San Gottardo

My luggage mis-connected on a FRA-DEN-MRY past Friday, where the luggage made it to MRY but I never did (delay coming into DEN, alternative routing to MRY would have made me miss the reason of my trip). UA re-ticketed me straight to my next destination, IAH, where I was going to go after MRY anway. But my luggage was still sent to MRY, where it now sits since Saturday morning. I filed a claim with UA in IAH, for delivery to my hotel in IAH. All good so far.

Now the problem starts: the luggage still sits in MRY (don't ask me why...), and I am leaving the country, to first go to MEX for less than 24 hours and then back to Europe. So I called UA baggage tracing to update the delivery address to my permanent residence in Europe. They say they cannot do it and that they will simply store my luggage in IAH. Reason: this is a "domestic claim" and cannot be changed. And this despite the domestic UA flights being part of one and the same booking as my flight going back to Europe.

Of course explaining to them that it's pointless to send and then hold lugggage in Houston when I am on a different continent is fruitless. They still insist (no comments on the level of absence of common sense, which comes in conjunction with "a supervisor can call you back in 24 hours" - basically when I am gone and it's too late to find a solution, 30 minute wait times on the phone, etc...).

Any ideas? If I go to IAH airport today, can I go to baggage claims and file a new report there, with delivery of my lost luggage in Europe? I don't care when it gets there, I just don't want it to be stuck in Houston when I have already left the continent. And I don't fancy the idea of making a trip to Houston just to collect a lost luggage only because the idi***s in MRY don't manage since two days to put my bag on a flight to where I am.

HNLbasedFlyer

Try the classic call and hang up again - try a supervisor - you may a uphill battle on this one.

Steve M

I don't know about "filing a new report," but I would go to the IAH baggage office with your current claim and explain the situation. They may be in a better position to help than the call center.

Hint: Be as friendly as possible when dealing with them. Consider what that job entails: every single person that walks into that office has a lost or delayed bag of some kind, and most are angry. If you treat them politely and like a friend who you want to enlist to mutually work on your problem, they're more likely to do the extra step that might be required to solve your problem.

San Gottardo

I have called three times. First two times was me calling and asking "what happens if I have to leave the country" / "no problem, we'll forward it to Europe". Thrid call "Now I need it to be forwarded to Europe"/"No can do, this is a domestic claim"/"Can I speak to a supervisor"/"I can't find one, he'll call you back in 24 hours"

And of course I was never called back.

I was even thinking of flying to MRY myself and just pick up the bag. It'll cost me some money and time, but that isn't the real problem. The problem is that I simply don't even trust their information that my bag is still in MRY. If it is, why isn't it just put on a plane since two days?

lincolnjkc

If you can visit a baggage service office they should be able to show you the scan history.

It is absolutely *possible* to slap a reroute label on it anywhere but there may be policy obstacles. It may have to get where it's going before it can be redirected again.

A few months ago I was flying XXX-EWR-CLE and the next day flying CLE-EWR-RIC. My bag never got loaded in EWR and the baggage service office couldn't just "redirect" it in EWR... Instead when my bag made it to Cleveland the Cleveland BSO called me, I told them I was already in Richmond and it made it to my by the end of the day with a REROUTE sticker on it (I think it ultimately came via IAD)

Now being an INTL flight may complicate things with customs but at least it shouldn't be a PPBM issue.

San Gottardo

lincolnjkc

FWIW, I've had baggage agents do the human equivalent of a computer crash when I've walked in with a smile and some chocolate.... It is both amusing and a depressing illustration of the human condition that such simple gestures are so unexpected... (I do make a point of stopping by the BSOs, ticket counters, etc. and thanking them for "making travel not suck"/"taking the travail out of travel" around the holidays, if nothing else. That has paid off karmatically in droves)

Kacee

In addition to the excellent advice above, this is a situation where a DOT complaint might get the attention of someone at UA who can resolve the problem.

redrob

Absolutely they have a responsibility under IATA regs to repatriate the baggage to you at whatever destination you end up at, i.e. Europe. If you've never been at the tagged destination at the same time as your bag, of course they need to redirect it. This has been common practice for at least 40 years that I know of. If they won't play ball now, report it as a missing bag once you get back home, using your original PIR (Property Irregularity Report) number (which needs to have your home address in it), and the full history should be clear to the baggage tracing agent. The bag tag should be in the system as being "On-hand" in MRY, so the agent will then request its forwarding to your home airport.
There should be no "policy issue" with any airline as it is their duty to reinstate a bag that has become separated from its owner. Nor should it matter if it is domestic or international if your full itinerary included both. MRY should just slap a full "Rush" tag on it, update the baggage tracing report with the new routing, and send it on its way. The only interaction that you should have with customs is when you collect the bag at your home city.
Good luck!

San Gottardo

Thanks for all the advice. The bag has now made it to IAH, after I have left.

Still trying to convince UA to change the delivery address, but the refuse, saying "it's a domestic claim" and "luggage cannot travel without pax internationally ". At least the second statement is complete BS.

If time and routing permits I'll stop in IAH on my way back to Europe and pick up the bag there. With all their inability to sort things, give wrong informatoin, etc I just don't have any trust in a process started from Europe which UA consideres finalised.

Really a very poor performance by UA:

PTahCha

Rather than fixating on the desired solution (i.e., changing the delivery address), perhaps OP should update the claim at FRA and let the agents there work through the internal red tape and figuring out how to get the bag back.

Often1

Why not simply update the delivery address and contact information in WorldTracer?

UA's practice is not markedly different than any other carrier. He is not yet back in FRA, so the bag goes to where he is. If he is no longer at IAH when the bag arrives at IAH, then on to FRA it goes.

mozilla

I've been wondering this for a while. Does anyone know what the procedure is on INTL itineraries when the unaccompanied bag still need to go through customs while the pax already did?

Does the pax need to go to the airport's customs office to pick it up? Or can he - either at his final destination or remotely - pre-clear customs for the bag by signing a "nothing to declare" form allowing the bag to be delivered straight to the pax' designated address? Or will customs assume the bag has goods that need to be declared and inspect/search the bag and bill the pax, much like regular courier/mail shipments coming in from abroad?

Kacee

The airline walks it through. They'll do this at a connection point if you misconnect as well.

chavala