British Airways is horrible - LOST LUGGAGE NIGHTMARE
 

It is now day six and we do not have our luggage. For the last six days, I call daily only to be told "we will update you when we locate your luggage". We flew business class to Edinburgh from the US via a layover in Atlanta and they still do not know where our luggage is located! How can FedEx, UPS and Amazon tell you where small items are at any moment and BA cannot locate two very large suitcases in six days! This morning, I got a text saying the bags arrive this afternoon. I called BA to tell them I want to come to the airport to pick them up, and do not want to wait for a transfer because we are leaving Edinburgh early in the morning. They said wait until the bags arrive and they will be in touch. I asked how long after they arrive will that be, and they said call us three hours after they land. So I waited four hours, and they said they arrived and would deliver them within 24 hours. 24 HOURS! I reminded her we are leaving in the morning so that is not acceptable, I need to pick up my bags this evening. So I went to the airport to retrieve my bags only to find THEY STILL HAVE NOT LEFT ATLANTA. Even after BA advised they are here, they are not here and they have no idea when they will leave Atlanta. How incompetent and bureaucratic can this company be? We are on a 14 day UK vacation and have no photographic equipment, golf outfits, medications and clothes. What a nightmare. Do not fly this airline. Ever

The first post may have been a long time coming given the join date, but welcome to the BA forum.

From the provided description it sounds as though there has been a catalogue of errors. Having been in a delayed luggage situation, I can certainly sympathise.

Your best bet is to keep chasing BA over the delayed luggage. BA is quite good at reuniting when it actually happens. Be sure to make the point to BA about recovering the costs of any accidentals (or against any applicable travel insurance policy).

It is of no comfort now, but one should never fly with medications or valuables in the hold for just this reason.

Best of luck.

H

Well, I can certainly understand this, and it's not as though the weather in Edinburgh is that great either! Welcome nevertheless, tmrebell, welcome to Flyertalk and the BA forum. In a way it's unfortunate you didn't join up with us a little sooner since we could probably have pointed out where this was heading. But again it must be a real nuisance and I'm sorry that you've had to go through this. BA don't have a monopoly on delayed baggage, I doubt any airline is immune from it.

Broadly speaking there isn't much point in contacting BA in this situation. With thousand of delayed bags it is a case of "don't ring us, we will ring you". So long as WorldTracer is up to date, that's about all you can do. From that point, buy what you need, hire golf clubs, hire cameras, and BA have a pretty good reputation for paying back your costs. Your insurance company, if you have one, will also be a good source of support here, or ought to be.

You make a point about the poor traceability, and that is being improved in just over a month's time, with a brand new baggage portal. I don't know much about it, but I suspect it would have helped somewhat.

Again I hope this gets resolved, in a way it will since if necessary they'll get them back to you in your home location. By all means write a concise complaint about this (like your post here I guess), since it is important to register your concern about this. Good luck with getting your bags back.

it sounds like the problem was in Atlanta if the bags are still there...which airline flew you into Atlanta? were there any delays on this flight that may have resulted in the bags missing your connecting flight? Although BA, as the last carrier, are the ones that make the report, it does sound the other airline has either not yet passed the bags to BA or they bags are waiting to go through the security process to enable them to fly unaccompanied
You also should never pack medication in hold luggage, it should always be in your hand luggage

Go shopping in Edinburgh, get all you need and keep the receipts. BA are good about refunding. Even if you have to buy bags too.

You can rent golf clubs and shoes at just about any Scottish golf course.

For the future, no matter the airline, never pack valuables in checked bags. Medication should always go in your carry on bags with anything you cannot afford to lose forever.

Really hope your bags show up soon. I can appreciate your frustration when you have packed so carefully to make sure you get the most out of your trip.

Bad luck to the OP and I can empathise how very frustrating this must be.

I would second Corporate-Wage-Slave's and Bogwoppit's advice to buy/hire what you need and seek to reclaim it after. Maybe it is best at this point to resign yourself to doing this, and try to let the matter go and enjoy the rest of your trip and let the bags show whenever they show.

Indeed...I don't often agree with posts of the ranting kind but I can imagine it must be very frustrating for the OP. Although I've had bags delayed many times with different airlines thankfully it's always been on the inbound sectors so I didn't really mind.

BA might not know where your luggage is located as it may be the airline that flew you first of all into Atlanta who lost the luggage. Given you've said that the luggage hasn't left Atlanta it would seem this may be the problem. Have you got in touch with the airline (presuming AA if it was the same ticket?) that flew you to Atlanta?

Having experienced a similar situation a few years ago (my bag was misplaced for over a week of a holiday in Texas) BA will recompense you for reasonable purchases as long as you keep the receipt. They will also forward your bags to wherever you go (I was on a road trip around Texas - we flew into Houston, my friends got their bags in Galveston, I didnt get mine til Austin).
It's a rubbish situation - but the best you can do is just try to enjoy buying some new things and try not to worry.
The world tracer information available on BA.com is pretty much what's available to BA agents - all that can be seen is when a bag is scanned at an airport - so although it's tempting to keep phoning, all you can really do practically is make sure your address is up to date. Sometimes a bag appears to still be in its original location because it hasn't been scanned for some reason, so it might be closer than Atlanta.
I hope you get your bag soon and enjoy your holiday.

I can sympathise with the OP because I've had luggage go astray (not on BA) and I know how annoying it is. I had a colleague who was flying within the US on a red eye transcontinental from West to East and had a very long gap between arrival at JFK and the BA flight home in the evening. From memory the bags were checked through to London and the two of them went into NYC during the day not suspecting any problems. When they got back to JFK they were told at check in that the bags had not left LAX despite there having been at least one other flight they could have been placed on in the meantime.

I think it was AA who hadn't managed to get it on the plane at LAX and it took them another day to do so. An airline (not sure which) did manage to get it to London and they were reunited eventually. He was really pissed off with AA who he said had over 12 hrs to get the luggage to JFK for their connection and in his words "just didn't bother".

It's frustrating and you have my sympathies a lot. I have had luggage gone astray with BA, TK, KLM (twice on the same trip, as well as bumping me off one flight and cancelling another). BA once lost all our luggage over christmas. We needed to rent a car seat and buy a few bits and pieces, BA paid up for these very quickly.

I recommend to everyone that they prepare for this sort of thing so it does not impact on your trip. Essentials and stuff for the first day all ways go in my hand luggage. Knowing the rules so you know what to claim takes the stress out of these events.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the trip.

Never ever ever pack Medications in Hold Luggage! If you are running low, call 111 and they will be able to arrange a local Dr to sort some replacements out.

Our first connecting flight was on American

American has a baggage portal, which shows the status of baggage under their control. Does it show anything helpful?

As advised by others. You can purchase any clothing that you need and toiletries. Keep your receipts and send them to BA. Each airline has a maximum liability per person. This week it's around £1100. Per person.

"All posts are my own and not on behalf of My employer"