Valet Bag Missing, Bag Number Assigned to Another Passenger in a Different Airport
Feb 18, 2019, 6:09 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: CVG
Programs: DL
Posts: 16
Valet Bag Missing, Bag Number Assigned to Another Passenger in a Different Airport
I've been a reader on this forum for about 15 years and fly Delta exclusively, but this is my first post on here.
Last night on the final leg of our trip from Singapore (DTW-CVG), they asked for volunteers to get bumped. They were offering $600 each, a hotel stay, and a flight out first thing in the morning. My wife and I volunteered and they told us to not board the plane with our zone but to wait to see if they needed us. They called us up after everyone boarding and thanked us for volunteering but said they wouldn't need us.
I pink tagged my roller bag since it was a RJ and we boarded the plane. When we landed at CVG, my bag was never loaded onto the jet bridge. They re-checked the cargo hold and said it was empty and to talk to the gate agent. When the gate agent typed in my pink tag number, it came up as someone who was flying out of ATL to a completely different airport. How is that even possible?
Apparently, the gate agent never scanned the pink tag with my boarding pass and just handed it to me. We had been traveling for about 31 hours at that point so I didn't even notice. Now, Delta has no idea where my bag even is since it was never linked to my reservation. And to make matters worse, the pink tag on it is linked to another passenger who flew out of ATL.
I have been Platinum for the past two years and have never seen a valet checked bag missing. What type of compensation would you expect from Delta if this happened to you? I have things in my bag I need for work and I purposely didn't check this bag because of that.
Of course, Delta tells me "When we find your bag..." but that isn't reassuring. I have had lost luggage before but they have always known exactly where it is because everything is bar coded and scanned when loaded onto the plane, off the plane etc.
Last night on the final leg of our trip from Singapore (DTW-CVG), they asked for volunteers to get bumped. They were offering $600 each, a hotel stay, and a flight out first thing in the morning. My wife and I volunteered and they told us to not board the plane with our zone but to wait to see if they needed us. They called us up after everyone boarding and thanked us for volunteering but said they wouldn't need us.
I pink tagged my roller bag since it was a RJ and we boarded the plane. When we landed at CVG, my bag was never loaded onto the jet bridge. They re-checked the cargo hold and said it was empty and to talk to the gate agent. When the gate agent typed in my pink tag number, it came up as someone who was flying out of ATL to a completely different airport. How is that even possible?
Apparently, the gate agent never scanned the pink tag with my boarding pass and just handed it to me. We had been traveling for about 31 hours at that point so I didn't even notice. Now, Delta has no idea where my bag even is since it was never linked to my reservation. And to make matters worse, the pink tag on it is linked to another passenger who flew out of ATL.
I have been Platinum for the past two years and have never seen a valet checked bag missing. What type of compensation would you expect from Delta if this happened to you? I have things in my bag I need for work and I purposely didn't check this bag because of that.
Of course, Delta tells me "When we find your bag..." but that isn't reassuring. I have had lost luggage before but they have always known exactly where it is because everything is bar coded and scanned when loaded onto the plane, off the plane etc.
Feb 18, 2019, 6:18 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
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I can see how this would be unsettling.
Be sure to file a complete claim within the specified time limit. There are two elements of compensation:
1. The mandated, specific-item, depreciated value outlined in your claim;
2. A customer service courtesy gesture.
Be sure to file a complete claim within the specified time limit. There are two elements of compensation:
1. The mandated, specific-item, depreciated value outlined in your claim;
2. A customer service courtesy gesture.
Feb 18, 2019, 6:22 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: CVG
Programs: DL
Posts: 16
I filed a claim at CVG but they said they couldn't attached my bag tag number to the claim file because the bag tag number was assigned to another passenger in a different airport. The whole thing is just strange.
Feb 18, 2019, 7:45 am
#4
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It's hard to imagine how a valet bag could have been loaded onto the wrong plane, so the obvious places it could go missing would be either (1) not being loaded onto your aircraft at the gate of your departure airport or (2) not being returned to you at your arrival airport.
For (1), presumably you placed the bag in the usual spot at the end of the jetway, but since you boarded late, is it possible that workers had already loaded "all" bags by then, so that yours was left behind and possibly put onto the next RJ out of that gate if no one had noticed that it had been left behind.
For (2), people sometimes grab the wrong bag upon arrival. Were you there watching when valet bags first started appearing so that you would have seen someone grab it? You said that workers checked that no bags were left on the aircraft when you reported it missing, but were there any unclaimed bags from your flight? That would suggest that another passenger from your flight took the wrong bag.
Could the confusion about tags numbers be due to someone confusing the situation and assuming that it had been a regular checked bag instead of a valet bag? If the valet tag number comes from the physical tag that's put on the bag at the gate, it shouldn't be the case that there's another piece of paper with the same number being used at a different airport.
IME the valet bag numbers aren't entered and traceable since people sometimes use an old "pink" tag or alternatively rip off the tag in the jetway and carry the bag on board despite the GA telling them that there's no room or the bag won't fit, but I haven't had any reason to pay attention to this recently. I remember GAs just handing out the pink tags by the fistful without paying attention to who in the gate area takes some.
For (1), presumably you placed the bag in the usual spot at the end of the jetway, but since you boarded late, is it possible that workers had already loaded "all" bags by then, so that yours was left behind and possibly put onto the next RJ out of that gate if no one had noticed that it had been left behind.
For (2), people sometimes grab the wrong bag upon arrival. Were you there watching when valet bags first started appearing so that you would have seen someone grab it? You said that workers checked that no bags were left on the aircraft when you reported it missing, but were there any unclaimed bags from your flight? That would suggest that another passenger from your flight took the wrong bag.
Could the confusion about tags numbers be due to someone confusing the situation and assuming that it had been a regular checked bag instead of a valet bag? If the valet tag number comes from the physical tag that's put on the bag at the gate, it shouldn't be the case that there's another piece of paper with the same number being used at a different airport.
IME the valet bag numbers aren't entered and traceable since people sometimes use an old "pink" tag or alternatively rip off the tag in the jetway and carry the bag on board despite the GA telling them that there's no room or the bag won't fit, but I haven't had any reason to pay attention to this recently. I remember GAs just handing out the pink tags by the fistful without paying attention to who in the gate area takes some.
Feb 18, 2019, 7:58 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: CVG
Programs: DL
Posts: 16
It's hard to imagine how a valet bag could have been loaded onto the wrong plane, so the obvious places it could go missing would be either (1) not being loaded onto your aircraft at the gate of your departure airport or (2) not being returned to you at your arrival airport.
For (1), presumably you placed the bag in the usual spot at the end of the jetway, but since you boarded late, is it possible that workers had already loaded "all" bags by then, so that yours was left behind and possibly put onto the next RJ out of that gate if no one had noticed that it had been left behind.
For (2), people sometimes grab the wrong bag upon arrival. Were you there watching when valet bags first started appearing so that you would have seen someone grab it? You said that workers checked that no bags were left on the aircraft when you reported it missing, but were there any unclaimed bags from your flight? That would suggest that another passenger from your flight took the wrong bag.
Could the confusion about tags numbers be due to someone confusing the situation and assuming that it had been a regular checked bag instead of a valet bag? If the valet tag number comes from the physical tag that's put on the bag at the gate, it shouldn't be the case that there's another piece of paper with the same number being used at a different airport.
IME the valet bag numbers aren't entered and traceable since people sometimes use an old "pink" tag or alternatively rip off the tag in the jetway and carry the bag on board despite the GA telling them that there's no room or the bag won't fit, but I haven't had any reason to pay attention to this recently. I remember GAs just handing out the pink tags by the fistful without paying attention to who in the gate area takes some.
For (1), presumably you placed the bag in the usual spot at the end of the jetway, but since you boarded late, is it possible that workers had already loaded "all" bags by then, so that yours was left behind and possibly put onto the next RJ out of that gate if no one had noticed that it had been left behind.
For (2), people sometimes grab the wrong bag upon arrival. Were you there watching when valet bags first started appearing so that you would have seen someone grab it? You said that workers checked that no bags were left on the aircraft when you reported it missing, but were there any unclaimed bags from your flight? That would suggest that another passenger from your flight took the wrong bag.
Could the confusion about tags numbers be due to someone confusing the situation and assuming that it had been a regular checked bag instead of a valet bag? If the valet tag number comes from the physical tag that's put on the bag at the gate, it shouldn't be the case that there's another piece of paper with the same number being used at a different airport.
IME the valet bag numbers aren't entered and traceable since people sometimes use an old "pink" tag or alternatively rip off the tag in the jetway and carry the bag on board despite the GA telling them that there's no room or the bag won't fit, but I haven't had any reason to pay attention to this recently. I remember GAs just handing out the pink tags by the fistful without paying attention to who in the gate area takes some.
Yes, I was there when they first started dropping off bags and mine was never there. There were also no unclaimed bags.
They always scan your boarding pass, then the valet tag, and then your boarding pass again to link it to your account now. It then spits our a piece of paper with the valet number on it. I think they've been doing this for the past year now. You can't use the same tag over and over again anymore.
I flew from SIN-NRT-DTW-CVG. The valet bag number that I have (Yes, I have the bottom piece that I took off when placing it on the bag) is in the system as someone flying from ATL to some other airport. I had the gate agent tell me this and the lady in baggage claim services. How is that possible unless Delta uses the same valet numbers on tags at different airports?
Feb 18, 2019, 9:50 am
#6
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New York
Programs: SPG LT Gold, DL PM 1MM
Posts: 692
Not sure if you can check this but one scenario is that your bag went on the next plane that left that gate, and that flight went to Atlanta?
Unless the valet bag tags are reused and the one they were seeing was a super old one from some Atlanta flight?
Sorry to hear since this sounds like a needle in a haystack...
Feb 18, 2019, 10:16 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: CVG
Programs: DL
Posts: 16
That's really strange.
Not sure if you can check this but one scenario is that your bag went on the next plane that left that gate, and that flight went to Atlanta?
Unless the valet bag tags are reused and the one they were seeing was a super old one from some Atlanta flight?
Sorry to hear since this sounds like a needle in a haystack...
Not sure if you can check this but one scenario is that your bag went on the next plane that left that gate, and that flight went to Atlanta?
Unless the valet bag tags are reused and the one they were seeing was a super old one from some Atlanta flight?
Sorry to hear since this sounds like a needle in a haystack...
Oh the bright side, I just got a notification on the app that a bag was loaded on a plane from DTW-CVG. It has the same bag number as the one I checked yesterday and I picked up in baggage claim. I'm hoping they found my valet bag, reprinted the tag from my checked one, and put it on my valet bag that was lost.
Feb 18, 2019, 10:21 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: DL Diamond MM, SPG Platinum, Skywards Silver
Posts: 319
I’m sorry this sounds horrible. Slightly off topic, but I don’t know...With the trackability in the app of regular luggage tags, does the same thing apply to the valet tags? Can you see when the bag is loaded on to the aircraft?
Feb 18, 2019, 11:05 am
#9
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: RDU
Posts: 679
IIRC, you can put the valet tag into the app and track the status of it. I know when they scan the valet tag and attach it to your reservation, it also shows up in the app.
Feb 18, 2019, 11:47 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: PWM
Programs: AA EXP, DL Platinum, and assorted hotel loyalty schemes.
Posts: 281
Did you/ Delta check the baggage carousel at CVG? A few years ago I had a valet-tagged bag not appear planeside at PWM. The GA said, "see if it comes out at baggage claim before making a claim." Sure enough, my bag was on the carousel without any kind of tag on it. Apparently, the pink tag was torn off either while being loaded at DTW or during unloading at PWM. Without a tag the baggage handlers just stuck it on the baggage claim carousel at PWM. I realize your scenario is slightly different because of the tag showing in ATL, but it might be worth asking if there's an unclaimed, untagged bag at the CVG baggage office.
Feb 18, 2019, 11:52 am
#11
Join Date: Nov 2009
Programs: DL PM 1MM
Posts: 3,439
When the gate agent typed in my pink tag number, it came up as someone who was flying out of ATL to a completely different airport. How is that even possible?
Feb 18, 2019, 12:33 pm
#12
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It's been a while since I've done a pink-tag valet check - when did DL start tracking pink-tagged bags with boarding passes and linking a pink tag to a specific passenger? It makes sense that the bags are scanned and counted (particularly for weight & balance purposes) as they're loaded onto the plane but at what point is the bag linked to a specific passenger/reservation? Several times I've seen GA's proactively walk the gate area to handout pink tags and they aren't being scanned.
Feb 18, 2019, 12:42 pm
#13
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: PWM
Programs: AA EXP, DL Platinum, and assorted hotel loyalty schemes.
Posts: 281
It's been a while since I've done a pink-tag valet check - when did DL start tracking pink-tagged bags with boarding passes and linking a pink tag to a specific passenger? It makes sense that the bags are scanned and counted (particularly for weight & balance purposes) as they're loaded onto the plane but at what point is the bag linked to a specific passenger/reservation? Several times I've seen GA's proactively walk the gate area to handout pink tags and they aren't being scanned.
Feb 18, 2019, 12:45 pm
#14
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: LAX/BUR, RDU
Programs: DL SM, AAdvantage, SPG
Posts: 1,360
It's been a while since I've done a pink-tag valet check - when did DL start tracking pink-tagged bags with boarding passes and linking a pink tag to a specific passenger? It makes sense that the bags are scanned and counted (particularly for weight & balance purposes) as they're loaded onto the plane but at what point is the bag linked to a specific passenger/reservation? Several times I've seen GA's proactively walk the gate area to handout pink tags and they aren't being scanned.
Pink tags now scanned