Does KLM always notify missing bags from AMS?

Old Dec 24, 2018, 5:47 am
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Does KLM always notify missing bags from AMS?

So yesterday we arrived at our final destination after 3 flights (transit in AMS and GRU) and 2 of our 4 bags were missing.

We filed missing bags reports at the airport and got worldtracer reference numbers. Logging in, we see no information, just a "check again later" message. We were told missing bags from KLM usually arrive after 3 days.

What I find weird (and annoying) is that at the airport they told us that the 2 bags had never left Schiphol, but that we never received the usual notification from KLM upon landing in Brazil that our bags didn't make it to our next flight in Amsterdam. Doesn't KLM always send notifications via the app or email/sms?

Should I bother KLM and ask why they didn't inform us about our missing bags? Do I have to file a separate KLM report to be able to be reimbursed for extra expenses?
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Old Dec 24, 2018, 6:01 am
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Originally Posted by ticino
Doesn't KLM always send notifications via the app or email/sms?
Sometimes, you don't receive a notification and I dont't know why.

Originally Posted by ticino
Logging in, we see no information, just a "check again later" message.
This is a standard message in WorldTracer, until your bag has been localized.

Originally Posted by ticino
We were told missing bags from KLM usually arrive after 3 days.
It can be sometimes quicker (if your bag is localized quickly and I suppose KL flies to GRU daily). But it can be longer too.

Originally Posted by ticino
Should I bother KLM and ask why they didn't inform us about our missing bags?
Don't bother, I think this is the least of your concern now.

Originally Posted by ticino
Do I have to file a separate KLM report to be able to be reimbursed for extra expenses?
Yes, once you have retrieved your bag or when you return, file a complaint with all your receipts for necessary expenses (clothes, toiletry items) due to the delayed bags.
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Old Dec 24, 2018, 8:58 am
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
This is a standard message in WorldTracer, until your bag has been localized.
Thanks so much for your reply! I find this a bit weird as I was told by Gol upon landing that the 2 bags had never left Amsterdam, so I assumed they were localised. So then what Gol meant is that they only know that the bags never made it to the AMS-GRU flight but they don't know where they ended up, and that today, more than 24 hours after that flight took off World Tracer still don't know

For the record, I ended up calling the platinum line and was told that all clams should be made via AF as I bought my tickets on AFs website. They said they'd look for the bags and call back but I suppose they cannot know anything other that what I see on World Tracer, as they never called back.

Update: apparently we have to make any claim through Gol. Second person in the platinum line said the info we'd received before was wrong.

Last edited by ticino; Dec 24, 2018 at 9:17 am
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Old Dec 24, 2018, 9:35 am
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Originally Posted by ticino
I find this a bit weird as I was told by Gol upon landing that the 2 bags had never left Amsterdam, so I assumed they were localised. So then what Gol meant is that they only know that the bags never made it to the AMS-GRU flight but they don't know where they ended up, and that today, more than 24 hours after that flight took off World Tracer still don't know
What they may have seen in the system is that your bag has been scanned in AMS but as it hasn't reached the GRU flight, the bag is not localized as it can be anywhere in AMS or has been wrongly loaded into a plane bound to anywhere but GRU.

Originally Posted by ticino
For the record, I ended up calling the platinum line and was told that all clams should be made via AF as I bought my tickets on AFs website.
The website for purchase is irrelevant in that case. Were your flights AF- or KL-coded ? If the former, then yes you have to deal with AF. If the latter, then deal with KL. Knowing your itinerary, I have the feeling that it is KL-coded.

Originally Posted by ticino
Update: apparently we have to make any claim through Gol. Second person in the platinum line said the info we'd received before was wrong.
GOL is just acting as the AF-KL ground handling agent in GRU and I understand they are the ones who created your missing bag file. Any inquiry regarding your delayed bag for localization and delivery has indeed to be made with them (but that's certainly not a reason to not enquire the PSL, knowing that the bag is likely in AMS, so in KL hands). But any claim for compensation, reimbursement of expenses has to be made with the marketing carrier, not with GOL (unless you have a GOL ticket which is very unlikely if purchased on AF website).
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Old Dec 25, 2018, 7:20 am
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
Any inquiry regarding your delayed bag for localization and delivery has indeed to be made with them (but that's certainly not a reason to not enquire the PSL, knowing that the bag is likely in AMS, so in KL hands). But any claim for compensation, reimbursement of expenses has to be made with the marketing carrier, not with GOL (unless you have a GOL ticket which is very unlikely if purchased on AF website).
The trip is indeed all KL-coded. And yes, we filed our irregularity report through Gol. According to KLM this means that they cannot tell us whether the bags are in their hands or not right now as they cannot access the file, so they refuse to have anything to do with us (I contacted them after I read your reply). And that is fine if those are the rules but Gol doesn't answer the phone nor do they reply to emails. They wrote down the wrong dates for the flights in the World tracer and I cannot edit them so we are hoping the KL tags are enough to locate the bags. I also wanted to ask KLM whether they could send the bags to PDE rather than to MVD (we are not there any more), as Gol refused. So if the bags turn up we'll have to travel 180x2 km to pick them up.

About compensation I bought the tickets with my corporate card so we have better coverage through them. They are also way more efficient and very easy to deal with. I hadn't realised how flying the last segment on a different airline can be such a headache when things go wrong.

Thanks for your help!
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Old Dec 25, 2018, 11:48 am
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The last airline to touch the bags is responsible for locating the bags, delivering them to you and reimbursement of any expenses (Montreal convention). In this case, it seems that your last flight was with GOL (transfer in GRU) so it's right that you had to submit your claim to them. Doesn't matter how your flight was coded (KL, AF or GOL), the operating carrier prevails.
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Old Dec 25, 2018, 11:59 am
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Indeed if you connected in GRU to a GOL flight, they are definitely the ones to handle the case for the bag delivery (I misunderstood your initial post, as I thought you ended your trip in GRU arriving on the KL flight).
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Old Dec 25, 2018, 12:28 pm
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Until you have your bags back, just sit back and enjoy yourself. Nobody has access to any better information than is in WorldTracer and you can see that for yourself. Calling simply raises your stress level and won't actually cause anybody to do anything. Just make certain that your mobile number, a local contact number and bag tag are correctly entered and updated should you move around.

The reality is that nobody is looking for your bag. Rather, it will simply show up somewhere as unaccounted for. That might be at AMS and it might be anywhere else KL operates as the bag may have been loaded onto the wrong aircraft and no scanned. But, unless it has been destroyed or stolen, it will sooner or later find itself on a luggage cart and someone will look at the tag, scan it and see that you have reported it. The bag will then be routed from wherever it is to wherever you are.

If the bag is not located at 20 days, it is considered lost and you are entitled to its fair market value to a maximum of approximately EUR 1,150 per passenger. In the meantime, if you have interim expenses, you may incur those and submit those to the last delivering carrier (KL?). Best to wait until your return home when this can be handled without bother. Anything reimbursed would be deducted from the EUR 1,150 if the bag is lost.

Hopefully KL's generous cabin baggage allowances mean that you have the first 3-4 days of what you need in the cabin baggage, so none of this is a problem.
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Old Dec 25, 2018, 2:21 pm
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So my bags finally arrived.

Had the WorldTracer really worked, I would have forgotten about the bags, but the WorldTracer updated only a few minutes after I got a call from Gol telling me they were sending the bags to my address. So it went from something like "Bags still being located, try again later" to "Bags are being delivered" a couple of hours before they arrived at the address I had given Gol. No use giving you a tracking number if the information is not updated. In my case it only made matters a worse.

I understand that KLM is not responsible for the bags, but I had hoped they had some system that could tell that my bags were in one of their planes. I suspect that was the reason why I didn't get a notification that my bags didn't make it to the GRU flight as I normally do when bags get delayed at Schiphol. The bags were not KLM's responsibility.

I won't bother filing any claims for the few things I had to buy. I absolutely love AF/KLMs cabin allowance and it's one of the reasons I fly them. Usually use it to the max. So I did have plenty of stuff with me and besides not all our bags got delayed, some did arrive. But we had equipment we will be needing for glacier trekking and I needed to re-order as soon as possible to be sure to get it down here on time. That's why I have been reloading Worldtracer all the time.

Thanks for all you answers and Happy New Year
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Old Dec 25, 2018, 2:38 pm
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Originally Posted by ticino
So my bags finally arrived.

Had the WorldTracer really worked, I would have forgotten about the bags, but the WorldTracer updated only a few minutes after I got a call from Gol telling me they were sending the bags to my address. So it went from something like "Bags still being located, try again later" to "Bags are being delivered" a couple of hours before they arrived at the address I had given Gol. No use giving you a tracking number if the information is not updated. In my case it only made matters a worse.

I understand that KLM is not responsible for the bags, but I had hoped they had some system that could tell that my bags were in one of their planes. I suspect that was the reason why I didn't get a notification that my bags didn't make it to the GRU flight as I normally do when bags get delayed at Schiphol. The bags were not KLM's responsibility.

I won't bother filing any claims for the few things I had to buy. I absolutely love AF/KLMs cabin allowance and it's one of the reasons I fly them. Usually use it to the max. So I did have plenty of stuff with me and besides not all our bags got delayed, some did arrive. But we had equipment we will be needing for glacier trekking and I needed to re-order as soon as possible to be sure to get it down here on time. That's why I have been reloading Worldtracer all the time.

Thanks for all you answers and Happy New Year
Great !
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Old Dec 26, 2018, 2:16 am
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I had a bag delayed by KL just before Christmas and I bought a few things. Within a few days, I got a reply that the money was on its way and they were adding 8000 miles on the top of that "as a gesture of appreciation for your loyalty to our airline and as a small Christmas present, I’m happy to offer you 8000 air miles."

Customer support has been stellar over the last few months on KL's side.
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Old Dec 26, 2018, 5:31 am
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It would be useful if KLM had an App to display the progress of bags, just like Delta do. KLM's internal tracking will be much more detailed than the pretty useless World Tracker system, so I don't see why it can't be used. As the OP said this would help piece of mind a lot; I might be in Madrid and my bags in Cape Town (this happened to me a couple of years ago, KLM Platinum Line found them) but at least I would know they are not lost.
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Old Dec 26, 2018, 5:38 am
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I've got a bag delayed on LH/OS itinerary last week. PIR was filled via LO (as I arrived rerouted on a LO flight in the end), and worldtracer had not been updated until the bag was being delivered.

I was able to trace the bags through the LH app. That told me both bags weren't loaded to my WAW rerouted flight, instead one was put on a later direct flight and one was left in Vienna, noted the following morning as being accepted for the next available flight.
It would make it easier for me if the same could be seen in WorldTracer, at least for the peace of mind.

Not that anybody even looked in there it seems - my phone number was mistyped in there and I've left a note through web interface, but it was not acted upon. I had to call the airport to notify them.
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Old Dec 26, 2018, 6:36 am
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Originally Posted by Mirk
"as a small Christmas present, Im happy to offer you 8000 air miles."
Air miles?

The kind you get at Albert Heijn?

Johan
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Old Jan 7, 2019, 8:58 am
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
But any claim for compensation, reimbursement of expenses has to be made with the marketing carrier, not with GOL (unless you have a GOL ticket which is very unlikely if purchased on AF website).
Not according to Air France. I ended up filing a small claim to see how things work, and according to Air France, "as you are no doubt aware, the last carrier or your journey is responsible for the handling of your claim. We kindly request you to contact them directly as they have legal ability to reimburse the costs incurred as a result of this situation."

So, even though it was AF who sold the KL-coded journey, it's Gol as last carrier that's responsible for tracing lost luggage and handling the reimbursement of expenses.
I certainly wasn't aware that Gol is the sole point of contact, so I am posting just in case this is helpful to anyone else.
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