Flew into Shanghai yesterday and BA first of all tried to send on of the bags to Hong Kong then changed their mind and left it in London. Meaning I'm without clothes and the like.
My question is does anybody know what the rules are regarding claiming expenses. I also have to pay customs fees for clearing the bag at this end.
Any pointers are much appreciated.
I think the lovely BA mods have moved this thread where towards the top you see some pointers. Specific to your case is to be aware that
- the total liability that BA has is currently SDR 1519, which is around GBP 1635 (this may go slightly upwards in the near future, today is the revision day).
- BA will not pay one penny more than this, but are not well placed to limit claims below that, so long as they are justified.
- If you can argue that BA were being reckless here then there is effectively no upper limit but BA will fight tooth and nail on that one.
- BA will pay for reasonable clothes, cosmetics, that you need.
- Traditionally BA will not pay laundry costs even if that saves them money. They can sometimes be a bit odd on (e.g.) a taxi ride to collect a bag from the airport.
- BA will pay customs charges if they come up, though normally this is waived by the authorities for airline inspired baggage snafus
- If you want to know what you should do, always be guided by this principle: do what you would do based on a belief BA will never pay you a penny. At some point you will buy things because of real necessity regardless of whose cost centre to which it belongs. If you do this, then in reality you should not be out of pocket up to the £1635 amount.