Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

BA are a huge bunch of tossers.

133 replies

TheSlowRush · 29/05/2023 18:03

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?

OP posts:
HundredMilesAnHour · 30/05/2023 18:46

@TheSlowRush I don't understand why you have no medication if you can get one month at a time and you were only away 4 days? Did you take the whole month's supply with you? (or maybe it's liquid so can't be split?) I really don't understand why you put it in your checked luggage. What if you were delayed? I always carry my prescription medications with me - if it's liquid, it's exempt from the liquid rules at security as long as it's in the original prescription packaging. They just look at it and nod you through (or in some countries check it against their list of allowed drugs first).

TheHateIsNotGood · 30/05/2023 18:56

Ok - the OP knows she's made some mistakes so let's not beat her up anymore about it. I hope you get re-united with your bags soon, but be persistent OP.

And, this 'air tag' thing seems a very good idea, although I'm a non-roaming mobile person when on holiday, the 'air tags' does seem one of the better uses of IT.

Grapefruitsquash · 30/05/2023 18:58

Prettypaisleyslippers · 30/05/2023 11:42

It’s awful, happened to me once, my luggage arrived on the last night of my holiday, my outbound flight went onto another airport after I got off (so also a pretty bad security incident !) You can claim for emergency toiletries and clothing from the airline, you should have shopped and kept receipts. also your travel insurance will cover delayed baggage.

You should get it back, success rate of return is high.

I'm sorry this happened to you but it's not even remotely a security incident.

Vitriolinsanity · 30/05/2023 19:02

I promise it's not new. Has happened many times with BA dating back 20 years, which is why we no longer use them and why we always cross-pack so if a bag gets lost it's not the end of days.

Vitriolinsanity · 30/05/2023 19:03

You will get it back OP. Just at a time that suits BA and probably about 5 minutes after you've given up.

justsayingthat · 30/05/2023 19:18

Not helpful for PP now, but I have bought Apple air tags to put in each of our suitcases for this reason!

At least if one doesn't turn up, I can see where it is on my phone. When I travelled recently, I could literally see it moving round the baggage carousel on its way to me Smile

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 30/05/2023 19:21

I had this with Ryanair. I had to fill out an online form (which it sounds like you did) and then got the runaround for days. I was told the bag was in Barcelona and then abother

NeverendingCircus · 30/05/2023 19:22

JMSA · 29/05/2023 18:42

They have gone downhill for sure.

Hope you get your bag back.

They really have. They are a shit no frills airline pretending to be reliable when they are no better than Ryanair. I recently flew with them - a six hour flight. No food at all, one tiny bottle of water, no tea or coffee, no inflight entertainment, unheated cabin, no blankets. Just grim. Even the captain didn't bother to let us know how the flight was going and the air stewards barely interacted with us, just sat in their little cubicles.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 30/05/2023 19:23

Posted by accident.
Then the second time I was told it was in Edinburgh.
My mother in law who'd been on holiday with me called and called and called and we eventually traced it and then mil arranged for it to come to Glasgow and she picked it up.

You will get it back but you need to really badger them. You can also go to the warehouse and have a look for it

weightymatters73 · 30/05/2023 19:27

🤔ALL my bags now travel with Air Tags inside. I can see where they are most of the time (although someone has to pass near them with a phone for them to ping off....)

When DH's last bag was lost, we could see it was still sat outside on the tarmac 1.5 hours after the plane landed - other people were reporting their bags as lost, and leaving - DH showed them the air-tag tracking, got an eye roll and "we hate air tags" - The bags appeared an hour later when he told them he would go out and get it if they didn't....

Also remember it's not BA its the baggage people who are often separate...

gibegobble · 30/05/2023 20:00

I fly with BA next week on a connecting flight, I'm so nervous after reading all this and have ordered some air tags!

QuizzlyBears · 30/05/2023 20:20

TheSlowRush · 30/05/2023 18:40

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.

It sounds very stressful, but there’s an element of personal responsibility here - definitely around your lack of insurance and forethought in packing your medication in the hold at least. Hard lesson learnt, I hope you get it back soon. Have you got any random insurance policies - like through your bank account or something? - that might help?

TheCave · 30/05/2023 20:22

I always take emergency clothes and toiletries including medication and glasses in my cabin bag. Often when things get lost you are reunited within 24 hours so I focus on what I would need to not have my first 24 hours spoilt (so beach holiday = underwear, maxi dress that can work for day and evening, swimwear, sandals, essential toiletries (deodorant, toothpaste and brush and makeup), glasses and contact lenses)). If the bag is still missing after 24 hours then emergency packing won't help much but better than nothing!

And definitely spread stuff equally between hold luggage so you've got enough for 3-4 days minimum per person in each case

SwedishDeathClearance · 30/05/2023 20:31

Precipice · 30/05/2023 17:50

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.

Show quote history

BA dont handle the luggage though?
There is loads of information about what to do with lost luggage on the BA website and through google

Precipice · 30/05/2023 20:55

BA have a responsibility for your luggage. Your contract is with BA and you have paid through BA for the right to take your luggage from your destination to your arrival point. The fact that BA then shifts the practicalities of getting your luggage from the check-in desk to the plane onto airport baggage staff doesn't mean that BA's responsibility stops at the point where BA staff no longer have the luggage (which is about a minute after you no longer have the luggage). If BA have lost your luggage (it's not at the arrival point where it should be at the time when you are at the arrival point, having disembarked from the same plane that the luggage should have disembarked from), BA has a duty to sort it.

GimmeSleep · 31/05/2023 08:25

Can anyone recommend an alternative to airtags for those of us that don't use Apple please? 😀

Peridot1 · 31/05/2023 08:51

Leolly · 30/05/2023 18:08

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!

You couldn’t have gone to Target or similar and stocked up on some basics?

Peridot1 · 31/05/2023 08:53

GimmeSleep · 31/05/2023 08:25

Can anyone recommend an alternative to airtags for those of us that don't use Apple please? 😀

I think there are some but not sure of the brands. I got our Apple ones from Amazon so maybe if you look for electronic luggage tags on there you will find some.

Leolly · 31/05/2023 08:58

Peridot1 · 31/05/2023 08:51

You couldn’t have gone to Target or similar and stocked up on some basics?

Show quote history

I was 7 months pregnant - didn't want to spend money on clothes I'd be out of in a couple of months. And it's possible we did go somewhere like that to get clothes for dh - as I said, it was many years ago now.

Grapefruitsquash · 31/05/2023 10:47

GimmeSleep · 31/05/2023 08:25

Can anyone recommend an alternative to airtags for those of us that don't use Apple please? 😀

For Samsung phones there's Samsung Smart Tags. They work brilliantly except on a recent trip the one in DH's case took a few minutes to connect on arrival and we had a moment when it still showed in Heathrow. They (like the iphone ones) work by picking up someone nearby with a Samsung phone so it's not always instant but that's the first time it's happened.

OpalescentFly · 31/05/2023 10:57

I've had baggage 'lost' with BA, American Airlines, AerLingus and KLM. It's always turned up eventually.

Madcats · 31/05/2023 13:01

GimmeSleep · 31/05/2023 08:25

Can anyone recommend an alternative to airtags for those of us that don't use Apple please? 😀

I was going to suggest Tiles and found this listing of products:

https://uk.bestreviews.guide/luggage-trackers?

BodegaSushi · 31/05/2023 18:58

DorisParchment · 30/05/2023 11:02

A friend of mine was made to check in her bag at the gate. It had all her cancer meds in and her doctor’s notes. That was a month ago and it hasn’t been seen since. We think it was nicked from the conveyor as it wasn’t a cheap bag. They wouldn’t let her take anything out of it at the gate, just insisted she check it in.

If you are asked to check in your bag at the gate, they do target women for this(and specifically women over 40) as they are more likely to agree.

'I need to remove my life-saving medication before you check that' surely does the trick? They can't risk you being ill on the plane

BodegaSushi · 31/05/2023 19:02

Of course if people were paid decent wages they wouldn't probably nick stuff.

Oh yes, that's why there's never been a case of wealthy investment bankers defrauding people out of millions 🙄

Only the poor steal

BodegaSushi · 31/05/2023 19:10

Seashor · 30/05/2023 16:52

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.

Twat of the Thread Award is in the post.

OP also had prescription medication in there.

And how would you manage without no clothes? You are aware that not every country has a wide variety of appropriately sized/affordable clothing for you to just go and restock?