Have questions about baggage compensation? Ask an exAir France/KLM compensation agent
 

I used to work for Air France, KLM and Delta baggage compensation and I would like to give some advices regarding the compensation process.
These tips are 100% accurate for KLM, Air France and Delta, as I used to work in the compensation department for them not to long ago. Other airlines may have slightly different procedures

First of all, ALWAY, ALWAYS ALWAYS keep receipts for what you buy. Let me say this again:
ALWAYS KEEP RECEIPTS FOR WHAT YOU BUY! Extremely important if you will ever bring that stuff in a check in bag when you fly
I know what you are saying -"no one ever does that...thats stupid"

Maybe, but still, according to the Montreal convention, which you agree to by buying the ticket, and airline is only responsible for the PROVEN value of the items.

Also, and airline is also NEVER responsible for more than a total of 1131 SDR (which today is about roughly 12-1300 EUR) per PERSON (so not per bag) with a checked in bag.
So if you chose to put you 2000 EUR iMac in there, or your super expensive GUCCI dress - that is YOUR problem.

Now, if the bag gets delayed (i is regarded as delayed the 21 fist days for AF, and 45 first days for KLM and DELTA), you are allowed to go out and spend necessities. Just remember to keep all invoices. You can do so from the first minute the bag is delayed, and you can also do this on your return flight home. But it MUST be dated before you receive your bag
When you call them, they will say that you are allowed to spend 100E per person involved, but that is just to make sure people dont go shopping like crazy. IF you DO have invoices for 800 Eur, you will get them covered in any case... (well, not computers or other things that should not be check in in the first place)

However, remember... IF your bag is gone more than 21 days, you are also entitled for compensation for the stuff that is missing...in addition to the necessities you needed to buy

BUT..beware - the sum the airline is responsible for is STILL 1300 EUR...So if you have invoices for 800 E for necessities, and proved values for the missing items for 1200 E, you will still only get 1300 E as this is the maximum reliability for the airline. Just so you know. In this case, I hope you have private travel insurance, as they normally will pay the amount over 1300.

COMMERCIAL GESTURES NO INVOICES
If you dont have any invoices for your necessities, you will still receive UP TO 100E.
If you dont have any invoices for the items and your bag is lost for more than 21 days, you will still receive UP TO 3-4-6-900 E, depending on the length of you travel )and if you are a Hight Contribution customer -silver-gold etc)

TIME LIMITS:
DELAYED/LOST BAGS
The delay issue must be reported to the airline at the airport,or at the very latest, within 7 days to receive a PIR (Property Irregularity Report) -how ever this is just for TRACING, and is NOT automatically enough to get compensation. In addition, you need to claim the compensation at the latest 21 days AFTER you receive you bag.
Also, if you did NOT report the delayed bag for a PIR before 7 days, you also lose your rights for compensation.
So 1: report the missing bags immediately, and 2) claim compensation before 21 days after delivery.
If the bag is still lost after 21 days, and you have a PIR, you have 2 years to make your claim

DAMAGED BAG/ITEMS/PILFERAGE
If you report this at the airport, and receive a DPR PIR, you have 2 years to make your claim. If you do NOT report it at the airport (ie you only discover the damaged at home), you have to claim it within 7 days
However, Air France, KLM and Delta also accept time limits as commercial gestures...meaning they accept also claims within the above mentioned days after returning HOME (so not from delivery of bag)
The compensation for damage is the same as with delayed/lost bags - up to 1300 EUR, but it must be proven. You NEED a DPR PIR - and a confirmation from ANY shop (not necessarily the shop you bought it from) that it cannot be repaired. so do NOT throw your damaged bag away without this first
...i guess there are many more things to...but...ask away

One more thing :D
If you have bought a ticket with KLM, Air France or Delta, but the last leg of the trips was with another airline, then THAT airline is responsible for all tracing and delivering of your bag - regardless of where it was lost.
This is a common rule all over the world

Also, it is the airline of the last leg of your trip - to whom it was reported - that is responsible for compensating you for the incident.
HOWEVER, as a commercial gesture, Air France, KLM and Delta also accept the compensation claim as long as it was bought with them, They are one of the very few who does this -everyone else will tell you to go to the operator of the last leg

Thanks for the detailed explanation!

Most of us here fall into this category. Would you be able to post the formula for this? It would be very useful to know how much one (in a particular situation) can ask for.

Trip can be the first half of a roundtrip ticket here, right? Say I fly AMS-ATL-NYC, and upon arriving in NYC i notice my bag got lost. It is then Delta (operating ATL-NYC) that is responsible, and not KLM (Operating the very last ATL-AMS leg of the roundtrip)

Typically, with AF and KLM, if you are HC (High Contribution passenger), you can receive UP TO 900EUR without invoces if your bag is lost more than 21 days. If you are a normal passenger, UP TO 600 E

also, if you are a HC, we are not as strick with Timelimit, while a nomal passenger will need to file a claim within the above set time frames


Correct. It is then ONLY Delta who is responsible for tracing of the bag.
Also, for compensation, it should be Delta...! However, AF and KLM accept these compensations as well, as a commercial gesture. But not many airlines do that for their passengers. Most would deny and ask the passenger to go to Delta

Thank you for the info! Quite helpful! My bags got delayed few times and never really bothered to claim compensation, because it is quite annoying to go through the process.

I never fully understood the word 'necessities', what truly falls under that? Does that mean dirt cheap t-shirts and underwear, 50 cents toothbrushes? :cool:

AF has just recently refunded me a few bucks (40$) for flip-flops and surf shorts, because I figured it was necessary to buy when I was at Waikiki Beach with only the winter clothing I had on me.
My bag was 36h late.

I basically means things that you need to buy becasue they are in your bag and you are not in posession of it

That does ofcourse explude things that you should not haave put in your bag in the first place - like computers, phones and so on.

If you are going for a wedding, your bag has your dress, you can go out and buy one....and it will be refunded by Air France/KLM - up to 12-1300 EUR

Thankyou Mikke for your informative post.

My bag did not arrive with me in DXB and it was sent on the next flight from AMS 24 hours later.

I bought shorts, T-shirt, etc to last until my bag arrived and I'm going to claim for these. KL has given me a €25 voucher to redeem against another flight to say sorry but it is unlikely I will use it. What are the chances of me getting some free miles? If I get them, how many am I likely to receive?

Is there a rule, law or sth I can quite when requesting this? I remember traveling some time ago for a business trip, when my bag got lost, arrived next day with the morning flight (delay of 12 hrs) and KLM refused to reimburse "necessities" worth some 50 Euro [t-shirt, clean shirt and toiletries]. Argument - delivered within 24 hrs.

Yes, Article 19 of the Montreal Convention:
This is the basis for claiming necessities that are immediately needed and that you must therefore purchase if your baggage is late and the airline does not offer them to you (usually, airlines arrange to make available packs of essential toiletries at baggage claim counters where you fill your PIR)..

Im sorry for the very late respons.

As I remember, they would normally only credit you miles if you are a high contribution passenger - ie Silver, gold, platium, business class and so on

Im sorry for the very late respons.

One question....are yo a resident of the US, or do you live in Europe.
If you are in the US, it is Delta who handles KLM∕AF complaints and they dont follow the same procedures as we do in Europe

That might be a reason for it

Hi! thanks for all the information here. I am recently in this situation, so reviving the old thread.

I flew from Mumbai to Munich via CDG and my baggage is lost (delayed technically). Its been more than 48 hours and the website mentions "tracing continues, please check back later". Interestingly, someone called up my office in Zurich and told that the baggage has been traced. I wasn't available at that time, so when I called back, the call centre agent tells me it is still not traced, or even if it is traced, there are too many delayed baggages at Munich, so system might not be updated.

On asking about reimbursement for necessary purchases, I was told upto 100 euros. Of course, it is nothing for a city like Zurich, so when I insisted, I was told I could go upto 200 to 250 euros, which I fell is still not enough since I need to buy winter clothing, formal jacket and hiking shoes. So my question is, what will the airlines consider necessary purchase in this case - since I am going to head to mountains, will they consider hiking shoes an necessary item. Similarly, I have official meetings, so can I buy formal jacket. Of course, buying all these will easily cost around 500 CHF.

I flew business class - will it make a difference. I am not a flying blue member but a silver member with Jet Airways (codeshare with Air France).

If I don't get it in 21 days, what is the compensation I can expect? I guess I will need to fill an inventory form after 72 hours. Do I really enter values in a manner assuming these will be used for final compensation`?

Thanks for the replies.

Are you actually going to go on mountain hikes in the middle of January? And do you have travel insurance as it is usually far more generous? I guess a good informal test of need is what you packed. If someone opened your suitcase, would they find those things at equivalent level?if so then presumably you considered that you needed them anyway.

Thanks orbitmic. Well yes, I am heading to a ski resort (in Parpan, Switzerland). So all the stuff I mentioned is in my suitcase if air France gets down to such level of verification. It's a 20 day europe trip, so I did pack a lot of things which easily will be more than 1000 chf if I have to value them. Unfortunately I do not have a travel insurance - never imagined it could happen to me :)

While I can't tell how much AF might reimburse you, I can tell you that you might have travel insurance even you don't know it. A lot of credit cards these days have insurances included when used to purchase the tickets. So you might get lucky there.
Otherwise I'd advise you to buy some reasonably priced stuff (there's a good outlet center in Landquart on the way from Zurich to Parpan) and have AF to reimburse you the cost.