Have searched the flyertalk archives and cannot find anything much on theft from checked luggage. Would be interested in feedback from overseas-traveling flyertalkers.

A friend traveled last week from DEN to DPS (Bali) via this routing: Frontier DEN-SFO, then Eva SFO-TPE-DPS. This was her second trip to Bali using Eva's highly recommended Evergreen Deluxe (deluxe economy) class.

When she arrived at DPS, no luggage! I had advised her to: (1) At baggage checkin, double-check the destination tag to be sure it was designated DPS, and (2) Ask the check-in agent to wrap the softside bag with some baggage tape, especially around the padlock. The agent tagged her bag to TPE initially, but she corrected that and the bag was tagged to DPS. She checked in about 90 minutes early at DIA. No delays or irregular ops on any of the flights.

She made the missing bag report at DPS and waited 2 days for the bag to show. They delivered it to her hotel in Kuta. When she received it, there was no tape on it at all, the lock was missing, and about half of the contents of the bag were gone. The thief had carefully gone through everything, even taking some items out of her first aid kit and leaving others behind. Taken: Winnie the Pooh outfit gift for Balinese friend, new tee shirts, Leatherman tool, most first aid items and the first aid kit container, etc. Left behind: bug spray, Cipro prescription (!), sting ease (whatever that is).

My friend has CSA travel insurance which will cover up to $1,000 loss, also she has mentioned coverage from her MC Platinum. The Eva people at DPS (who are contract, I believe) have told her she can make her "missing items" report when she gets ready to leave Bali --- and I advised her to go to the airport to do it immediately and she did submit an initial �missing items� report the day after she received the missing bag.

All right, flyertalk experts, any comments? I used to work for CO and have some experience in baggage service, so I advised her on a few points. Fortunately, my friend didn�t have anything like jewelry or other valuables in the bag. She is going to be gone for over a month, so just couldn�t pack everything (like the first-aid kit) in her carry-on.

Does anyone have knowledge of organized baggage pilferage on this routing, with these airlines? I know LHR used to have major problems, but haven't seen anything about TPE and DPS. I'm highly suspicious of the baggage delivery service at DPS, the "taken items" were odd and it was extremely weird that they didn't steal the Cipro.

I'm making the same trip PHX-LAX-TPE-DPS on May 25th, so this really has me in a high state of concern. I�ve already decided to take/check my husband�s Atlantic hardside �vault� suitcase, rather than my new softside Skyway (bought at great discount price from ebags.com).

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments from veteran Asian travelers.

You know, I've always wondered what I would do if this happens.. the airline allowance per bag is ridiculously small. Hell, one outfit could max that out. So where do you get the additional coverage? I think I have some on our Amex plat card, but I wonder if your homeowners kicks in?? Think about it - if you were going for say, a couple of weeks, and you had some dressy functions to attend, you could easily have $5000 or more in the contents. I always carry my makeup and my good jewelry - one is too much of a pain to replace quickly and the other couldn't be replaced. But I've worried about my good frocks.

Anyone know?

my (two days late) delivered luggage (misdirected in SYD) in sep-1999 in HNL was also opened and I did miss chocolates, two swiss army knives and my world-band-SONY-wireless receiver. I did report the missing items to NZ but they never replied. After the trip my LH people in ZRH (they did ticket this Star-rtw-trip) first tried to 'convince' their StarAlliance partner NZ to recompensate me (or to, at least, give me an answer) - but to no avail - finally LH Zurich just paid the bill.

My coverage (after the airlines responsability, I think that is, or was, a max of $1'2'00?) would be another SFr 10'000 from my home-insurance (for items anywhere in the world, except jewelry and cash) and 'some' coverage also from my Diners Club Card (if the ticket has been paid with Diners, I think that coverage is a max of SFr 400).

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 05-10-2002).]

It could get worse:

http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/05...y_upgrade.html

...

� Will bags be opened for testing without the owner present?

Airport officials locally and nationally have other questions, too, such as whether passengers should leave bags unlocked so they can be scanned more thoroughly by the smaller machines, and who should pay liability insurance � airlines or the government � to protect against theft.

Federal officials won't answer questions about procedures, but say they're aware of issues created when machines are located where passengers are not present.

In many contries, any unaccompanied luggage entering will be opened by customs. Since it is unaccompanied, you have no way of knowing what they do when "inspecting" you luggage.

I had a similar experience in Kiev a few years ago. My luggage did not make the LHR-LGW connection and I arrived in Kiev sans-luggage. The next BA flight to Kiev was two days later. When reporting the lost bag on arrival at KBP, I had to give them the key to the pad lock and the combination to the other lock. The key and the pad lock were returned inside the suit case when I finally received my bag two days later (for a four day stay).

However, many of the gifts we had taken for our Ukrainian hosts were missing. Even things like a large bottle of shampoo (expensive to purchase in Ukraine), chocolates and clothes were gone.

We were warned not to make any claims in Ukraine, but wait till we returned to London and claim against BA who were the agents responsible for delivering our luggage to us in Kiev. Claiming the customs agents in KBP were theives or corrupt could jeapodise our departure, and you don't want to be on the wrong side of the law in a country like that.

The total value of good missing was probably less than US$30, but all the things were intended as gifts and we eventually had a very reduced set of things to give to our hosts.