to miss my connection). Called the ExecPlat desk and the first agent won't help at all saying that she needs to book me in coach class and there were no seats in coach, although there were seats in Business on some flights. This was news. I politely hunged up and called back again. The new agent was quite nice. He was able to get me on DFW-FRA on AA and FRA-PNQ on LH. The LH portion was available only in Business (This was where the 1st agent wouldn't book the flight and the 2nd Agent agreed as there was no other option in coach). But, for DFW-FRA flight he could get 3 Business and 1 Coach (all scattered over the plane). This was better than nothing and so I took this option as there was not much available anywhere else for a group of 4 people. He said that I need to talk to Admirals club to get my luggage routed (I did talk to them and they sent out a message to the baggage handling desk).

Issues: Some are minor, but when you add them all, they do aggravate a lot.
1. On Chicago to Delhi flight, I had great seats - For a family of 4 with 2 young kids this was important. The flights were also planned with minimum layovers. To reach 11.00 p.m for a hotel stay and leave to my final destination via Car in the morning. All this went down the toilet and had to continue without any rest. One of my kids is already sick due to this non stop journey of almost 36 hrs. (minor to medium issue)
2. DFW-FRA and FRA-PNQ looked good in theory but,
a. AA gave us seats all over the plane. 2A, 2B, 5G and 40H. Now, we are traveling with 2 kids and so you can see the pain. On top of that my 5 yr old had to sit by herself and the girl next to her was 8 - 9 yrs old. If there was an emergency, we would have been in big trouble. The Flight attendants would not help us in anyway in moving the passengers around. I did not realize about this danger until I was talking to the next agent for my LH flights where she moved a passenger from his seat to make sure that an adult was next to the child and said that it was illegal to let a child sit by her own. (Major issue)
b. DFW-FRA Plane left 2 hrs late due to Mechanical problems. The AC was off and so u can imagine sitting in 100f in the plane at the gate for 2 hrs. (Medium)
c. The AVOD (entertainment system) was broken on 2 out of 3 business class seats in a 10 hour journey. The flight attendant let me sit from coach to business for some part of the journey. The only AVOD that was working was then moved to my 5 yr old's seat (these are the portable ones). We had no entertainment for the 10 hrs of the flight. (Major issue)
d. Food---Pathetic. (Minor issue. Probably not even an issue)
e. Layover in Frankfurt - 9 hours. This was another huge problem. We had to also wait in line for 1.5 hrs (I am not kidding) with 2 kids and my wife to get our Boarding passes for the LH flight as the Admirals club in DFW was not able to issue them. (Major issue)
f. Reached Pune 5.5 hours late then the original arrival time with no rest and have to continue to the next final destination. (Major)
3. The final kicker was the Luggage. We checked 7 bags. Not a single one could make it to Pune. It took another 1 HR after all bags had arrived for filling up the paperwork and explaining all the contents to the LH staff and Customs. (Major issue)
4. LH staff gave 6000 Rs (130 usd) for a family for 4 people saying that the luggage will arrive in a day or 2. Called them three times so far. It looks like my luggage followed the original routing (DFW-ORD-DEL) with the DFW-ORD flight which was the earlier soldout one. It is now sitting in Delhi awaiting paperwork from LH in Pune. As per LH it could take another 2-3 days for the luggage to arrive at my final destination (200 miles south of Pune) as tomorrow is Sunday. (Very Major issue)

The only silver lining was the flight from FRA-PNQ where the Business Class product was awesome and we enjoyed the same.

My questions: I know I am definitely due for Compensation, but would like to know the advice from experts on how to handle this. The 6000 rs is nothing in place like India where the cost of a trousers is around 2000 rs and a decent shirt is 1500 rs and thats just for me. If I have to buy the bare minimum for my wife and kids, then the total would easily cross 10000 rs (diapers for the young one, plus kids food, medicines etc). I live in USA and visiting family in India and thus do not have anything here that I can use and need to buy most of the basic things. I had 2 kids in tow and thus could not carry clothes in the carry on bags (2 carry ons) as I needed the place for my valuables (camera, documents, a little kids food, kids clothes etc). Who is responsible for this mess (AA or LH)? The bags arrived via AA although I was rebooked on AA and LH with LH being my final carrier. How should I approach AA about this?

Last edited by DFWsakp; Jul 15, 2011 at 9:32 pm Reason: edited one fact
DFWsakp is offline  
Old Jul 17, 2011, 1:32 pm
  #276  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1
Did the agent give you a trash bag or something to put your items in or did you go out and buy a new bag?
majorlag is offline  
Old Jul 17, 2011, 9:13 pm
  #277  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: DFW
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, HH Gold, AA Lifetime Gold, United Silver, BA Gold
Posts: 864
Originally Posted by spsawant
This is a little long post and I apologise for the same, but so many issues came up that the length was unavoidable.

Background: I am an Exec Plat for the last 3 yrs and have been travelling for over 12 yrs. This is the 2nd occasion in my life where I am having a baggage delay. I am on a 30 day vacation to India. Original Flight was DFW - ORD - DEL - PNQ. Tickets were upgraded using eVIPs. This was for a family of 4 (2 Adults and 2 kids 5yr old and 2 yr old). The first segment (DFW-ORD) got cancelled for no reason (definitely not weather). This made it impossible to connect to the ORD-DEL flight (There was another flight out but it was completely sold out and so I was going to miss my connection). Called the ExecPlat desk and the first agent won't help at all saying that she needs to book me in coach class and there were no seats in coach, although there were seats in Business on some flights. This was news. I politely hunged up and called back again. The new agent was quite nice. He was able to get me on DFW-FRA on AA and FRA-PNQ on LH. The LH portion was available only in Business (This was where the 1st agent wouldn't book the flight and the 2nd Agent agreed as there was no other option in coach). But, for DFW-FRA flight he could get 3 Business and 1 Coach (all scattered over the plane). This was better than nothing and so I took this option as there was not much available anywhere else for a group of 4 people. He said that I need to talk to Admirals club to get my luggage routed (I did talk to them and they sent out a message to the baggage handling desk).

Issues: Some are minor, but when you add them all, they do aggravate a lot.
1. On Chicago to Delhi flight, I had great seats - For a family of 4 with 2 young kids this was important. The flights were also planned with minimum layovers. To reach 11.00 p.m for a hotel stay and leave to my final destination via Car in the morning. All this went down the toilet and had to continue without any rest. One of my kids is already sick due to this non stop journey of almost 36 hrs. (minor to medium issue)
2. DFW-FRA and FRA-PNQ looked good in theory but,
a. AA gave us seats all over the plane. 2A, 2B, 5G and 40H. Now, we are traveling with 2 kids and so you can see the pain. On top of that my 5 yr old had to sit by herself and the girl next to her was 8 - 9 yrs old. If there was an emergency, we would have been in big trouble. The Flight attendants would not help us in anyway in moving the passengers around. I did not realize about this danger until I was talking to the next agent for my LH flights where she moved a passenger from his seat to make sure that an adult was next to the child and said that it was illegal to let a child sit by her own. (Major issue)
b. DFW-FRA Plane left 2 hrs late due to Mechanical problems. The AC was off and so u can imagine sitting in 100f in the plane at the gate for 2 hrs. (Medium)
c. The AVOD (entertainment system) was broken on 2 out of 3 business class seats in a 10 hour journey. The flight attendant let me sit from coach to business for some part of the journey. The only AVOD that was working was then moved to my 5 yr old's seat (these are the portable ones). We had no entertainment for the 10 hrs of the flight. (Major issue)
d. Food---Pathetic. (Minor issue. Probably not even an issue)
e. Layover in Frankfurt - 9 hours. This was another huge problem. We had to also wait in line for 1.5 hrs (I am not kidding) with 2 kids and my wife to get our Boarding passes for the LH flight as the Admirals club in DFW was not able to issue them. (Major issue)
f. Reached Pune 5.5 hours late then the original arrival time with no rest and have to continue to the next final destination. (Major)
3. The final kicker was the Luggage. We checked 7 bags. Not a single one could make it to Pune. It took another 1 HR after all bags had arrived for filling up the paperwork and explaining all the contents to the LH staff and Customs. (Major issue)
4. LH staff gave 6000 Rs (130 usd) for a family for 4 people saying that the luggage will arrive in a day or 2. Called them three times so far. It looks like my luggage followed the original routing (DFW-ORD-DEL) with the DFW-ORD flight which was the earlier soldout one. It is now sitting in Delhi awaiting paperwork from LH in Pune. As per LH it could take another 2-3 days for the luggage to arrive at my final destination (200 miles south of Pune) as tomorrow is Sunday. (Very Major issue)

The only silver lining was the flight from FRA-PNQ where the Business Class product was awesome and we enjoyed the same.

My questions: I know I am definitely due for Compensation, but would like to know the advice from experts on how to handle this. The 6000 rs is nothing in place like India where the cost of a trousers is around 2000 rs and a decent shirt is 1500 rs and thats just for me. If I have to buy the bare minimum for my wife and kids, then the total would easily cross 10000 rs (diapers for the young one, plus kids food, medicines etc). I live in USA and visiting family in India and thus do not have anything here that I can use and need to buy most of the basic things. I had 2 kids in tow and thus could not carry clothes in the carry on bags (2 carry ons) as I needed the place for my valuables (camera, documents, a little kids food, kids clothes etc). Who is responsible for this mess (AA or LH)? The bags arrived via AA although I was rebooked on AA and LH with LH being my final carrier. How should I approach AA about this?
Anybody has any suggestions?
DFWsakp is offline  
Old Jul 18, 2011, 9:03 pm
  #278  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PEK and BOS
Programs: BA - Blue
Posts: 4,530
Originally Posted by spsawant
Anybody has any suggestions?
This may sound harsh -- but my suggestion is to have travel insurance for future trips (with regards to the baggage delay). This sort of thing happens a lot, and for baggage delay some airlines wash their hands of the whole thing (except for delivery of luggage at some random point in time). Decent insurance would have given you a reasonably generous allowance to buy essentials for the period between arrival and final delivery of your bags.

Re: the other points -- I would say that they are all minor issues except for the not seating your young daughter with one of the adults, which I think is a real no no. As a parent, I would have been livid if that were the case, and just because the original seats were scattered around doesn't mean the airline shouldn't move other pax to make sure one parent is near the young child (ideally one parent with each child if your other one is also young). By offering you the seats, they should also take care of safety related issues.

Irrops are just that. One can't expect the same itinerary for a re-route, and usually the alternative is a worse one, which is why one didn't book it in the first place. I can't see how you can say that it is a major problem that you arrived 5.5 hrs later than your original schedule. Given that the alternative was not to arrive at all! Having said that, it was generous of AA to reroute you on a non-OW carrier, in J at that! Doesn't usually happen.

tb
trueblu is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2011, 7:25 am
  #279  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AA EXP - 2.4 mm, Starwood PLT
Posts: 427
3x Checked 3x Lost Baggage am I just Unlucky?

First of all I know the mantra dont check bags unless you have to. But generally on family trips we are forced to check at least a few. On my last 3 trips, AA has managed a 100% delayed bag rate!

Most recently on my YVR-DFW-STL return home. Interestingly on this trip, I had no problems checking the same bags STL-LAX(AA) LAX-HKG-BKK (CX) BKK-CNX (TG) which was where I expected problems. But on this last leg home AA managed to not get the bags onto the DFW-STL leg. They did ultimately show up the next day and were delivered.

So am I just unlucky or (aside for checking bags) doing something wrong? Is is possible that the priority tagging is actually causing delays in the connection. Pretty lame if you ask me. Thankfully I don't pay to check bags but if I did I would be livid.
execplatscum is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2011, 7:32 am
  #280  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: ORD
Programs: AA PLT, UA Silver, EK Gold, Hilton Diamond, Global Entry, Clear
Posts: 1,082
Originally Posted by execplatscum
But on this last leg home AA managed to not get the bags onto the DFW-STL leg.
Was it a tight connection?
wolf539 is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2011, 7:37 am
  #281  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AA EXP - 2.4 mm, Starwood PLT
Posts: 427
Originally Posted by wolf539
Was it a tight connection?
Not really 1.5 hrs.
execplatscum is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2011, 8:01 am
  #282  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: ORD
Programs: AA PLT, UA Silver, EK Gold, Hilton Diamond, Global Entry, Clear
Posts: 1,082
Originally Posted by execplatscum
Not really 1.5 hrs.
No real excuse then... I doubt the priority tag had anything to do with it though?

I hate checking a bag, but when I travel with my wife I'm not given a choice. My most recent checked bag experience was ORD-BWI-MIA-EYW-MIA-ORD. No problems...
wolf539 is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2011, 8:54 am
  #283  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 7,710
I've had "random" TSA inspections delay my luggage when I reenter the US. Right after 9-11 there would be a note indicating it had been expected by the TSA after half my trips. I suspect my bags are still being inspected, but they stopped leaving the notes.
Ambraciot is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2011, 10:53 am
  #284  
Moderator: American AAdvantage
 
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Matre-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
It's getting more difficult at times - TSA sometimes gets huge backlogs of luggage to screen, baggage gets delayed by screenings between flights, and in the end, bags are delayed, passengers are inconvenienced and they usually blame the airline (which may or not be correct).

As well, it seems the baggage tracking methods are antediluvian for many airlines - rather than a system like FedEx or UPS, one that could in theory be shared by airports and airlines, it relies on the human eyeball too often.
JDiver is offline  
Old Jul 25, 2011, 10:53 am
  #285  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,212
Originally Posted by wolf539
No real excuse then... I doubt the priority tag had anything to do with it though?

I hate checking a bag, but when I travel with my wife I'm not given a choice. My most recent checked bag experience was ORD-BWI-MIA-EYW-MIA-ORD. No problems...
Did you pre-clear the immigration in YVR?


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...clearance.html
PaulInTheSky is offline  

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