 Poster: A snowHead
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Not sure if this is the best place to put this so admin please feel free to move if needed!
On the way back to Edi from Geneva on monday our transfer was running late (a whole other story), anyway we made it to bag drop with 10 mins to spare and our luggage and ski bag (via oversize) went through fine.
At Edinburgh I checked the Apple iTags to find the ski bag was still in Geneva. Clearly the oversized luggage was a problem with the timing. No worries I thought they'll pop it on the next flight and I'll have it back in no time... well it's Thursday and the bag is still in Geneva! I've provided EasyJet details of the bag and contents, along with a screen grab of where exactly in the airport the bag is showing as located - I assume this is a room for dumping all luggage that missed its flight!
I've now been requested to complete a "claim" on the EasyJet system. Does this mean they have given up on the search and are going to process payment as lost? The bag not only had my brand new skis/poles and well worn in boots in it, but a bunch of clothing that I don't have receipts for anymore.
Anyone else been through this before and can offer any advice?
The lady at claims in Edi said this was the 9th bag that day gone missing in Geneva... given how quiet the airport was is there a systemic failure occurring?
Thanks
M
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Have you put it into the system of the baggage handler eg dnata or swissport or whatever? When mine goes missing its onto their system and then I think its 21days before it is declared lost.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Yes it's in the system with the handler. Is a little confusing if they are giving up on it after 3 days! (I'm sure that isn't the case.)
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@munter, have a search on here for previous lost bag threads. There is a SnowHead who works in baggage reclaim – if you find them you can @ them and they may be able to offer you some advice. Good luck!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@munter, they aren't but Easyjet can’t make a call so id be inclined to ignore them and direct my attention on the baggage handlers
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks all - will do!
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Exactly the same happened to me when my ski bag didn't make it onto the flight back to Manchester from Geneva on Saturday 1st Feb (not a surprise as it was total and utter chaos at EJ's outsize baggage drop-off).
I was also told (by the delayed baggage desk at Mancs) that it would probably come in on the next flight and therefore be returned to me in the following day or two.
Two days later, with no further updates or info on the tracking system, I then got 'actions' appearing asking me to enter further details of the baggage contents (which I'd already done) and also to complete a 'claim form'. The latter completely confused me. Like you I was worried that it implied my bag (containing over £1,500 of touring kit) was lost.
I contacted Easyjet via the Live Chat, and they reassured me that it was a 'confusing' automated message, and no need to fill it in at this stage. They don't actually accept compensation claims until a bag has been missing for 45 days.
Although I subsequently got an automated email reminding me to complete and submit my claim (which I ignored) I heard nothing more about my bag, with no updates on the tracking system until yesterday morning (Weds 5th) when I got an email from the primary tracking company saying my bag had returned. It was then delivered to my house in the afternoon; with about 2 hours notice and no option to change the delivery window. Not ideal, but I was relieved to get my precious skis back.
Looking at the label, it came back to Mancs on the Tuesday night flight; 3 days later than my return.
Don't worry at this stage, it is almost certain to come back in the next few days unless there's an issue with the label. And ignore the claim form at this stage.
It is however worth completing the other section of the website detailing the bag contents. If it isn't found after 5 days, the search gets passed onto Easyjet's secondary tracing team, and they open up bags to cross reference contents if the bag owner can't be identified from a label.
I agree though, the online system is pretty disfunctional, which makes the whole process far more stressful and time-wasting than it need be...
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@munter, I suspect EJ are juggling mountains of delayed ski bags at the moment at GVA, hence the less than speedy return of your bag.
Friends who flew back to Leeds-Bradford on Saturday told me that NONE of the ski or snowboard bags were loaded onto their severely delayed flight.
I think it's fairly normal for it it take 5-6 days.
I would have lost a lot less sleep over it if they had actually kept me updated on what was happening, as promised on their website.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| CathS wrote: |
| ... They don't actually accept compensation claims until a bag has been missing for 45 days. |
I don't think they have any choice in the matter, it's a matter of their legal liability. They are liable for damages from day one, for example if you have to rent replacement gear. That's on them. The Montreal Convention reportedly (I can't find a copy to check...) says it's 21 days before they need to pay in full. I expect they are legally obliged to make this - their responsibility to customers - very clear.
You do have to put in some kind of claim, which usually you'd do with the ground staff at the airport. Each airline typically has a desk there for that purpose. If you didn't make the claim until you got home, it's not a problem as you have 2 years to make it. I'd just tell the airline on a recorded call or in writing, then it's their problem.
But in my experience almost always the stuff turns up in a day or two. Based on personal experience and watching others have their stuff go astray. My record was about three weeks lost.
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@phil_w, not on your return (immediate liability)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@phil_w,
Yes you are right, they are liable, and you can submit a more or less immediate claim for costs incurred for delayed bags on the outbound flight.
For delayed inbound luggage, the Regs do say they should pay compensation after 21 days (despite EJ saying it's 45 days).
And yes you do need to complete and submit a PIR as soon as you know your baggage hasn't turned up (preferably at the baggage desk at the airport).
But as there is very good chance (92%?) of the delayed bags being returned, I figured it wasn't a good used of time completing a detailed claim form, complete with receipts etc, at day 2 in the process, when it wouldn't even be eligible for inbound delayed bags.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Def going to get an Air Tag Tracker before my next trip after reading this . . .
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After reading advice on an earlier thread on this I will be putting my contact details inside my bags too, plus peeling off the extra tiny label and sticking it elsewhere on the bag.
Not sure about Air Tags. They will tell you where your bag is, but don't get it back to you. And in the case of Easyjet they don't provide a means for you to contact the bag tracing team for the first five days anyway. The numbers they provided for contacting the baggage handling team at Manchester Airport didn't work, and there was no reply to the message I sent on the baggage tracking website.
I suppose it could be useful if your bag is de-labelled or mis-labelled and the search ends up with the secondary tracing team.
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You know it makes sense.
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@munter - heading to Geneva Airport today, flying with easyJet, and should have 3 hours there before my departure.
If you want me to try and assist in any way, send me a direct message.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Even if you can tell someone where the bag is, it doesn't help. There was a thread from someone who's luggage ended up somewhere like Munich (I think they were in Italy) and I seem to remember the Air tag was no help at all
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Poster: A snowHead
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@CathS, TBF also not sure its a massive advantage - although perhaps peace of mind when you are taxiing to take off and you 'know' your luggage has been loaded . . . if not at least you can get ahead of the game as soon as you land and start the process asap . . .
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Quick update…
Praise be! The bag is now in Edinburgh. I received a call to say it should be delivered today.
No idea why EJ needed to change the status to “claim” so quickly and very pleased the suggestions on here were to wait longer before filling out the contents form/uploading receipts etc
It isn’t here yet, so fingers crossed it’s survived the delay…
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@munter,
Pleased to hear that  Must be a massive relief for you!
I'm sure we aren't the only ones who've suffered unnecessary anxiety due to Easyjet's moronic automated messages.
Perhaps the claim form request is intended for people who need to make an immediate claim for delayed outbound bags, but surely they could filter who it's sent to. I'm sure when I filled in the PIR it asked whether I was outbound or inbound.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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It does indeed! The whole process is a terrible mess.
Would be quite an easy fix to massively improve the user flow. I’m sure there are good people on the back of it but the interface is very poor indeed. Still could be worse, could be BA!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I was going to ask you to PM me your PIR, but I'm glad to see that this has been sorted
We've had a lot of delayed ski bags at LGW from GVA this week
Airtags = useful
Contact/flight details written on a piece of paper inside the luggage = more useful
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| Scarlet wrote: |
| @munter, have a search on here for previous lost bag threads. There is a SnowHead who works in baggage reclaim – if you find them you can @ them and they may be able to offer you some advice. Good luck! |
I don't work in baggage reclaim, but tagless luggage is my speciality.
All tagless bags found at LGW North terminal come to me, regardless of which airline they actually belong to. About 33% from South terminal end up in my office too. In addition, around 40% of tagless Easyjet and TUI luggage from around europe/the world ends up with me.
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Any advice please Mikey on labelling/tags etc?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| wiigman wrote: |
| Any advice please Mikey on labelling/tags etc? |
Exterior tag with your name/phone number/flight details on it.
A piece of paper inside the luggage with the same information.
If you lock your luggage, do not assume that it can't be opened. I have all the necessary TSA keys which will open it straight away. Failing that I have some heavy duty bolt cutters.
Always report your luggage missing at the destination airport (this will start the tracing process), and make sure the PIR is accurate. ie colour/brand/type of luggage. Also double check that your contact details are correct.
Upload as many contents as possible onto your PIR. If the airline tag has come off, contents are absolutely crucial for working out who the luggage belongs to.
If you realise that your bag has been tagged incorrectly (and sent to another airport), still report it. It will remain unclaimed at that airport for 5 days before being sent to me. It is VERY easy for me to work out who an incorrectly tagged bag belongs to, as I will know the exact date of the flight, the airline, and also the departure airport.
Have a stored photo of your luggage.
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| phil_w wrote: |
| CathS wrote: |
| ... They don't actually accept compensation claims until a bag has been missing for 45 days. |
I don't think they have any choice in the matter, it's a matter of their legal liability. They are liable for damages from day one, for example if you have to rent replacement gear. That's on them. The Montreal Convention reportedly (I can't find a copy to check...) says it's 21 days before they need to pay in full. I expect they are legally obliged to make this - their responsibility to customers - very clear.
You do have to put in some kind of claim, which usually you'd do with the ground staff at the airport. Each airline typically has a desk there for that purpose. If you didn't make the claim until you got home, it's not a problem as you have 2 years to make it. I'd just tell the airline on a recorded call or in writing, then it's their problem.
But in my experience almost always the stuff turns up in a day or two. Based on personal experience and watching others have their stuff go astray. My record was about three weeks lost. |
Does that apply to skis that have the limited release tag? Most of the time they put limited release on my skis without telling me and I have a sportube!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@mikeycharlton,
Thanks for all the advice - it's something positive I can take away from the last week's experience. It's very reassuring to hear how much effort goes into reuniting tagless bags with their owners.
I guess the bags that have their tags and have simply been delayed are almost always going to be returned.
It's a shame that Easyjet's customer interface for this initial part of the delay process is so lousy. It would be better if they simply said don't expect any communications or updates during the first 5 days, expect it to take 4-5 days to be returned, and you'll get an email when it's with the courier for delivery back to you. And if they didn't send confusing alerts and messages telling you to submit an unnecessary compensation claim form just two days into the delay (effectively implying they've lost your bag and given up on the search process).
The previous time I had a bag delayed with Easyjet it was missing for 12 days, so ended up with their secondary tracing team, who were pretty good in directly communicating with me and doing some detective work on what had happened to it. It turned out that it had been incorrectly re-labelled when it was passed onto the couriers, so was delivered to the wrong address, then returned to Manchester Airport where it sat for a week before it was finally tracked down.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@CathS,
yes bags which have tags on will be forwarded on to the address that you have specified on your PIR.
bags with tags (but without a corresponding PIR) will probably still be forwarded to the airport that they were due to go to, but will sit there for 5 days as 'unclaimed'. Basically, your bag isn't going to be delivered to your home/hotel if you haven't completed a missing report. After 5 days they will either be forwarded to me at LGW, or to the other hub close to STN (via LTN).
A tagless outbound bag (containing ski clothes) found at LGW is fairly easy to work out who it belongs to, as there are only X amount of destinations that the owner is flying to. Whereas a tagless bag containing shorts/tshirts and flip flops between the months of May to October is a little harder, as the owner could be flying anywhere warm, so many more potential destinations.
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@mikeycharlton,
Thanks - all very educational, and gives me confidence that it's unlikely that ski luggage will be delayed or lost for ever.
I guess a distinctive ski bag with even more distinctive contents is going to be a lot easier to identify than an anonymous standard black holiday case.
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You know it makes sense.
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Yes a tagless black suitcase is harder to work out than a tagless red one for example, simply because black is far more common than red. Especially in the height of summer when it gets seriously busy.
To be honest, this time of year is very quiet, even with lots of people going on ski holidays.
Whatever colour suitcase you decide to own, just make sure there's no ambiguity with it. For example, what you might consider to be dark grey, could be classed as black by the person trying to trace the luggage. Some greens could be classed as blue (turqoise), and beige could be classed as brown by another person. It all matters when it comes to tracing.
I would personally avoid getting a bag which has a combination of colours. There is a category for mixed colours, but again if it's 90% black and 10% blue, you'll be unsure whether to report it as black or mixed. It just muddies the water unnecessarily.
As for patterned colours/prints (which also have their own category), whilst easy for you to identify at the baggage reclaim, can also create confusion when it comes to tracing.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Mon 10-02-25 22:30; edited 2 times in total
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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That said, you could have the most common black suitcase, and as long as you've left your name/contact details/flight details inside, it will be very easy to work out who it belongs to and where the bag needs to be sent (providing you have reported is missing)
The 2 absolute key things are to a) report it missing, b) leave your contact details inside the luggage.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| mikeycharlton wrote: |
| In addition, around 40% of tagless Easyjet and TUI luggage from around europe/the world ends up with me. |
Wow. Like wow.
It feels a bit pompous to thank you for looking after everybody and our prized possessions, but...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for your service @mikeycharlton!
My ski bag made it home yesterday. All items present and correct. That's a week on from our flight.
Hopefully it doesn't happen again...
edited to add - how do you tag someone in a post? eg. "@mikeycharlton" doesn't do it. Is there specific bbcode required? Ta
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@munter, just click on his name in his post
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@holidayloverxx, thanks!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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GVA have more than their fair share of baggage belt failures unfortunately.
Lots of delayed ski bags turning up at LGW in the last week or so. Quite a few from Chambery too which were bound for Birmingham. Not quite sure what went wrong in CMF.
The golden rule is to make sure you report it at your destination and not panic. 90% of the time your bag is still at the origin airport rather than somewhere in the abyss.
Oh. And hope it only ever happens on your flight back home rather than outbound 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| mikeycharlton wrote: |
| wiigman wrote: |
| Any advice please Mikey on labelling/tags etc? |
Exterior tag with your name/phone number/flight details on it.
A piece of paper inside the luggage with the same information.
If you lock your luggage, do not assume that it can't be opened. I have all the necessary TSA keys which will open it straight away. Failing that I have some heavy duty bolt cutters.
Have a stored photo of your luggage. |
@mikeycharlton
If you have to force a bag open ie a combination lock to read the enclosed contact details on a slip inside then presumably the bag is then no longer of any use. In this case can a claim be made for the damaged bag?
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@nahdendee, i'm not 100% sure. Claims/damaged luggage isn't my thing, but I think some airlines ask you to NOT lock your luggage. Will probably vary from one airline to the next and will be hidden somewhere in the t's and c's.
Combination locks (no key/just numbers), can be opened easily with a screwdriver, just need to bend the loop part open to release the zip puller.
Bending it back into place is trickier.
Combination locks with a TSA key lock are easy to open and lock again (with a key). You won't even know that someone has had a look inside. Also you'd be surprised how many people don't even set their code, so it will just be '000' as default
Big padlock on your bag? That's where the bolt cutters come in.
Old style Samsonite hard shell cases - the ones with the big flap and combination lock on the side, are probably the toughest to get into. Although these can be opened (and not damaged) with a screwdriver. Can take a few minutes to prize it open though.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| mikeycharlton wrote: |
| Old style Samsonite hard shell cases - the ones with the big flap and combination lock on the side, are probably the toughest to get into. Although these can be opened (and not damaged) with a screwdriver. Can take a few minutes to prize it open though. |
Mine lasted 23 years before the retractible handle finally gave up and forced me to buy one of those new TSA ones I still stripped it of all its parts (locks, wheels, straps etc.) before it went to the dump as I've still got the bigger one, though it doesn't get used as much. If anyone needs their suitcase to survive a nuclear disaster, they can often be found on eBay!
Thankfully nobody except me ever needed to get into it, as that would've meant it had lost the airline tag, and the sticker and my trusty leather tag too.
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They make great suitcases, for sure.
But yes, you need to prep your luggage for the possibility that the airline tag will come off (or the wrong one is put on). Leather tag with contact details on the outside, contact details inside, air tag. Instructions for how to get your bag back to you in the event it has become tagless or goes awol. Basically anything that will help get it back to you if it goes missing.
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FAQ
