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American Airlines Destroyed My Checked Bag - what would you do?
Posted on 6/3/25 at 12:11 pm
Posted on 6/3/25 at 12:11 pm
Sorry - long story.
Returned from Europe to a city in the NE part of the US. Flight to our home airport that evening was canceled so had to take an alternate flight which got us 3 hours from home late that night. Had to pay for hotel rooms and arrange ground transport home the next morning.
Because of flight change, our checked bags did not make it with us. Within 3 days 5 of the 6 bags arrived to our home airport, however the final bag was shown by the info from AA to be traveling all over the southeast.
'It' eventually arrived to our local airport a week later. The duffel bag was shredded, the contents that remained were soaked, clothes also shredded, souvenirs destroyed or gone. AA at local airport had no explanation just gave us a form to fill out and told us to call a #.
Called the # a few days later and was told the 'file' was closed because we didn't call within 24 hours of picking up our shredded bag, etc - although this time constraint was never told to us.
I wasn't the initial caller, but will be the next one.
Any one had similar experience of an airline DESTROYING your luggage and then trying not to pay up?
Advice/thoughts??
Returned from Europe to a city in the NE part of the US. Flight to our home airport that evening was canceled so had to take an alternate flight which got us 3 hours from home late that night. Had to pay for hotel rooms and arrange ground transport home the next morning.
Because of flight change, our checked bags did not make it with us. Within 3 days 5 of the 6 bags arrived to our home airport, however the final bag was shown by the info from AA to be traveling all over the southeast.
'It' eventually arrived to our local airport a week later. The duffel bag was shredded, the contents that remained were soaked, clothes also shredded, souvenirs destroyed or gone. AA at local airport had no explanation just gave us a form to fill out and told us to call a #.
Called the # a few days later and was told the 'file' was closed because we didn't call within 24 hours of picking up our shredded bag, etc - although this time constraint was never told to us.
I wasn't the initial caller, but will be the next one.
Any one had similar experience of an airline DESTROYING your luggage and then trying not to pay up?
Advice/thoughts??
8
Posted on 6/3/25 at 12:34 pm to dred24
Escalate until you get someone willoing to help.
Posted on 6/3/25 at 12:45 pm to dred24
Did you claim your bags at the end of the flight from Europe and re-check them in the NE U.S. city? If not, then I'd argue that the 7-day period for damaged bags on an international flight applies instead of the 24-hour period for domestic flights.
Did the form they gave you list a deadline for filing a claim? If not, then I'd argue that they should have informed you in that way and, since it wasn't there, you had no reason to know there was a deadline.
I'd keep escalating within customer service and up to corporate if necessary. You can also complain in a public social media post and tag them.
Good luck.
Did the form they gave you list a deadline for filing a claim? If not, then I'd argue that they should have informed you in that way and, since it wasn't there, you had no reason to know there was a deadline.
I'd keep escalating within customer service and up to corporate if necessary. You can also complain in a public social media post and tag them.
Good luck.
Posted on 6/3/25 at 12:47 pm to dred24
quote:
Returned from Europe to a city in the NE part of the US.
Just say Philadelphia brah
Posted on 6/3/25 at 12:48 pm to dred24
Call your credit card and see if they can provide any help.
Did you have any trip insurance?
Posted on 6/3/25 at 1:03 pm to dred24
obviously they can’t undo the damage or replace the missing items…but shite happens. They didn’t do it on purpose
escalate and they’ll reimburse you
escalate and they’ll reimburse you
Posted on 6/3/25 at 1:12 pm to dred24
Don't use US resources. Here is the link that will help you with the EU passenger bill of rights, which you get to use because your itinerary originated in the EU.
quote:
Checked-in luggage
If your checked-in luggage is lost, damaged or delayed, the airline is liable and you're entitled to compensation up to an amount of approximately € 1 300. However if the damage was caused by an inherent defect in the baggage itself, you're not entitled to any compensation.
Posted on 6/3/25 at 1:40 pm to cgrand
quote:
They didn’t do it on purpose
You sure about that?
Posted on 6/3/25 at 2:07 pm to Mingo Was His NameO
if you get nowhere start blowing up their X account until they respond.
Posted on 6/3/25 at 2:38 pm to MAROON
Buy yearly travel insurance through Allianz next time
Posted on 6/3/25 at 2:38 pm to LemmyLives
quote:
Don't use US resources. Here is the link that will help you with the EU passenger bill of rights, which you get to use because your itinerary originated in the EU.
They will likely try and weasel out of it because, technically, I don't believe EU261 would apply.
By definition, his flight cancellation is considered a delay because:
quote:
You accepted re-routing (under comparable transport conditions at the earliest opportunity) to the airport of your original final destination or to any other destination agreed by you. In this case it is considered as a delay and not a cancellation.
Delays only qualify if "extraordinary circumstances" are not present
quote:
If you arrived at your final destination with a delay of 3 hours or more, you are entitled to compensation, unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances. The airline has to prove this by providing, for example, extracts from logbooks or incident reports.
Extraordinary circumstances is defined as:
quote:
Extraordinary circumstances can lead to cancellation(s) or delay(s) at the final destination. Examples of events defined as extraordinary circumstances are air traffic management decisions, political instability, adverse weather conditions and security risks.
Posted on 6/3/25 at 3:45 pm to H2O Tiger
All good points. However, I initiated/accepted a change on the ground leaving the US to fly to AMS instead of BRU as my original flight was late. My bag didn't make it for a few days, and I was successfully able to claim a bit over Euro 600 for a suit and toiletries in the meantime. At least mention of the EU rights are more likely to get the AA CSR to stop screwing around.
Posted on 6/3/25 at 3:47 pm to dred24
Yep.
I sued Delta in Small Claims Court for $600 damage to my dive bag and some gear and because the kept ignoring me. They hired a big New Orleans firm to remove the case to Federal Court. I made myself subject matter expert on this aspect of law and successfully had the case remanded back to Small Claims Court. After spending - - what I estimate to be $10K + in attorney fees to their lawyer - - Delta finally asked me what I wanted. Long story short - - they paid me $3000, plus court costs, plus their expensive lawyer.
If they would have just wrote me a $600 check and apologized in the beginning it would have been easier.
I sued Delta in Small Claims Court for $600 damage to my dive bag and some gear and because the kept ignoring me. They hired a big New Orleans firm to remove the case to Federal Court. I made myself subject matter expert on this aspect of law and successfully had the case remanded back to Small Claims Court. After spending - - what I estimate to be $10K + in attorney fees to their lawyer - - Delta finally asked me what I wanted. Long story short - - they paid me $3000, plus court costs, plus their expensive lawyer.
If they would have just wrote me a $600 check and apologized in the beginning it would have been easier.
Posted on 6/3/25 at 3:56 pm to Barrister
quote:
I sued Delta in Small Claims Court for $600 damage to my dive bag a
My luggage was 10 hours late arriving to Park City (with Delta), I bought $700 worth of ski clothing, filed a claim, uploaded the receipts and they paid me in less than a week. It's crazy how experiences can vary.
Just two months ago, my wheel fell off right after I picked up the suitcase off of the carousel in Denver. Took pics, uploaded it on the app, found the closest model I could find and they sent me a $225 LUV voucher before I even made it home.
This post was edited on 6/3/25 at 3:57 pm
Posted on 6/3/25 at 4:01 pm to LemmyLives
Also, I started down the cancellation path and not the lost/damaged bags path. Seems like it is more straightforward but the claim must be made much quicker.
quote:
If your checked-in luggage is lost, damaged or delayed, the airline is liable and you're entitled to compensation up to an amount of approximately € 1 300. However if the damage was caused by an inherent defect in the baggage itself, you're not entitled to any compensation.
quote:
If you want to file a claim for lost or damaged luggage, you should do it in writing to the airline within 7 days, or within 21 days of receiving your luggage if it was delayed. There is no standard EU-wide form.
Posted on 6/4/25 at 9:01 am to LSUfan4444
quote:
My luggage was 10 hours late arriving to Park City (with Delta), I bought $700 worth of ski clothing, filed a claim, uploaded the receipts and they paid me in less than a week. It's crazy how experiences can vary.
This happened to us this year flying to PUJ. Wasn't even AA's fault - the baggage conveyor was broken at MSY.
AA approved our $700 expense report within 24 hours and the check came within the week. We did file our late bag report at the airport. I did read online the airlines are sticklers about creating a claim 'in time".
Posted on 6/4/25 at 10:14 am to TheDeathValley
quote:
This happened to us this year flying to PUJ. Wasn't even AA's fault - the baggage conveyor was broken at MSY.
That morning was a cluster.
One of my buddies flying to Breck gate checked all of his luggage, I didn't even think TSA had a scanner that big but he got his luggage. Everyone else in our group had the same delays.
Posted on 6/4/25 at 10:29 am to LSUfan4444
quote:
That morning was a cluster.
One of my buddies flying to Breck gate checked all of his luggage, I didn't even think TSA had a scanner that big but he got his luggage. Everyone else in our group had the same delays.
We were lucky because we had priority check in with AA, and just left knowing our bags wouldn't make it. The SWA line went all the way down to baggage claim (wrapped the entire airport).
MSY offered no answers or support either.
Posted on 6/4/25 at 11:23 am to dred24
Always Always put your bag inside another bag. Airlines will generally replace the damaged contents of a bag, but not the bag itself.
If your luggage is inside another bag, it becomes contents.
If your luggage is inside another bag, it becomes contents.
This post was edited on 6/4/25 at 11:24 am
Posted on 6/4/25 at 11:27 am to MintBerry Crunch
This makes no sense. You still end up with a destroyed bag.
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