FlyerTalk Forums - Got it from ATA both directions!

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The ATA contract of carriage considers all liquids in checked luggage to be fragile items (Rule 190.C.3.) and according to 190.C.2. (emphasis mine):

Quote:

Fragile items (for examples see paragraph 3, this section) may be accepted if they are appropriately packaged or in an original factory sealed carton, cardboard mailing tube, or container or case designed for shipping such items or packed with protective internal material.

I take that to mean that the final say over taking the box as checked luggage lies with ATA.

I won't opine as to whether or not you even have a case against them (too many facts I don't know, only one side of the story, etc.) but I will give you this advice: let it go. Right now you are probably number 5,000 in line with a claim against ATA and, like it or not, no one is going to care about your 11 bottles of liquor against all of the claims from financial institutions and lenders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by planeluvr (Post 9558490)

Here is United's Policy

Code:

 Alcoholic beverages





Alcoholic beverages more than 70 percent by volume (140 proof) are 

not permitted onboard the aircraft.

1 bottle triple distilled Smirnoff Black label 100 proof

I believe the Smirnoff is/was the problem. The Booze would have probably flown without the Smirnoff.

But all is gone. SOL

I don't think you got it from them in both directions. You got it from them in one direction. The person who accepted the box made a mistake and their baggage handlers picked up on it.

You could have chosen to put the alcohol into your various suitcases, but you made the wrong decision and left it there. Airlines are setup to move bags from point A to point B. They are not locker facilities.

You also could have looked into this from the start. Posting on FlyerTalk after the fact is not nearly as effective as posting before you go. No doubt, you would have gotten 2 pages of advice from people.

In the end, you get what you pay for with budget carriers. You could have spent a little extra to get a ticket from a more full service airline and this probably wouldn't have happened. You could also just have chosen to buy the alcohol when you got there. I'm sure the price wasn't that much different.

I couldn't help but ask a question relative to Hawaii's aloholic beverage laws. In several US states you would have violated the law by attempting to import (asa non-licensed commercial entity) more than the amount of liquor allowable. Several states have "One Liter" laws, not enforced by the feds, and in Texas, at land crossings points from Mexico, residents are required to stop at the State ABC kiosks and pay the state tax, carrying no more than one liter per adult.

Obviously, the various state laws are intended to insure that you buy your booze locally where state tax will have been collected.

That doesn't excuse what happened to your booze-box in "ATA care & custody". Likely, made emotionally distraught by the news that their emplyment had been terminated, the ground staff consumed it, a depressant to avoid depression.

Things could be worse. You could still be in Hawaii (as in one media report of a family of four, all credit cards over-loaded, and for some reason unbale to find an airline willing to board them...).

Quote:

Originally Posted by cblaisd (Post 9558533)

Agreed. Unfortunate, but hardly "theft" imo, given what we know so far.

Maybe it's just me, but if I was working in the ramp crew (for a bankrupt airline at that) and was asked to "destroy" of a case full of expensive booze, I'd probably find a better way to dispose of it than flushing it down the toilet. Who'd know the difference?

Forget about it. The booze is gone, the airline is gone, and you won't ever see any money or recourse. Sucks, but it is what it is.