Hi -
I'm a newbie here so please forgive any blunders. I have questions regarding Southwest and lost luggage. What happens if you purchased an item on your trip and the receipt is in the lost suitcase? Not too smart but never having been in this situation, never gave it a thought. Southwest states they "may" require receipts but does that mean you have no legal rights if you don't have them? My luggage has been missing a month so don't think it will be found. Would appreciate any help available, especially with avoiding pitfalls in the process. Also, how do they calculate depreciation on everything?

Thanks

There's Southwest forum under "Miles and Points."

Not having receipts doesn't mean that you have no legal rights. It just means you don't have much leverage to get an amount or a higher amount in your favor.

It seems to me that the requirement is to provide "documentation" but they don't define what that is precisely and with their statement of "may" require receipts, I wonder how they can legally deny a claim if you don't have them. It isn't as if they have a sign posted or it printed on your ticket that you might not want to check your luggage if you don't have receipts in the event they lose your luggage. Seems a bit ridiculous to me. I will try the other forum for info. but any suggestions are valued.

Thank you

There are no pitfalls in the process.

You did let them know your luggage was lost at the airport?

That's good! They told me (after I reported it was missing and they looked at me like I was interrupting them) it would likely arrive on the next flight so I came back to the airport only to find it wasn't there. Southwest was never upfront about the process and only told me 5 days after it was lost that I could be reimbursed up to $100 for items I needed. Didn't tell me until 3 weeks later that I could be an additional $25 for toiletries. I live 3 hour from the airport so I had to mail my receipt for the $100 and it took them 3 weeks to send me the check for 1/2, which they also failed to tell me. If I had known that, I would have bought $200 worth of things I needed. This process is unreal with all the info they want. Of course, they want you to believe they are going to take list of items you give them and go thru all the lost luggage looking for luggage containing the items you list. What a joke!

I'm just hoping I can deal with the issue of the receipts since I shop a lot while traveling as I live in a rural area where shopping is limited.

Thanks.

Did you not ask them for the lost bag procedure when you were at the airport?

Never having lost any luggage before and after being assured my Southwest that my luggage would be FedEx'd to me at home within two days, I didn't know to ask for anything other than proof that I had reported the luggage as missing. They certainly didn't offer me anything to help with the process so this ordeal has been strictly on a "need to know basis" by Southwest. I guess they figure the less you know the better for them, which is why I'm trying to learn now before I get any further in the process.

Anyone with any experience with a lost luggage claim with Southwest? I would love to know how things turned out and if you had problems.

Thanks again.

Southwest sent me a form which describes what's in the luggage and require me to take the form to notary public. They also has a pretty tough statement saying that if I lied, they will take it to court. The form also requires a lot of personal information, including my occupation, my *SSN*, date of birth, etc. In small prints they say they will only reimburse me depreciated value of the things that I have lost by them. In the lost luggage receipt, they said that they will not be responsible for almost everything, including electronics, business samples, negotiable document, etc etc which leaves only clothings that is reimbursable I would say.

My impression for the whole lost luggage claim procedure is that they don't want to pay for the things that is lost by their unreliable system.

I never thought of this when flying low-cost. Next time when UA or AA offers similarly priced tickets (usually it is about $10-20 higher on the routes that I fly), I will think twice if I would want to fly Southwest. Also, the miles too.

As a side note, on other major airlines, if a luggage involves connections, they have computer which track the progress of the luggage. Last time I flied AA, they know my luggage missed connection at ORD on YYZ-ORD-SAN route.
On the route that I lost my luggage (BUF-MDW-SAN) on Southwest, they don't even know where the luggage is lost. I think the chance of recovering a lost luggage is lower on Southwest than other airlines.

My 2 cents...

I don't think my luggage will be found after this much time. It's been 3 weeks. My flight was non-stop from Phoenix to Burbank so how they lost it is beyond me. I think it went on an earlier flight as I arrived at the airport early and because Burbank's baggage claim is outside, anyone could have walked up and taken it when they saw it sitting there unclaimed. No one watches or checks to see if you are taking the right luggage. I will never check my luggage early again!

I fly Southwest to see grandchildren because AmericaWest has a lousy on time record and I'm only taking a one hour flight but sometimes I stay for 10 days so I can't avoid checking luggage (especially when I bring gifts for my grandchildren). I just don't think this process should be so stressful.

My big issue is the receipts they state they "may" require. Where do they tell you that you will need receipts before you fly if they lose your luggage. They want "documentation" but don't elaborate as to what that is. My interpetation is that "documentation" is my filing out their claim form and giving them a list of items that were in the luggage. I don't see how they can legally require something that is listed only as "may be required".

Am I off base here?

Thanks