One airline lost it, another found it?

January 28, 2016 12:05 PM

An airline recently lost my bag and, after some prompting, gave up and paid compensation. Now, about six weeks later, a totally unrelated airline found my bag and has returned it. Err, what next?

I had a two-leg international ticket with Airline #1, one bag checked. The first leg was with a code-share partner, the second leg was run by them directly. They cancelled the second leg after I arrived at the midpoint, and grudgingly transferred me to Airline #2 (which is NOT a code-share partner, but actually a mortal enemy of Airline #1) who, after a second layover, got me home. Without my bag, as it turned out.

I reported this to Airline #2 upon arrival at my destination and, after repeatedly "losing" the paperwork, they eventually caved in and paid a couple hundred bucks (less than the value of the contents, but I took what I could get). Incidentally, they denied compensation for the necessities I had to purchase at the time (prescriptions, that sort of thing).

Now, six weeks later, a courier from Airline #3 (whose plane I never set foot on) shows up with my bag! Great! Except now what do I do with this compensation?

I've tried calling Airline #2 twice, and either they hire well-polished rocks in their call center or they enforce calling scripts with an iron hand, because neither call was even slightly fruitful. I spent roughly thirty minutes on each call trying to explain I needed to figure out how to send their compensation back, to no avail.

So, now what? I don't want to simply send them a check without getting some sort of acknowledgement that this puts a close to the affair, as I'm concerned they'll try to come after me again later, but I seem to be entirely unable to figure out how to do this. Should I try a different arm of the company, like Accounting or something? If so, any thoughts on how to get transferred? Are there secret phrases I can use that will trigger the right script at the call center?

I suppose I could keep the money as payment for the sixteen week delay, but that still seems sort of inappropriate/risky. Frankly, if I could figure out how to give the money to Airline #3 I'm halfway inclined to do that, since they seem to be the ones who went the extra distance here!

posted by aramaic to Travel & Transportation around Haifa, Israel (20 answers total)

Airline 2 was supposed to keep up with your bag. They didn't. You went above and beyond trying to give the money back. I think you're beanplating this; keep the money as payment for all this hassle.
posted by hollyholly at 12:08 PM on January 28, 2016 [70 favorites]

I suppose I could keep the money as payment for the sixteen week delay, but that still seems sort of inappropriate/risky.

I am usually an upstanding moral citizen about a lot of this, but I don't think so. You incurred out of pocket expenses, got reimbursed less than you were expecting and had to deal with a ton of hassle on top of this. You gave it a reasonable try, you were unable to figure out how to return this money, forget about it.

Write a nice review somewhere of Airline #3 and maybe donate part of it to some sort of Traveler's Aid service at their home airport and be done with it.
posted by jessamyn at 12:09 PM on January 28, 2016 [16 favorites]

I would keep it at this point, but maybe just save it in case they contact you in a few months asking for it back (I am 99% sure that will not happen, but...).
posted by three_red_balloons at 12:13 PM on January 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

given how often i have been screwed over by airlines (british airways once had my sign something saying i wouldn't complain about one issue in public before they would pay a tiny amount of compensation) i suggest you keep the compensation in anticipation of future losses.
posted by andrewcooke at 12:23 PM on January 28, 2016 [4 favorites]

What you're paying for is not just the transport of your bag - it's the transport of your bag on the same journey as you, because you need your stuff. That's why you don't just send your bags by ground shipment. Airlines 1 and 2 didn't transport your bag in anything like the same time as you were transported; they failed in their part of the bargain. Otherwise, shouldn't you hold the compensation in escrow for six months or a year? Or two? You never know - your bag could make its way back from farthest Uttar Pradesh or something and you'd still need to pay them back.

I feel that you should keep the money.

(One of my travel goals is to go to Uttar Pradesh to visit a friend in the next couple of years, so I had it in mind...)
posted by Frowner at 12:29 PM on January 28, 2016 [6 favorites]

The airline had an obligation to care for and return your bag, and they did not meet that obligation. The fact that a different company returned your bag has no bearing on that. I would have no qualms about keeping the money, and I very much believe in doing the right thing.
posted by slogger at 12:30 PM on January 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

Keep it. Feel zero guilt. Don't worry about them coming after it; they couldn't keep track of your bag, they're not going to bother tracking you down to recoup a few bucks of please shut up and go away money they paid out months ago. Nobody at the airline cares about you, your bag, or how much you got compensated. You are old news.

And anyway, you were put out and incurred costs because of their ineptitude. That money is deservedly yours. If I were in your position, in the extremely unlikely event they tried to get me to pay them back, hoo boy you can bet I'd rip the person who called me and every one of their supervisors on up the line ten kinds of new assholes because fuck that noise.
posted by phunniemee at 12:32 PM on January 28, 2016 [5 favorites]

This exact same thing happened to me a few years ago, although with only one airline (Easyjet). I received my bag about a month after they had paid me compensation for losing it. I vaguely remember checking into it at the time and coming to the conclusion that it was fine to keep the money. I think you're good.
posted by triggerfinger at 12:33 PM on January 28, 2016

Best answer: I used to work for a cruise line and sat next to the lost luggage department. I know that anytime someone was offered compensation for missing items they were required to sign a form before a check was cut. This form stated that the passenger would not sue and specified that the compensation was non-returnable - that way someone couldn't return their check to sue for a larger amount. You likely signed something similar. A few times some very old luggage was retrieved and everyone was happy with that. No one there would have been able to accept your repayment.
posted by galvanized unicorn at 12:35 PM on January 28, 2016 [8 favorites]

They paid you because you had to replace all your stuff. You replaced your stuff. You can't very well return the replacement clothes and toothpaste just because they returned your old stuff so it was still an expense that they're reimbursing you for.
posted by artychoke at 12:44 PM on January 28, 2016 [5 favorites]

I've been through this situation several times. One time I even went as far as to talk to the lost baggage rep at a major airport about this, who told me that they (at least that major airline) was actually not equipped to take back compensation for your luggage; they view it as a loss. If your bag was specifically insured for a high value - you declared excess valuation and bought coverage for that - it might be a different story but that doesn't sound like it here.

In fact, in the US, airlines are required by law to compensate you up to 3,300. Many airlines will actually go beyond that to an additional 1,700. (IIRC) Of course they will do what they can to devalue your luggage and ask you to provide receipts, etc. It's a lot less for international flights, however. Since you were on an international flight it may depend on which leg you were on and what airline, but the rule of thumb is that you can be compensated a certain amount (~$9 USD last time I looked) per pound, and that's it unless you buy extra coverage. Certain items are not covered, either; most airlines have their own set of rules. (If you were on a domestic leg and the international laws didn't apply, there may be some legal wrinkles in there (like prescriptions may not be covered) but still it appears in that scenario they did their best to cheat you and devalue your belongings.)

They are legally responsible to track your bag. It seems they did not do so and they compensated you for that, regardless that you got your bag back. So think of it as compensation not for your bag per se but for not providing the service they are legally required to do. In the future if you are concerned, buy the extra value coverage, and remember that such coverage only works with the airline you bought it from - if you're transferred you will need to buy it again.
posted by barchan at 12:52 PM on January 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

This is why they have insurance: a certain amount of malfeasance and/or incompetence is figured into the system. Get your belongings, keep the compensation with a clear conscience.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 12:56 PM on January 28, 2016

Oh my GOD keep the money. It's yours. You're not committing fraud or anything.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:00 PM on January 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: In view of the unanimity of replies, I'll keep the money and would like to thank everyone for their thoughts! I've elected to select galvanized unicorn as having the best answer for the sake of posterity (I found the "you probably signed something" argument pretty compelling), but obviously you're all in agreement so you're all best answer in that sense and, well, I guess I apologize for being a bit foolish?
posted by aramaic at 1:14 PM on January 28, 2016

The key word in call centres is "escalate". Eg. "I would like to escalate this call to a supervisor."

But I don't think you owe them a cent. Consider that money compensattion for the things you had to replace.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 1:20 PM on January 28, 2016

> I apologize for being a bit foolish

Not foolish; commendably honest. But yeah, keep the dough, you earned it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:24 PM on January 28, 2016 [4 favorites]

Beyond the ethics of the issue, legally, you're free and clear. The US dept of transportation mandates that airlines compensate passengers for lost and/or delayed luggage. Also they're supposed to refund any separate bag charges. EU has similar rules, I believe.
posted by Diablevert at 1:49 PM on January 28, 2016

Qantas lost my bags on one trip and gave me $100. They actually knew where it was - in another city - and assured me I would have it the next day (I actually had it by 9am the next morning, couriered out to me) but said that the money was to cover the inconvenience of being without toiletries or a change of clothes etc until my bag turned up. I would treat your situation like that. Sure, you have your stuff now, but it put you out and you most likely had to replace your items in the meantime. You are not screwing anyone over. Keep the money and don't feel guilty.
posted by Jubey at 3:36 PM on January 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Screw 'em, the way I add it up they probably still owe you.
posted by biffa at 4:09 PM on January 28, 2016

I had a friend in a somewhat similar situation, except the airline knew where the bag was and was just unable to get it to her in a reasonable time frame. They happily compensated her, knowing full well that in 5 days she would have her bag back. I think this is just a cost-of-doing-business thing for the airlines.
posted by charmcityblues at 9:14 PM on January 28, 2016