German Expat

A long time ago I had a presentation about 6 sigma. They used the airlines as an example and if you look at persons killed in airline accidents vs. people flying it is a lot better then 6 sigma. If you look at the baggage problems it is a lot worse.
Basically you need to look where to focus your resources on and what the payback is. You can make all bags arrive in time but it will just be cost prohibitive and as another poster mentioned delay even more flights.
This is not an excuse for not trying harder though.

German Expat

Unfortunately for you it is true. Here is the policy and the link to it :

In addition, we trust you will understand that we are not responsible for the following:

Protruding parts such as wheels, feet, straps, pull/telescoping handles, hangar hooks, loose flaps, pockets, zippers, removable locks or other attached items.
Damage to oversized/overpacked bags.
Items that are perishable or fragile.

http://www.united.com/page/article/0...aged%20baggage

flyinryan

No I don't.
Am I the only one who sees the logic breakdown here? It's almost as if the airline is saying:
"United Airlines - Now Making It Easier Than Ever To Track Your Lost Luggage On the Internet!"

yoonsoo

Wow, this is awesome.
Now I don't need call them again and again and wait for agent to pick up the phone. These days I have to even wait for 20 minutes before I hear an agent's voice.

jasonvr

This of course assumes it works correctly and that United actually knows where your bags are. A couple of months ago on a flight home, PBI-ORD-LAX-SNA, my bag missed the LAX-SNA leg. I had more than enough time to make the flight (going from end of T7 to the end of T8) but my bag apparently didn't. Several weeks later, I was on the exact same set of flights, so I asked the gate agent in LAX if there was any way to check on my bag. She took my BP, said "1 piece" which I confirmed, and she said it was fine and waiting to get on the flight. I got to SNA and low and behold, my bag is still in LAX... Each time it took over 7 hours to get my bag because they had to wait for the next flight from LAX to SNA and then get it to my place (all of 20 minutes from SNA).

I guess my point is, even if their computers say they know where your misplaced bag is, they may not..

flyinryan

Well, since you are 2-for-2 on that itin, the next time you take those flights, check a bag, and when UA leaves it behind, you can use the new web feature and report back here to tell us if it works.

CommittedLurker

Maybe it will be an improvement over the old automated phone system, where you had to say your last name...unfortunately, if you have a foreign name, and don't say it as the automated response expects you to, you have to keep repeating yourself over and over with different pronounciations (all of them wrong), before the "voice" accepts your response.

Of course, the 1K/UGS phone # for dealing with baggage issues has eliminated that problem.

UnitedSkies

Wow, I must say I'm somewhat surprised at some of the comments here. I would that some customers would appreciate that United is providing an easy and cost-effective way to track your bag in case it does gets lost, without having to call and hold to speak to an agent. It makes things easier for both you and United.

As for comments about investing resources in fixing united.com vs. adding features like this, has it ever occured to you that these may come from completely different resource pools and one does not affect the other?

In case you didn't know, UA's mishandled baggage rate has rated favorably against other major carriers.

qasr

I'm all for moving things online that saves call center costs... but how about changing seat assignments first?! That would be a MUCH bigger saving and they already have the system mostly developed. That is, either the one currently used at booking time (might be ITN though) or the one used at check in time.

UnitedSkies

Again, two completely separate projects. Don't worry, it will come.

Ari

I'm not worried-- I'm annoyed. I believe it will come-- but I also believe it could have come 3 years ago and that would have been better.

As for the baggage tool, that is a nice addition for people who check bags.

wingsitis

It seems to have only one message "At this time, we have not received confirmation that your baggage has been located. We assure you we are doing all possible to search for your property and will provide an updated status as soon as we receive it"

When I call on the phone they can tell me much more about my lost baggage. This message never seem to change, but calling India you can find out where you bag is.

nzpilot

Welcome to FT wingsitis. Concur from my little experience with lost bags that the potential utility of the bagtack website seems to never have been realized. Sadly....