[Captain33]

3 October 2023 at 4:02:54 #830862

Our trip to Switzerland starting Sunday 24th September was not auspicious. We flew from Sweden via Hamburg to Zurich on Eurowings. The four of us arrived but only one suitcase made the flight. The Lost and Found [LaF] said we had made the transfer between planes too quickly at Hamburg, as if it was our fault and not the airlines/baggage handlers, but our luggage would be there the next evening after 8pm. No offer to deliver it to our hotel and no phone number to contact LaF. So my daughter and I [my wife was on crutches and granddaughter elected to stay at hotel with her] caught the train back to the airport at 8pm to be greeted by the LaF person who announced your “bag is here”. Only it wasn’t our bag and there should be three bags, not one. After he consulted his computer and rang Hamburg he said they would be there in the morning, by 8am. We were there at 8.30am but our luggage wasn’t. Long story short, we made 5 trips to LaF and the luggage arrived late on the third night. We met other people who had been missing their luggage for more than 5 days. The reception people at out hotel were not at all surprised. It seems that airlines in general and Eurowings in particular are misplacing luggage over Europe.

Be advised to pack in your carry-on enough underwear and toiletries to see you through at least 3 days. Because of this stuff-up our planned itinerary for Switzerland was severely curtailed. It was not so upsetting for my wife and me because we have been there a few times before but it was the first trip to Europe for our daughter and her daughter. They enjoyed the stay but it could have been so much better.

I am in no way blaming Switzerland or its people for this. It’s obviously a major problem in many European air services.

[Anna]

3 October 2023 at 5:26:22 #958676

Hi Captain33,

I’m sorry this happened to you on your trip to Switzerland. The airline is responsible to transport your luggage safely and you are entitled to a compensation if your luggage goes missing. Please contact the airline directly and request for compensation.

We appreciate you writing and sharing your experience. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay despite this inconvenience.

Regards,

Anna

[EASW]

4 October 2023 at 3:13:13 #958677

So sorry for your experience! Air carriers in the U.S. have similar issues. A few years back my family and I flew from Houston, Texas to Washington DC on a nonstop flight. There was a mechanical problem with the luggage conveyor belt and none of our suitcases made the flight. My husband and son’s suitcases were delivered to the hotel the next morning, but my bag wasn’t recovered until three days later. The lost luggage reps insisted they had no idea where it was, but when my husband and son drove out to Dulles Airport, they found it sitting out with hundreds of other suitcases.

I agree—people should make sure they have medications and other essentials in their carryon and I would also recommend putting a tracking tag on their luggage, so that they know where it is.

[Captain33]

4 October 2023 at 3:53:41 #958678

Hi EASW, Interestingly, the person at LaF confirmed on his computer each time that our bags were still in Hamburg. There was obviously some real problems with the airport baggage system. At the Zurich LaF there were huge numbers of bags waiting to be retrievedand we had a report from a friend that her daughter’s luggage was “stolen” at Paris airport somewhere between the check-in point and the airplane! Our hotel reception staff said they had new clients every day with the same problem as ours. Funny, none of the travel brochures are highlighting this feature!

Cheers, James

[Yolanda]

4 October 2023 at 8:57:31 #958679

Hi James,

How very unfortunate and frustrating that this happened to you and a friend’s daughter. I can imagine it can dampen a trip. Very unlucky and annoying indeed. I agree, it’s not mentioned in any travel brochure!

That’s a very good tip, to keep essentials in hand carry. EASW, in reading. Likewise a good tip to have your essentials and medication in hand carry too. Thank you both.

Glad to hear, as much as it was an unnecessary event, you managed to have a pleasant trip here.

Kind regards,

Yolanda

[Captain33]

5 October 2023 at 1:32:40 #958680

Hi Yolanda, I should also mention that, and this is nobody’s fault [except maybe optimism on our part], we thought that purchasing our Travel Passes would be still okay because our luggage would turn up early on Monday, as we were promised. It didn’t and my daughter and I had to travel to the airport twice a day [because we were assured our luggage would be there in the morning and then “Oh not here, but it will be here this afternoon”].

So we had bought passes for three of us {our granddaughter was 12 and so free] but only really used them on Thursday to travel to Lucerne, which, by the way, was the ONLY time they were checked. Fair bit of money wasted on that purchase.

I should warn people that if you have a young child and you’re planning on a free pass for him/her, be prepared to argue your case if, because of your divorce, he/she has a different surname to you on her passport. The train people at Zurich were reluctant to accept that this could happen and it was only because our daughter had her Australian Medicare Card showing her daughter listed with a different surname that they proceeded with the card.

Many lessons learnt for us!

Cheers, James

[Yolanda]

5 October 2023 at 6:16:33 #958681

Hello again James,

You certainly have had your fair share of ‘adventure’. I hope you have all ‘recovered’ from everything – next time you travel, it will all be smooth sailing!

That’s noteworthy in regard to the Swiss Family Card experience you had – thank you.

Kind regards,

Yolanda

[traveljet]

9 October 2023 at 10:08:13 #958682

Hi James

So sorry to hear about the hiccups at the start of your trip. Lost or delayed luggage can be such a pain indeed and this seems to be quite common after the lifting of Covid travel restrictions. Apparently many of the luggage handling services are farmed out to 3rd parties and not really under the airlines unlike before. Now the advice is to give plenty of time to change planes when doing a transit – eg 3-4hrs for those transiting through airports which tend to be busy eg Frankfurt, Hamburg, Paris, Heathrow etc.

Hope you had travel insurance and managed to claim expenses and for baggage delay.

I think that is why I find more people hauling their cabin bags etc and taking up alot of space in the cabin storage bins with several bags. Some airlines don’t bother to check the number of bags and packages brought on board.

Agree that we need to pack essentials in the carry-on to last at least 2 days in case. Some toiletries can be bought at the supermarket but important like a jacket which we need if the weather is cold, medication as mentioned and phone charger etc.

Given the possibility of being tied down because of lost luggage, there is a plus point to only buying the Travel Pass upon arrival. Except there is no possibility of making extra paper copies.

Thank you once again for highlighting the issues we should all be aware of.