daggett24

My bag was delayed last week 16 hours on the way there, and then 4 hours on the way home. The bag was ruined when it was delivered.

AA Cust Service gave me 10,000 miles for my troubles.

Also, when calling to check on delayed baggage, I call the PLT # and chose 4, then 4 for baggage service, the folks on that line seem to be extremely helpful. Not sure if that just transfers to the reguar line or not.

bbkenney

Hello
Its CUSTOMER SERVICE. What kinds of questions are they supposed to answer? Why didn't I get pancakes on my flight yesterday?

Teacher49

Thanks to those who provided the useful information that the PLAT desk and the only Customer Service desk open on a weekend could not provide. Truly, I got more perspective on the process here than from AA.

My wife did finally get her bags just around the 24 hour mark after arrival and over 36 hours after leaving home.

One last absurd moment bears reporting: when my wife did ask the baggage agent about permissions for buy some basic articles and to be reimbursed, she was finally apprised of the "nothing until 24 hours after reporting" rule. The reason given? "You really shouldn't need anything for the first 24 hours because of our generous carry-on allowances."

Mrs. Teacher49, "Do you realize that the rules have changed and that I cannot bring basic toiletries on board now?"

AA baggage, "Um, er, ah, oh yeah. I guess ... hmmm."

oldpenny16

Very glad your wife and baggage were reunited. I am now carrying on a make up and personal items 'emergency kit'. When your wife is home and can settle down to read, ask her to look at the Women's Forum on FT for many great ideas on how to survive this post 8-10 madness. There are several threads running on how to get along with and around the rules.

psyflyer

deleted

Teacher49

Thanks for tip. I will pass it on!

spacewrangler

And Hello to you. There's a reason why they have separate departments to handle baggage, AAdvantage, etc. As complicated a business as AA is, no one person can be an expert at everything. It's the same reason Bank of America will transfer me around when I call them - I'd rather ask the right questions of the right people than waste my time. I guess that just seems to be lost on folks.

mvoight

What was the real cost?
At some point she would have had to purchase these items when the others ran out.

Teacher49

Utterly beside the point. I will die at some point too. If someone causes my death prematurely it that OK? We should be able to choose when and where and how we wish to replenish the item. Those that separate us from our own should be responsible for replacement when lost or delayed beyond a certain point.

For me, a tube of tootpaste, OK. For a woman about to begin a very busy work schedule in another country who has none of her cosmetics and cleanses, etc. Different story.

Even the airline acknowledges that.

gemac

First, I would agree with you that AA might want to revisit their policy in light of the current carryon restrictions.

I think mvoight was merely trying to help you take a philosophical view. There are many worse things that could have happened. While I'm sure you wish that your wife did not have to go through this purchasing of items early, it is not a long-term financial loss. Be of good cheer.

KVS

The funny thing is that the "24 hours" rule doesn't actually exist, particularly for international flights (such as the flight in question), where liability for delay is governed by the Montreal Convention.

If the PAX can prove that (s)he required the delayed items right away, the airline is responsible for reimbursing such costs (up to a max. of approx. $1500 USD per PAX).

nologic

Try a retroactive letter to AA Customer Relations and describe what happened and your frustrations/disappointment.

Teacher49

You know, I thought it was something like that.

This incident is over now. I know that I reacted strongly in defense of my wife. Part of this is that she was about to begin a strenuous 10 day teaching contract and the prospect of really lost luggage was a contingency that had to be taken into account sooner rather than later for her own peace of mind.

Since she got her luggage before it became necessary to buy complete changes of clothes, complete array of toiletries, etc. I don't think I will take the time to press the issue for the $20.00 or so that was spent.

However, to know one's rights is a good thing, so thank you.

SpeedRicer

I was on the same ORD-YYZ flight that got in at 2:30 am on 9/23, and my baggage was also lost.

I called the PLT line and baggage service, and they promised to deliver the bags on the first flight from ORD landing in YYZ at 9:30 am, which they did. Since I had a meeting at 6 pm on Saturday (and was leaving on Sunday), I requested that they deliver the bag to me by 3 pm, or at least call me so that I could pick up the bag directly at the airport if they couldn't deliver it by then. The bag cleared customs at 11 am, and by 3 pm, no one ever called or delivered.

I went directly to YYZ and talked to an agent, and she said that they had been loaded onto a delivery truck at 3:10 pm, to be delivered sometime before 10 pm! I eventually got it at 7 pm. Needless to say, I had to buy new supplies and dry-clean my other pair of clothes (in my carry-on) to make the meeting.

What's ironic is that the AC agent at DFW Terminal A tried to get my bags on a direct DFW-YYZ flight so that it wouldn't come on my DFW-ORD flight and get lost in the mess at ORD. That obviously didn't happen...