8 Things To Do When Your Baggage Is Lost At The Airport

Posted by srilankaeta on December 26th, 2017

After months of planning, packing and preparations, when you land on your favorite international destination only to realize that your baggage is missing, can send chills down to spine. Losing luggage is every traveler`s worst nightmare.

This can happen to anyone and reasons could be many. But most of the times, it happen within hours of landing at a new destination. But if you think wisely without getting panicked, you can handle a difficult situation like this. Just to help you in a difficult situation like this, here is a list of things you must keep in mind when in such a situation:

  1. Take few deep breaths and try to be calm. Every airport has a defined process for the missing and lost luggage. You can contact these ‘Lost & Found’ authorities on the airport. Fill up ‘Property Irregularity Report (PIR)’ form and keep a hard copy with you. Your insurance company will require it for further process.
  2. Always keep your boarding pass or journey proof, even after reaching your destination. In case of missing baggage, the authorities would need it to verify the travelling details. Also it will help them to identify your luggage and airline associated with your trip.
  3. At the time of claiming the baggage, always keep a government ID or passport with you for registering a complaint.
  4. To make things more clear, always provide accurate description of the baggage with unique identification mark if it has any while reporting.
  5. Once you realize your baggage is missing, contact the authorities immediately. The lost items are stored at the airport for a limited period of time which could extend up to 5 days before moving to some other location. After that it becomes state property o auctioned off.
  6. If you forget something on board, it is best advised to contact the airlines instead of airport authorities.
  7. While receiving your claimed luggage, don`t forget to show the PIR and collect received receipt as well from the authorities.
  8. If the baggage is not received at the destination airport, it falls under airport`s jurisdiction. It is a possibility that the luggage might have been delayed and not lost. If you don`t receive your luggage within 24 hours or the time specified by the airlines, there is a procedure to reimburse some amount of money by the airlines to help passengers purchase essential things.

Therefore it is always advised to get travel insurance when flying international. It not only ensures your luggage safety but also covers lost possessions, flight delay, trip cancellation and missed flights. So always keep your calm when encounter such a situation and follow the above mentioned guidelines. Do not let these setbacks stop you from enjoying your vacations.

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srilankaeta
Joined: December 15th, 2017
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