BA are a huge bunch of tossers.

[TheSlowRush]

Just been away for my siblings 50th birthday (they live abroad).

BA have lost my suitcase. I spent 4 days away, borrowing clothes from my sibling. The entire planes luggage got left in London, this was last Thurs.

This was not good for either of us as we are not the same size, and I had a lovely outfit for the party. Also had to keep washing the outfit I arrived in so I had something to wear. Had no make up, toiletries, medication, jewellery.m, clothes, underwear. This has caused me anxiety the entire trip and worrying about where all my things are, and spent a lot of time trying to get updates from BA which everyone I was with has got tired of.

I am now home and my suitcase is not. BA are doing fuck all other than directing me to their lost baggage tracker which has been updated twice, once when I reported it missing on Thursday and once today when my siblings address expired as the address for it to be couriered to.

AIBU to think this is not good enough, that’s my (and the whole planes) personal items and they should be doing their utmost to locate it, not just fobbing us on the the tracker?

Any Advice please?

I know you will probably consider this unhelpful, but I always double up on medication. Enough for the duration of the holiday in check in baggage and the same in carry on bag. Almost zero chance of being left without vital medication.

It doesn't help with past events, but worth considering for future flights.

Embarrass them on Twitter? I
Post pics of yourself in your siblings clothes.
DM constantly.
I badgered a company for 2 days straight on Twitter after they conned my teenager out of money. It worked. She got her money back.

I flew with BA in January - with carry on baggage only. Seemed like majority of other passengers had made the same decision. When we were boarding, the staff at the gate were trying to tempt people to check their bags on the promise of priority boarding. Only 2 or 3 people took them up on the offer and after reading this thread, I’m not surprised!

BA are falling to bits at the moment.

I am tweeting the Fuck out of them and have been for days and this seems to be the only effective way of getting anywhere.

You packed clothes I honestly can’t understand the drama and the ‘anxiety’ you’re feeling. I’ve had baggage not make my flight, including surf boards, it gets to me eventually by courier and if not I claim. I certainly don’t loose any sleep over it, no one died.

I waited in a phone queue during work hours for 2 hours to get through to BA during Covid to try and make changes to my flight as it wouldn't let me do it online. The only way I managed to get hold of somebody was to call the BA VIP line and it got answered in 2mins.

Their business class is fucking awful, melted chocolate all over the chairs, a media system that didn't work, food that was disgusting and tiny portions. Was only served two meals 10 hours apart. I refuse to ever fly with them again. Their planes are old and their service is shit.

Op I’m really sorry you are going through all this - it sounds a nightmare.
I’ve also packed medicine in checked in bags though I won’t in future after reading your experience.
Did you have to go to a doctor at your destination to get replacement medicine?
I hope it turns up soon.

Not useful now I know but for future - BA lost my dad’s suitcase but the smartie pants had an airtag in it. He was able to direct them to which terminal it was in and even roughly where on the tarmac - it was outside in a truck I think! I really believe he would never have seen it again otherwise.

They are the worst. An elderly family member flew BA long haul from Heathrow to us recently. They got on the flight in the evening and normally a meal is provided as supper quite late into the night. They then announced, sorry we can't serve the food as the heating/cooling was not working so it was against the law for them to serve the food. Ok no problem, they got drinks and snacks.

Roll on the morning where everyone is now meant to have breakfast. No can't have that either due to earlier issue. So everyone got a biscuit.

Family member is on quite a lot of medication and needs to take them after eating. So asks for another biscuit as needs a meal. Sorry, no more biscuits.

They had my email address for correspondence on on the return trip I received an email saying, oh sorry yeah we lost your luggage, here is what you need to do now.

And the delays! It is a standing joke that when anyone of us goes to the airport, we check the board to see how long the delay is. Not if there is a delay. As there is always a delay.

And that flight was full. Couldn't even swap a seat. Not clue why as they aren't the cheapest option either.

Do you usually have issues with empathy?
She packed clothing, makeup and jewellery. One item of make up alone £30. She has no insurance and no idea whether those things will find their way back to her or not. Understandably the OP is rather upset by this.

Someone doesn't have to die for people to be upset and anxious.

It's hardly unusual for luggage to go astray, to be fair. I fly at least monthly for work and mine's been lost/delayed 5+ times in the last 5 years. Last time was in January when I went to Canada, which was tricky due to most of my cold weather clothing being in the checked bag.

I never put medication in checked luggage unless I'm taking a full trip's worth in both hand luggage and checked luggage as a precaution. I always have at least a few items of underwear, toiletries, a fresh top, etc in hand luggage too.

That way I can always last until I have chance to buy more and claim it back later.

Oh, and it's complete madness to leave the country without travel insurance.

Lost luggage is one of life's little hurdles.

I don't know if this is true or not but I once read that sometimes when luggage is delayed it's because companies have paid for cargo space and it is more lucrative for the airline to use it for them and apologise to you for your inconvenience

1. She could have bought basics including new make up and clothes at BAs expense whilst away
2. She will get up to £1400 if they are permanently lost
3. She had no travel insurance

Not sure why BA is the baddie here?

It's really sad. BA used to be a great airline staffed by really dedicated people. Then they decided to join the race to the bottom, regular catastrophic "IT failures", baggage going all over the place, stroppy badly trained cabin crew. Sadly they still have the monopoly on routes I need to use so stick with them. Can't believe how they have dragged a great airline down like they have.

Agree with pp that airtags are helpful if they are saying they don’t know where it is because at least one of you does. Also you basically know if your suitcase is on the plane so can insist on deplaning if it’s not and you’re not prepared to travel without it. Guy did this at Manila and they found the bag rather than go through the hassle of deplaning him.

You're not sure why BA is the 'baddie' when they've misplaced OP's luggage? In this situation, BA is the one responsible for the fact that OP's belongings did not arrive with her to her destination and are still AWOL now. Even if OP had the most generous travel insurance in the world, paying out 1000 per item lost, BA would still be at fault.

You talk of 'the baddie', which suggests OP is it, whereas all OP did is not be aware that she could get refunds for items she bought for the emergency and not buy travel insurance. It sounds like she didn't know BA might have to pay her back, so that's on BA for misplacing her luggage and not informing her that she could get something at their expense for the duration.

Even if she had, unless you are the easiest shopper ever, who easily finds things that fit them well off-the-rack because they happen to be of the proportions that the manufacturers had in mind, who likes every fit and every colour and doesn't care particularly about the quality of the items, you're still on holiday with a quickly put-together wardrobe of shit things you dislike or tolerate rather than the clothing you actually have and like.

I will agree, however, that while some of this thread focuses on the make-up and cosmetics, that these are the least of the problem. Make-up and cosmetics are easily replaceable like-for-like. This is typically impossible with clothes, because unless they're things you've just bought, they're no longer being sold, so you will never find them again. I don't find it that easy to get clothes I like that fit me well, and I wouldn't be happy to receive 4.1k instead of my belongings, let alone 1.4k.

You're really selling air tags here! Are they that specific that you can tell if you're on the plane that they're still within the terminal?

(Mortifying if you claim your luggage hasn't been on-boarded, but it's actually there safe and sound and ready to go!)

@Seashor - and no one looses sleep. If you’re going to get snippy, at least get it right.

I'm sorry you're so stressed op, and I hope it all gets sorted out. It's horrible when you lose expensive stuff, or sentimental stuff, and it sounds like you've had a shit time lately anyway.

Many years ago dh and I flew to Florida. Our luggage never made it. I was 7 months pregnant at the time, and dh was 6' 6" so safe to say neither of us were easy to clothe.

Fortunately we were staying in my parents' apartment so I spent most of the time we were inside wearing one of my dm's half petticoat slip things pulled up. When we went out anywhere, I had to borrow clothes from some friends of my parents who had an apartment in the same block. Very kind of the friends - but the woman was 85 and let's just say her fashion choices were slightly different to mine :).

I can't remember what dh did but it was usually easier to buy clothes for tall large men in USA anyway so he probably benefited from some new things!

Everyone - you MUST NOT travel without travel insurance. Medical emergencies, accidents, loss of valuables/thefts, need to be repatriated (if medical, costs many tbousands), etc.

Not helpful now - but I always put a piece of paper in my luggage with my arriving address and return address on the other side. It's just something I learned to do from my dad, a commercial pilot.

It served me well not long ago when someone took my packed hand luggage - we had similar,scruffy bags - and it was a couple of days before they contacted my hotel. So now I also add coloured insulating tape to the handles of all my luggage; also makes for easier identification on the luggage carousel.

I use air tags when I travel and they're really useful to put my mind at rest. For example, after I've landed and I'm waiting for my bag to come out, I can see that my bag is in the same (arrival) airport as me (rather than the departure airport!) so I don't start fretting that my bag is lost/left behind when my bag isn't one of the first to appear. It means I'm very relaxed as I stand waiting by the belt. Worth every penny.

As an aside, I'm appalled to read that people still travel without having travel insurance. This is basic stuff, travel 101. The same as don't put your only prescription medications in your checked in bag. And if you have to take your medication with food, make sure you carry some food with you just in case. This isn't rocket science, there's an element of personal responsibility here too.

Lots of people blaming BA for things that are out of BA (or any other airline's) control on this thread.

I usually get insurance but I lost money on two I refundable flights and had to book a single flight home, at short notice, I was having a crap time and did not get insurance.

Of course the only time I haven’t got insured this happens for the first time.

I want my clothes and shoes and jewellery back more than anything. It is stuff I probably can’t replace, and my favourite clothes.

I cannot order more than a months worth of medication and can only order it after a certain date. I have now withdrawn from it and have requested a new prescription today. This will take a while and meanwhile I will have to deal with being in pain.

I am not at fault here - BA are.

Non refundable flights sorry .