Astrophsx

Hey everyone,

About 4 days ago I was returning with my girlfriend and my mother from a trip down to South America. We were flying LIM-MEX-TIJ and then using the new bridge to cross over to San Diego.

When we made it to MEX I decided to pay access to the AeroMexico lounge. It took a rather long time for the agent to process things. When we got to the gate and tried to board the agent notified us that all 3 tickets had been canceled. Another two people who paid for access to the lounge had the same problem. We were ushered to the side until all passengers boarded. We were then handed new seats that were not together.

I put my mom's carry on in the overhead bin as she went to sit in a window seat. Later I found out that the gate agent decided to remove my mom's bag from the bin for another passenger behind us. They gate checked the bag without asking permission or telling us what was happening. I assume she could not see being next to the window.

After the plane landed we noticed the bag was missing. We told the flight attendant and they told us it had been removed and gate checked and that it would come out with the regular luggage. The problem is that my mom had about ~$10,000 worth of photography equipment. We raced to the luggage and found out that one of the lenses (~$2,300) had been damaged. On the ground there was no one from AeroMexico available and I have been since given their customer service email address. I have had no response. Their website states that they are not responsible for photography gear or almost anything electronic. I wanted to see if you guys had any advice on what I can do and what the airline is and is not responsible for.

I appreciate any help you can give. As you can imagine she is quite upset. The lens may be covered by her homeowner's insurance. She let the insurance company know that she was traveling and what she was bringing. Though, it seems to be the fault of AeroMexico.

abmj-jr

You are unlikely to get anything from the airline. If you had no travel insurance, I hope your homeowners will help you. With that much valuable gear, I think travel insurance is a must.

It is too late for this trip but a bit of advice on carrying photo gear might be in order. I keep my cameras and lenses in a small backpack "personal item" that fits easily under the seat in front of me. Everything else, clothes, accessories, tripod, etc goes in a carry-on size rollaboard. If that must be gate checked, the cameras are still safe with me. Never let your photo gear out of your possession. I won't even put mine in the overhead bin.

Loren Pechtel

The airline exempts itself from this sort of claim by saying don't check such stuff--but the airline is the one that checked it, not the traveler.

abmj-jr

I agree completely but that is unlikely to make a difference. The airlines are good at dodging responsibility for their screw-ups. I hope the OP gets something but will be surprised if he does.

Kagehitokiri

are there insurance policies for expensive photography equipment?

some travel insurance baggage policies might work for this kind of thing

wow, one should not have to watch airline staff this closely

if it had been US, airline doing it might've made difference in court

Loren Pechtel

The airline took the stuff away and broke it. I don't see how they could weasel out of that in court.

abmj-jr

I'd like to see them pay for it, too but they are a Mexican corporation. I am not a lawyer but I don't know how one might file a small claims case against them in this country. Maybe in the plaintiff's home jurisdiction.

Astrophsx

We are checking with the insurance company today. She took out extra insurance for the photography equipment. It's been 4 days and we haven't heard any response from the airline. I didn't even write the whole story of what had happened. When we boarded the plane there were people in the seats we were given tickets for. The gate agents came aboard and yelled at us to take any open seat... that the plane was late departing.. and that we weren't making things any better. It was very hectic.

I noticed the last person to board was a man dressed in a AeroMexico pilots uniform. Interestingly his bag was where I had put my mom's carry on. So I am assuming they removed her bag so that he could put his bag there. Maybe he had a tight connection?

When we landed, and she found out what had happened, my mother in her late 60's was in tears. The whole situation was a mess and the employees did nothing to help and never apologized. I've written the airline twice and have heard nothing back... not even a confirmation that they have received my messages.

Often1

Not so quick.

If OP's mother was on a single ticket LIM-MEX-TIJ, she was on an international "journey" and her checked luggage was covered by the Montreal Convention. This is so even though the bag was "gate checked" and even though this was a domestic segment.

There are no exemptions under the Convention and the mother ought to be able to collect the fair market value of the equiptment up to a maximum of approximately $1,600. Fair market value does not mean replacement value and obviously the mother believes that the equiptment was worth more than $1,600, but this is a good chunk of the value.

Now, collecting against AM is an issue. No idea where the ticket was purchased, whether a CC in the US was used and so on. No idea about small claims.

But, there it is.

RSSrsvp

I have a rider on my homeowners policy for my camera equipment. It is an "all risk" policy which covers theft and breakage wherever I go. For $33 a year I have $2000 worth of coverage. IMHO, it is well worth the cost! ^

Astrophsx

I know that her coverage is around $9,500 for about $152 through AAA. I'll post an update as soon as I have new information. I appreciate all the responses here.

Loren Pechtel

Do they land at any US airports?

Loren Pechtel

That probably explains what happened. He didn't want to gate check, they gate-checked whatever happened to be in the way.

lhgreengrd1

Sadly, this thread quite clearly explains why I will do anything in my power to insure that I can board early enough to insure that I have access to space for my carry-on containing my photographic equipment (which is small enough to be contained in a personal item, but several thousands of dollars in value). I simply will not leave my gear to the vagaries of how airline personnel will treat it. It WILL remain under my physical control at all times. Because if it doesn't, eventually, the owner of the gear is going to get screwed. Sadly, this has happened to the OP.

Astrophsx

You are completely right.. If you are carrying something of that value you should do everything possible to make sure no other hands touch that property. Unfortunately my mom isn't a seasoned traveler and it took a negative experience like this to change how she will travel with her gear in the future. I think she was under the impression that if her son put the bag in the overhead storage bin it would be safe. She wanted to put it below the seat but was given a seat that was already occupied and had to sit next to the window. She was yelled at by the gate agent for not getting to a seat quick enough and for delaying departure. That's when I had to step in and help her to her seat and put her bag in the overhead bin. She has put a lot of the blame on herself and she has been quite depressed by the situation and also upset by how she was treated by the employees of the airline.

Another day later and still no response from the airline. It doesn't seem like AeroMexico responds by social media. So I don't think we will be hearing a response from the airline.