You will find that most of the time you are able to pick up your luggage off of the carousel right on schedule without a problem. Then there are those times when you find that your luggage did not travel with you and no one seems to know where it is and how to find it.  You go to the window and they assure you that your luggage will be coming in on the next flight or you will be notified as soon as it arrives. Then you know your luggage is somewhere not to be found in mystery land. You should also know that the airline is under no obligation to do anything more than the bare minimum to help you obtain your luggage. You need to know what the bare minimum required by the airlines is and how you can get them to do more to help you find your baggage.

First thing you should do is when you discover that your luggage is not on the carousel is try to beat the crowd to get to the lost luggage claim counter where you will find that there are more people who are in the same situation as you and only one clerk working the area. You will find that it will take you at least an hour to file a claim. The last airline to fly you is the airline that is responsible for your luggage.  When you get to the counter you will discover that your luggage is either delayed or missing at that point if it is only delayed 99% of the time the airline knows where your luggage is and you will eventually be able to claim it. Unfortunately, if it is missing then keep track of the different flights that you were on but remember the last flight is the one held responsible to help you find your baggage.

Many times the clerk will tell you not to worry your luggage will be here within an hour or two. Please don’t take that statement as fact ask them to confirm the whereabouts of your luggage in the system, that it is currently loaded onto the proper flight or due to be loaded on that flight. You know that they are just making it up as they go along if they have not keyed in your tag number and paged through a screen or two.  In the worst case scenario the clerk cannot find your luggage and it is truly lost then you will need to file a claim. Try not to despair but remember when you are packing do not ever put anything of real value in your luggage to send ahead.