Education Freestyle

Source: Associated Press

If an airline loses your luggage, you might want to think about going out first thing and buying a change of clothes after you’ve reported the loss.

But while airlines are required to reimburse passengers for clothing and toiletries in the event of a lost or delayed bag, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, getting that cash back may require persistence.

Many airlines’ contract of carriage — the contract between carriers and passengers — don’t specify clothing reimbursement in detail, but standard DOT policy demands they provide some compensation.

“Some airlines were declining for necessities, like clothing, needed immediately,” said Bill Mosely, spokesman for the DOT. “(Airlines) cannot limit them to only outbound flights or how soon they expect the bags to arrive.”

Mosely said some airlines also try to deny compensation to passengers for purchases made within the first 24 hours following the reported loss. But he said that’s a violation of DOT regulations. Passengers should be able to purchase necessities after they file a missing bag claim, rather than having to wait to see if the bag turns up.

“It’s not a new rule or new policy,” Mosely said. “We expect (airlines) to compensate the consumer for their loses.”

While the majority of checked bags reach their destination without incident, a total of 2,193,711 bags were reported mishandled by all airlines last year in the United States, with 188,254 reports filed in January alone.

A maximum liability of $3,300 for domestic flights can be claimed by the passenger should checked luggage be lost in transit. International limits are lower, roughly $100 for every kilogram (2.2 pounds) of luggage, for a maximum total of $640.

Passengers can buy excess valuation for luggage as secondary insurance. A dollar buys $100 worth of extra insurance on domestic flights, with a ceiling of $17 for $1,700 in coverage.

George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com, a consumer travel Web site, said the DOT has been much more aggressive with airlines over passengers’ rights under Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. According to Hobica, the department has been actively advocating on passengers’ behalf when demonstrating a need for necessities.

“You can’t just offer a tube of toothpaste and a pair of clean underwear,” he said. “You have to treat (passengers) more fairly.”

Note, however, that airlines are not required to refund baggage fees when they lose your bags.

While airlines are required to reimburse for clothing, the amount is negotiable. Hobica advises passengers to keep receipts for all clothing and personal items that they ever expect to take on a trip, since airlines will ask you prove the value of your clothing. “They won’t buy you a new wardrobe, but you are entitled to a change of clothes,” he said.

Mosely said the DOT has a hands-off approach on reimbursement rates. “How they arrive at their figure, we do not stipulate,” he said.

And even though passengers are entitled to recoup funds, don’t expect the airlines to fork over cash easily, said Anna Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com. Passenger confusion and frustration often work in the airlines’ favor. When customers don’t follow up claims, airlines benefit.

Sometimes airlines will also offer things like free movie downloads on your computer or air miles. But don’t expect the movie download to match the cost of your missing Armani suits you packed for that Monday morning business meeting.

There’s also no guarantee airlines will accept your claim.

On a recent flight from Los Angeles to New York City, my carry-on bag was checked at the gate last-minute and was then left at the connecting airport, Philadelphia.

By the time my luggage was delivered to me two nights later, I had bought a shirt to wear to work. I submitted a receipt but my carrier refused to compensate me for two reasons. One, I was an inbound flight passenger, and the airline said in a letter that passengers on the home leg of a round trip presumably have clothes at home; and two, my receipt for the shirt was time-stamped several hours after the airline logged in the delivery of my bags. I was not home to receive the bag on that first delivery attempt, however, so I am challenging the denial of the claim.

“Everything is extremely difficult for the consumer,” Banas said. “It’s up to the consumer to do all the legwork. They have to jump through a million hoops.”

In the event an airline denies a claim, Mosely suggests filing a claim with the Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement Office.

“If there are a pattern of complaints that indicate an airline might be violating DOT consumer rules, the department would investigate,” he said. “If we found there was a violation, they would take enforcement action.”

You can avoid these hassles altogether by not checking luggage at all. “If you’re traveling domestically, go to Kinko’s and send it ahead of time,” Hobica said. “It’s usually cheaper and easier to track.”

You can also reduce the likelihood of lost baggage by arriving early so there’s ample time for your luggage to be screened and sent to the correct gate, according to Susan Foster, author of “Smart Packing for Today’s Traveler.”

“Allow two hours,” Foster said. “Maybe have lunch in a real restaurant rather than taking some crappy food on a plane.”

Foster always packs a survival kit in her carry-on, including phone charger, medication, clean shirt and underwear, everything she needs to “hit the ground and do what I need to do.”

“I don’t want to miss a day,” she said.

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My Take: I recently flew from Ontario Canada to Houston and the airlines lost my luggage. It took more than a visit to the baggage claim office to get the ball rolling. In fact, you’d think I’d threatened to bring in an Ottawa fraud attorney by the way I was treated. My bag was never located and I had to spend a lot of money replacing my clothes, including my favorite lowrise jeans from Diesel. Now, I know you can buy low rise stretch jeans just about anywhere in Canada’s major cities, but the pair I lost fit me like a glove and I’ve never been able to replace them. I’d heard about the risks of getting an Ontario traffic ticket for simple things so I didn’t plan on driving there. I spent an entire day shopping around for new clothes to get me through what was supposed to be a five day vacation. Ultimately, I ended up spending about $500 on a few items that worked for the trip, but nothing will replace my Diesel jeans.

I have a friend who works as a personal injury lawyer in Columbia. She recently flew back from New York to her personal injury attorney law firm and the airline she chose lost her luggage. Instead of repaying her for the value of the luggage and its contents, they gave her a $200 Visa gift certificate to use toward the purchase of some new clothes. As she pointed out, that barely covered the cost of her luggage and, had she been a high-powered Houston construction accident lawyer she might have been able to replace a tie with that amount of money.

I think the best advice is to arrive early so the check in procedure is not as hectic and the chances of your distracted baggage claim representative losing your stuff by putting it on the wrong plane are not so great. Let’ face it: We are all human after all, which means that we often have “other” things on our minds besides the job in front of us. We can be working on a research project on the origins of the Halloween costume and suddenly find ourselves investigating airfare to Mexico. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with Halloween, but if you do get caught researching adult costumes while you’re supposed to be working on other things, you might want to re-think your focus level.

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