Lufthansa lost baggage - how to best handle it

Lufthansa still has no located one of my bags from the SFO - MUC routing (others beware) and so I am without some essential stuff for however long it takes. Any tips or suggestions how to bitch and moan to Lufthansa? What can I get in addition to replacement of everything lost? upgrades? flight vouchers? what has your experience been?

guess u can spend upto 1000 bucks (max for lufthansa)..i would say go spend it and let those bitches pay for it afterwards...moaning would not help cos. they are also trying to locate ur laguage as fast as possible to minimize ur spending ( which u should prevent at all costs )

that sounds like a subversive plant from a lufthansa employee

Malinee, sorry to hear about the lost baggage. Lufthansa (and many other airlines as well) have lost/delayed my baggage. Lufthansa usually got them to me here in Munich by the end of the day, United and most other major US carriers overnight in the US, only Southwest has lost my luggage for a significant period of time. Lufthansa gave me 100 euros for temporary necessities on arrival in Munich but that was after I had spent 7 HOURS stuck on a runway. As all my luggage has always been returned to me, I've never had to file a claim.

If you're really strapped and pissed you should try and get the official version of the EU rules on passenger rights . From what I've read it's targeting flight delays, overbookings and cancellations, but there may be something for you in the fine print.

Also, for additional info or comiseration check out the folks at Flyer Talk.

Malinee ...LH will compensate under EU law ...


and this is here, i believe, 'auf englisch'...

Lufthansa Info & Service

worth talking to them before you go out on a spending spree ..and nope i don't work for LH but I do have to deal with them..

good luck !!

I travel more than most people and I must have easily taken 200-250 flights in nearly 40 countries in my life. It is so bizarre that I never had a lost luggage or a delayed flight. I just don't know why cuz I hear these travel horror stories all the time.

Wish I could help you. Best of luck.

Roots, you are one lucky SOB and man you have got to have racked up the miles.

Malinee, I have the address and the phone number somewhere around here for lost and damaged luggage. I could look for it, but you can simply call their free number and get it. They are actually very nice about it. When my luggage was delayed and damaged, I got over €800 worth of replacement stuff. The only thing that they could not replace was the film that I tool of my sister's wedding. I could have bitched more and gotten a voucher or an upgrade or something, but I figured three brand new very expensive bags was good enough.

With no personal experience of losing luggage, I can't give anything extra to above, BUT I bet the customer sevices people (or whoever) seeloads of people ranting, raving crying etc so just stay calm, smile and be pleasant.
Chances are they will be more co-operative and helpful if you keep your cool but throw everything at them knowing what you are entitled to.
The more you know the less chance they have of fobbing you off.

Lufthansa lost my luggage once, if you call the number they give you and tell them you need some "essential" stuff which was in the bag, they have to give you a budget for replacement gear. Then, if they really lose your bag (I think there's a limit of 2 weeks after which it is officially "lost", even if they find it later), then they pay you a certain amount per kilo up to a limit.

But don't g shopping until you've called and put it on record that you need stuff and they've OK'd it. It took me a year to get the cash back, even then (but mine was complicated, they messed up my internet booking so I was claiming the flight cost back, too).

Oh! And if writing a complaint, do it fast. There's some convention which says if you complain after 1 month or something, it's not valid. I got scrwed by Air France going to Cuba last year, they lost my luggage and were generally shit... I sent them a huuuuge letter a few weeks later when I had time, and they totally ignored it. Not a bean.

I'm ex-Lufthansa (Systems, not Saftschupfer or Ground Crew) and frankly if you heard the shitty comments and grief those people get, you'd be surprised that they don't lose more stuff (but on purpose).
Are you prepared to help someone who is being shitty to you?
No, me neither.
The LH info above (in post 4 & 5) is good, but we all have different concepts of what is essential. Make sure that what you think is essential comes under the realms of possibility (you can't have a lost Delsey bag and expect to get Louis Vuitton), get a budget limit and keep all receipts.

Is that the German for "trolley dolly" ?

(Hunkiest ones seem to be on British Midland IMVHO)

Just to add my own experience of LH lost luggage...

I came over here from Edinburgh via London back in 2003 to attend a conference. I arrived without my luggage, which had various essential bits and bobs (like my poster, my laptop charger...) I spoke to the lady at the desk when I arrived and was given a lost luggage number etc. -- at this point I was hoping it would just arrive and be taxied to my hotel.

Of course it didn't, and I phoned them and told them I needed some clothes. They then told me that I could spend up to about 100 E on replacements. The number was suprisingly small -- all to do with how many "International currency units" or similar jargon per kilo of luggage you had checked in. They would pay half of replacement outer clothes, 75% of underclothes, 100% of toiletteries (or some similar fractions, I don't recall the exact numbers).

The bag turned up about 2 weeks later in London, and came up to Edinburgh to be taxied to my house. LH were very efficient about reinbursing me.

I now fly with KLM rather than LH, and they seem to have a much larger allowance, around 1500 E. Whether this is just their company policy or all airlines have increased I don't know... but you really should check. The other source of funds would be travel insurance, but if you make a claim both they and the airline will want to know how much each party gave you.

Yes grtho, that's the German word for "trolley dolly" (a "juice tipper") as told to me by LH FRA ground crew.
BMI have a very handsome male crew, bmibaby have fat old trundlas.

A friend told me once about her mum was travelling with her father to NY where the luggage got lost. They had some gold credit card which paid for a lovely evening dress as they were going to the opera (she didn't tell me whether they bought the tickets that day or whether they had planned it before). So if you've got a credit card that includes an insurance like that it might be worth checking out what they pay

Delta lost our luggage between MUC and Boston - actually, it was in Paris, of course. And it was at Christmas and they new there was a problem with the luggage control systems before we even got on the flight in MUC. We arrived on Sunday, Dec 23 - no luggage - we waited until Saturday morning - almost a week! Of course we had no clothes except what we were wearing plus a change of underwear. Delta gave us far less than what we asked for(full re-imbursement of expenses). 5 days! Completely unacceptable.

Sorry to be pissy but the compensation level is fixed by international treaty your acceptance of which forms a part of the terms and conditions of the ticket you bought. Basicly if you don't think the airlines offer you enough compensation in the event that they lose your luggage: swim.

That is indeed being pissy. I doubt that the International conventions are set by the consumers. We are reluctantly accepting these conventions, only by the knowledge that it is rare to lose your luggage. The rates they set are in no way indicative of the costs of the items. But then again, I doubt that many people itemize their items before flying, thus making it a balance of the propensity of the complaintant to lie and the airlines to reduce the high costs of losing the bags. The problem is that, if they didn't lose it in the first place, they wouldn't have to worry about the honesty of the complaintant.

I flew Germanwings in the summer and my bag got lost. Here in Munich everything is handled by Lufthansa, they gave me a number and I waited. As I had a job interview next day and there was still no sign of my luggage, I called them up. Lufthansa told me to contact Germanwings - Germanwings has a hotline and eventually after various conversations someone called me back and said 50% would be covered but my suitcase had been relocated in the meantime. My interview was in three hours, I called the LH woman and they had found my case, but couldnt send it with a taxi (20 min journey) on to me. She got annoyed when I tried to explain it would be cheaper and less hassle for us all and put the phone down on me.

As it was, I moved the interview to the next morning to be sure I would have my clothes (may have got the job if Id gone without ;-) and I wasnt going to fork out 50% for new clothes if my suitcase had turned up.

Afterwards I complained in writing about the rudeness of the LH lady to Germanwings but they never replied. And I am not rude, so it was totally uncalled for. Maybe the person before me had been awful but hey, I just wanted my stuff back and to go to my interview.

So, I have no advice how to handle this - cheap airline, not much customer service...as the partner airline LH didn't give a monkeys.

Yes people are right in that compensation levels are set by treaty but some peoples comments would be from the old Warsaw Convention from pre-war days which set amounts based on weight and those amounts were never changed so became vitually worthless (eg lose a 2 kg laptop and they pay you $30)
Now its the Montreal agreement that has a level of up to $850 per article lost (ie per bag) but you still have to prove whats in the bag.
Montreal is quite new. How many people have successfully claimed under that?

The Montreal Treaty is applied to European flag carriers under EU Order-Regulation EG 889/2002. Whatever one's complaints about the EU (and I have many ) the decision making process is democratic-ish and the EU has been chnapioning air passengers rights over the last few years to the annoyance of the airlines.

Yeah, well, when you get the complete runaround from the airline('your baggage should show up within the next 24 hours') for 5 days and it's Christmas and you have no clean clothes to wear, you do get pretty pissy. We went out and each bought a pair of pants, a couple of shirts, underwear, etc to get us through 5 days. I'm not shop at WalMart just to save the airlines some money. We were severely inconvenienced(I've had my luggage missed for 24 hours on so many occasions that I can't count - no biggie), 5 days of waiting. The airline should have been a little more accommodating.

Still have not received the bags from a Sunday flight - they are not very good about updating their online tracking system baggage.lufthansa.com - i am always civil with my bitching and moaning so please give me more credit than that. it has been quite an inconvenience as i no longer live in munich and am only here for a week...

This goes for everybody that has a legit claim, not you people whose bag turned up a day or two later and in good condition. The airlines will play the ring around the rosey game with you because they know that most bags will get delivered within 72 hours of being lost and without damage.
Now for you other folks, this is the time to bitch and in writing. Every letter that you send complaining has to be logged. All that counts against them. If your luggage is a week late or damaged don't stop bitching until your satisfied with the reimbursement for harm done. Now, don't go overboard either, you have to be realistic in your expectations of just compensation. It took me a year and a half of bitching to the airlines with a letter every couple of months (every airline denied responsibility as we were rerouted onto different airlines) to get any results. I learned this from a friend who has his lifelong (he is now 70ish) fishing pole lost and eventually returned in pieces. His wife sent letter after letter until the airlines caved and said what is it that will make you happy? They got first class tickets to Hawaii! The stupid rules about what something is worth are bogus and if you have been damaged by them loosing something like my film from my sister's wedding, or lost a job by postponing an interview or spent your entire vacation without your luggage, do not stop bitching until your realistic expectations of making it right are met. Period! Set a price in your head up front and go for it. Ruined vacation, then free tickets for the next vacation (similar destination) and in first class. Ruined luggage, then new luggage. Ruined job interview, then perhaps one free trip anywhere worldwide and in first class.
I just went to my mother's funeral last June and my luggage was delayed by two days. I took full advantage of the immediate expense account and bought nice clothes for the funeral. Shit happens, but don't complain until you have a reason and once you do, don't stop until your satisfied.
I have lived here going on 8 years now and 70% of my flights back and forth to the US have been a disaster. I dread each and every time that I go back, but only because of the flight. One time and one time only have I gone there and back without some major screw up from the airlines and that was on Delta. The others were KLM, USlessAir, Northwest(the worst), Lufthansa and United.
I complained so much to KLM about their association with Norhtwest that perhaps it had an effect.

is it just me - or is it amazing that someone quoted EU Order-Regulation EG 889/2002 in their response?

my mum visited me in August of last year and Lufthansa lost her suitcase, pain was that she was here for 4 days total, and her luggage turned up on the 3rd say of her trip! Was really annoying because once they had found the case they gave us a delivery time of between 9am and 5pm!! basically meant we had to spend a whole day of her holiday waiting around for her luggage...
plus, Air France lost my case once going back to France, they were really good about it tho and delivered it directly to my living room 2 days later! Not unusual it would seem, I have been warned by nearly every single French peson that if you travel via Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris your luggage is 99% guaranteed to go missing...so take a change of undies

My experience on getting luggage lost is like Roots': I have done a fair amount of flying but have never had anything go astray even for an hour. Nevertheless I always take things like a change of undies, socks, toothbrush etc. in my hand luggage. It tides you over the first 24 hours within which most misdirected luggage seems to turn up. And it's probably because I'm so wonderfully organised and do that that my luggage never goes astray. Inviting disaster now I am.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/index.php?op...4&Itemid=59

Hmm, the daily mash apparently contains humor and profanity and it is deemed that I am not allowed to look at it.

Thank you MB , Reminds me of a good joke I heard a while ago, but I can't rememeber it.

Monty Python's Flying Circus, I'm So Worried

Well, the good news is that lost baggage could become a thing of the past. Although this is still a long way away their appears to be some progress at least. They have done tests in the past and it appeared to just drop by the wayside but, who knows? Not sure if the still relatively high costs will allow significant progress to be made anytime soon.

Anyhoo, Emirates is doing an RFID test at Heathrow to see how it improves baggage tracking. The advantage with this technology is that it no longer relies on line of sight as is the case with the ever-againg barcode technology. The bags pass through scanner gates and are identified and routed accordingly. IF your bag, for whatever reason, does not make the right flight they can be tracked and located at any time.

You can also register your mobile phone number at the check-in desk to receive updates as to the whereabouts of your luggage. Now that could be interesting.

Story here