jdavis2ca

So received my bag back tonight...everything was accounted for, except for a inch long gash on the side of the bag. Anyone have experience with claiming damage bags with AC?

Stranger

ac/elite

Often1

Do not ever leave your bag without some form of claim check. Period.

A checked bag is a checked bag is a checked bag. This was an international flight and both the US and Canada are party to the Montreal Convention. Thus, the bag and contents are covered to fair market value maxed out at approximately CAD 2,180.

In this case where the bag was located but damaged. AC is responsible for paying for repair or simply paying the FMV of the bag. A bag which cost CAD 100 a year ago and has been used 10 times might be worth CAD 50. You may find that your insurance is better and, if it is, go that route.

yyznomad

I've never received or asked for a tag when skychecking.
I've always received a tag when gate checking.

(Weird) data point:

I skychecked a bag (placed it on the tarmac cart with other skycheck luggage before ascending the stairs to board the aircraft) on a QK flight YYZMDT 16 years ago, and when I arrived, we were all told to retrieve our luggage at the carousel. But none of our skychecked luggage was there... only the luggage of those who officially checked-in their luggage. I came back the next day to MDT after I was notified that my luggage was there.

Jebby_ca

And I've had the little green tag sometimes flying out of YYZ Transborder when doing skycheck... consistently inconsistent.

Maybe once AC moves to Amadeus / Altea, hopefully they'll change their procedures to always attach a tag to any luggage that goes into the cargo hold (skycheck or checked luggage), and to always scan the tag at every point of interaction. Upon check-in, upon loading onto aircraft, and when the bag gets off-loaded. One of the things I like about Delta is knowing where my bag is.

Wings100

The Lev

I've Skychecked bags many times, putting my bag on the cart before clambering up onto a DH1/DH3 or CRJ. Never once has anyone issued me a tag, green or otherwise.

I think I'd still be sitting on the tarmac is some remote place waiting for my bag tag if I followed this Utopian advice.

etkuo

They used to have no tag for skychecks until around a year ago. They now have skycheck tags which are like elastic band with a small barcode on it and at the bottom you can tear off a copy for the barcode as a "receipt". Looks like this except AC's version is not green. https://maphappy.org/2014/09/look-fo...-gate-checked/

Some of the agents at some stations (especially when busy) tend not to hand out these tags. Normally the risk of loosing a skycheck bag is supposed to be pretty low (except in OP's unfortunate case) because the skycheck bags are left either on a cart if it's open ramp boarding or at the bridge. They get loaded last into the baggage hold on the plane, and get unloaded first at destination back onto the cart if it's open ramp or onto the bridge right as passengers are deplaning. Scanning the skychecks as they get loaded or unloaded would be impractical as this whole process is designed to turn a 37 seat DH1 or 50 seat DH3/CRJ around within 30mins.

RatherBeInYOW

Well, was it gate checked (with a tag that you needed to get at the carousel when you arrived) or sky checked (no tag where you picked it up at the jet bridge / cart)? Because if it was gate checked that isn't what we were talking about here.

AC does skycheck on the CRJ1/2 and DH1/3 and at least YYZ and YUL and YOW operate those aircraft from gates with no jet bridge where you put your own bag on the skycheck cart. I don't do YVR as much but I seem to recall the same when doing YVR-SEA in the past. In any case, with AC, this is the "normal" skycheck procedure at home stations and where the procedure seems to work more or less okay.

But you are right, I was being too black and white.

There are plenty of times when AC will run a skycheck aircraft from a jet bridge. In YOW this is done for US departures (EWR, BOS, etc.). I know it happens at plenty of outstations as well, probably including DTW in this case. In this case the AC sky check procedure is ... not really a "procedure" and more or less just chaos. What can or can't fit in to a CRJ bin seems to be "try as you board" and then when it doesn't fit you leave your bag by the plane door and then grab it there again (or off the cart if you are coming back to a location with no jet bridge). There is no clean system with skycheck tags and GAs enforcing it, as is done for example with UA and the little green tags on their RJs.

When AC runs skycheck from a jet bridge you risk what happens to the OP.

I've never seen them. And I've been on a run of skycheck flights recently from YOW, YUL, YYZ and a couple of US outstations.

RangerNS

That isn't how "risk" works.

arf04

Wings100