Simplysls

I've read the whole thread and don't understand why OP thought this was partially HAL's fault. We have done both HAL ship to airport transfers and Luggage Direct. HAL has never put any tags on our luggage. They have provided the color coded disembarkation tags and, for luggage direct, the air tags. These tags are always put on the luggage by the passenger. It is the passenger's responsibility to correctly fill out the disembarkation tags and attach them to each piece of luggage. It is also the passenger's responsibility to check the air tags for correct information and attach those to their luggage. For transfers without luggage direct we have always been required to identify our luggage at the airport before the transfer bus departs and to take our own luggage from there.

Just thought I'd clear this up a little.

We did receive luggage tags 12 hours prior to disembarking from HAL for the luggage transfer. Obviously, we double checked those tags (printed out by HAL) to make sure they were correct and they were. All of our information was accurate, we placed them on our bags. We did not fill out any tags ourselves. Our bags were than taken from the ship by HAL to a third party (according to HAL), where the bags were tagged a second time (I'm not clear why they are tagged twice, but these were). Than, from there they were sent to the airport in Seattle and we were to see them again when we landed at our 'home' destination, which for us was DIA. We never had to 'identify' our luggage at the Seattle airport. The luggage transfer was an option from HAL and they were responsible for seeing that all luggage was sent to the right places. According to HAL, the third party transfer service had a glitch in printing the 2nd luggage tags & both the tags & the bags got out of order, and as a result at least 5 bags got tagged incorrectly. My mom's bag was one of them.

By no means am I'm 'blaming'' anyone, my only care was to find my mom's luggage. I believe it was just a simple printing error and unfortunately it caused confusion with the luggage.

We have used a transfer in the past through HAL and it went as smooth as can be. This time, however, there was just an unfortunate accident. I am grateful we got so lucky and had such a positive outcome. Most bags incorrectly tagged are very difficult to find, we were very fortunate.

Hope this clears up any confusion with regard to tagging our own bags with incorrect tags.

I appreciate the info on the locks. I do believe I'll get some, I think it's a great idea!

Also, if I never, ever check a bag again in my life for fear, how do I deal with things in my luggage such as hairspray, liquid foundation and any other kind of liquid like shampoo, lotions, perfume, etc. I know with any carry on, TSA is more than likely going to give me a hard time about liquids and things that appear to looks like weapons, like curling irons, hair dryers, bobby pins, wire coat hangers (for suites), shavers (both electric & not), etc. Do I just try & do without these items or buy some at my destination? I do know that you can place some liquid items in ziplock bags, like lotion. But not everything will fit in one of those.

I've never known the answer to these questions and I guess because of that I've always checked my bags. Plus, I'm always worried about TSA having a problem with my regular backpack 'carry on' because I bring a lot of medication due to an autoimmune disease I have.

I just don't want to have to open my luggage while at the airport and have to throw half of my stuff away. Once I had a water globe on my carry on and had a choice to throw it away or mail it home. Luckily, I had enough time before my flight to mail it.

Figured the writers on this board just might be the best people to ask this question.

...ok, so my silly husband just said my final 'thank you post' sounded similar to an Oscar speech!! Sorry guys, didn't mean to be so cheesy!!

Yahoo! You got Mom's bag back. This has to be one of the best threads this year. Am sure it will be referred to many times in the future- in a good way.

 

OP- you can get the luggage locks at REI. They have some you can self-code (so the entire set matches- or doesn't.:cool: And they have a little green mark when no one has opened them. If the TSA key is used, the dot becomes a red dot. (And if they get cut off- well, you know someone's been messing with your luggage.). I've taken to putting these on my carry on as well. If I am traveling solo, and I need to visit the little room in flight, it gives me some peace of mind my carry on under the seat isn't easily being messed with.

 

OP- hope you stick around or at least drop in occasionally and chat cruising with us.

Looks like I'm heading to REI this weekend!!! Thank you for this helpful information!!

I'd love to stick around and weigh in on future cruising adventures!! I have only been on 2 cruises, so I don't have as much experience as you all ;)

I know I can't thank each and everyone who has responded not only with great advise, wonderful suggestion, but also with all the support. It's really helpful to know that there are people out there who are truly 'pulling for you' even though you've never met.

Who would have ever dreamed that a few days ago I was desperately searching for my moms baggage and trying to find every way I could get the word out via social media and blogs. Just by happenstance I ran into this blogging site. Turns out, I've interacted with some of the kindest people out there - perfect strangers, but all having one goal; hoping for the best for a girl in Colorado who they never met. Thank you again.

It's my turn now to 'pay it forward.'

Always,

Sarah

So happy to hear your mom!s luggage has been found. Thanks too for the tips.

 

 

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Thank you for your support!!! Glad the tips are helpful!

I'm happy to hear your mom's luggage has been located and that she will soon have it back.

Congratulations on making that happen.

Thank you for the information.

Thank you for your kind words.

Glad the info could come in handy.

Unfortunately we've even had a few TSA personnel arrested for theft of or from passenger luggage.

That's really sad. What's wrong with some people? How can a person become that dishonest, especially when they are in a position of trust. I guess my morals aren't the views of everyone, but a post Luke that really makes me shake my head.

Wonderful news! :)

Thank you!! Means a lot!

I know you didn't ask me but I got mine at the shopping channel in Canada. I would assume you could get them at a luggage type store. The TSA can open the locks as they will have a key for it and won't have to break your lock.

That's great information, thank you Cruz Chic!!

I had a similar experience. I took Luggage Express from San Diego. When I got to Chicago my suitcase never appeared. A green suitcase came off with a Charlotte address. I filed a report and called HAL and also spoke to the Manager at the pier. They use a third party handling service so the tags probably got mixed up. Nothing seemed to help find my luuggage that was clearly tagged with my name and address in several places. I had a unique luggage tag, a ladybug design, with phone number. Finally after getting nowhere in locating my bag I filed a claim. Three weeks into this ordeal I received a phone call from a lady in lost/found luggage in Charlotte. She looked at my name and phone number on the bag and called me. They shipped it out to my home that day. Moral, don't give up hope.

Hi! Yeah don't give up hope, that's the best advise.

When I was doing research on how a passenger might be able to find their own lost luggage, I read a blog of a traveler who had her bag 'misplaced' than after 21 days, it was considered 'lost.' However, after 3 years she received a phone call informing her that her bag had been found. Now, obviously you can assume everything you read has a great amount of truth to it, but if it really was her experience, than that's pretty amazing. I kept telling my mom that we were going to find her bag, even if I had to travel to the ends of the earth.

 

With a TSA approved lock - we always lock our luggage.

 

Oftentimes we open it to find a letter stating they opened it and checked it. But we definitely lock our bags.

Where do you get a TSA approved lock? Do you buy them at the airports? I've never seen any, but am very interested in buying a few for my parents & my family. I had no idea we were allowed to lock out baggage again!! Yippee

When you said, TSA will sometimes leave you a note inside your bag, explaining they checked inside it, do they cut the lock off?

When I was a kid, I can remember my mom always locking our luggage. It gave me some piece of mind too, even though I was small. I can remember my blanket & a few stuffed animals would usually 'travel' with us & I was always very concerned someone might take them or they'd fall out of the bag...ah, to be a child again and worry about a blanket! But I was always really happen when I saw mom lock our bags. After 9/11 I believe TSA said no locked bags. But, it's great news to know one can safely lock your bags again, giving the traveler extra piece of mind!!!

Great news, thank you!

Hello,

I just wanted to post this before I go to bed.

After a lengthy drive to DIA my mom and I got her missing luggage home safe and sound for the first time in 78 hours. We also were elated that all her personal items were left untouched, laying exactly the way she had pack the night before she left the ship. I think my mom just couldn't believe her own eyes because she not only received the bag itself, but also all of the personal items inside. I too was and still am amazed that nothing was stolen, or rifflied through. It's just truly a disbelief that it's finally in her possession. I think my mom truly believed she might never see her bag again and that was very likely because when incorrect tags are added to your bag the odds of finding it get slimmer and slimmer.

I still don't know exactly what other airlines her bag flew on and how many places it went in our nation, the only carrier I am aware the bag flew on was Alaska Air and onto JetBlue who landed the bag at JFK in New York. Im not clear as to where it was for the remainder of the 3 days & I will never know, which is actually ok with me. I'm just absolutely elated this mystery has been solved!

When my mom & I were walking down the rows of carousels at DIA, we noticed 1 single bag laying on a carousel, that was no longer moving and there was absolutely no one around guarding it or placing it behind closed doors till morn. No, it was just sitting out in the open for everyone to see. The thing that's so scary about that is this could be my bag, your bag a family members bag, etc. just waiting to be picked up and stolen. Because there were no guards or anyone around who worked for this airline (who's name I won't mention) any one person walking by it could easily pick it up off the carousel, walk out the front doors with it and to their car in less than 5 min. and no one suspects a thing. No one is screened, not do you need to show proof of ID and other supporting documents that show officials this bag belonged to you. When I was younger there were guards & a long paper trail to prove the rightful owner was indeed taking the correct bag home. I'm not sure when all this changed. I feel the baggage claim center should be behind TSA so that could at least weed out the actual public from just wondering in and helping themselves to a random bag while no one is looking. I didn't think things like this happened, I always thought there was a guard who watched, than pulled all leftover bags off the carousel and placed them inside locked doors. ButI was proven very wrong just tonight. Scary...

Anyway, I am so happy my mom was able to reunite with her lost luggage. I believe her bag has more frequent flyer miles now than her. (Not funny! ...a little maybe!!!) but nonetheless we had a very happy ending and were extreamly fortunate. Many people aren't as lucky as we were and my heart breaks for them. It's truly a helpless feeling.

As crazy, unbelievable and confusing this story is, it isn't an impossibility that it could happen again, hopefully not, but probably could. So be careful my fellow travelers.

This has been a very long process and I want to really thank all of you who stuck with me through this. I'm so happy it's over and I know my mom is too. It's also 'a breath of fresh air' to see there is still kindness in our world. It's hard to see that sometimes, but than you get little glimpses every-once-in-awhile & it restores your faith in mankind.

Always,

Sarah

First of all, I'm happy you found your mother's luggage. Congrats. I've been reading along on your mission and am glad you were rewarded for you hard work.

 

May I ask you some questions? Will or can you tell us how it was actually located? You said that social media helped and mentioned a man in New York. Did an airline find it? How did they find you or your mother's name to call? Is this someone you called? Just curious.

 

Also, I couldn't find it, but did your mother use Luggage Direct? You said she put the luggage out the night before the cruise and it sounds like it was supposed to be at her home airport when she arrived. Is that correct? I used Luggage Direct from Seattle a couple weeks ago and everything worked great, but I did notice something. I was given a "sticky tag" which I attached to my luggage myself. When I got home I noticed that there was a second "sticky" tag on top of the one I attached. You mentioned something similar only the second tag was for someone else. I imagine that in the rush of putting the second tag on that someone lost track and put tags on incorrect bags. I can see where the airline/airport worker who finds the luggage wouldn't know to look under the top sticky tag. I have used EZ Check, the Princess version of this program, in different cities (not Seattle) and never had a problem. It's been a couple years since I've done it, but they only ever had one tag. The tag I used was the tag that was on the suitcase when I got home. I wonder if the extra step of the second tag is where the plan can go awry.

 

A couple things I wanted to mention. Somewhere it was mentioned that you can't lock your luggage. Yes, you can. There are TSA approved locks. Also, someone wondered what happens if no one picks up their suitcase. Once I used EZ Check with Princess and I didn't get back to my home airport for 2 days. The airline offered me credits to give up my seat two days in a row and I accepted the offer. My luggage flew home and I didn't. When I got home, my luggage was in the airport sitting there with and chain locked through the handles. They could tell that I had accepted their offer and they kept my luggage. In my case, because the tag was correct, Delta easily tracked my luggage and me throughout the trip.

 

I will continue to use this program when available. It makes my travel day so much easier. I would hate to lose my suitcase and hope it never happens, but I take care not to put anything in that suitcase that I would hate to lose. I carry my meds, paperwork, jewelry, cameras, etc. It would be disappointing to lose the few souvenirs that I buy, but I'd get by. Your lengthy list of reminders is handy. I have a luggage tag on my suitcase and always think that I'm going to put my name and address inside, but rarely do. I will try to remember to do that in the future.

Hi! KruzPrincess,

Thank you for your kind words. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Last night I was online researching every airline there basically is in the world (starting with the major airlines most commonly known) & made a list. From there I contacted each airline on their home Facebook page by posting to their page. I also sent a private message to them with my mom's contact information, which included her phone number should they run across her bag. I added a picture of her lost bag for reference to each message. In those messages I asked each airline if they had a universal database that could take my missing luggage information & contact info and put it into that system (if they had it) so they could contact us should the bag come their way. Also while I was at DIA yesterday my mom and I stopped into the baggage department of each airline's there, asking the same database question. Assuming they had that system our information was put into it. Because this is such a bazar story and it's confusing that my mom flew on one airline and her bag another, we had no way of knowing exactly what airlines it could have flown on or to what destination. Airlines don't have a system (yet) that connects one to the other. So, I Went to each airline separately with my info & sistuation. I thought if every airline had that info in every state, it might be more likely to be found.

I can only describe this sistuation as handling my mom's luggage as if it was a person itself. All bags get tags & are tracked like we are when we fly and any bag at anytime could be tagged incorrectly along the way and take on a whole route alone.

JetBlue was one airline that did get in contact with me last night via FB. They took my moms information, picture of her suitecase I sent them & put it in their lost luggage database. Today, at the JFK airport in New York a JetBlue employee who works in the baggage department saw that information in their database and found a suite case matching my mom's information & description came in. He did some research and found that there was a tagging discrepancy with 4 bags that were there from the Holland America cruise line transfer service. He matched the contact info he found in that JetBlue database system with the contact info on one of the 4 bags there and found it matched up. He was also able to match the picture in the database to the suite case that was there. He than called my mom and told her he had found her bag. He mentioned her bag had come via Alaska Air prior to landing in New York. He told my mom he would put her luggage on a flight from JFK to DIA tonight. We will be heading out to the airport personally to retrieve it shortly.

We used a transfer service for luggage that was offered by Holland America. We have used this in the past with no problems at all. This morning my mom touched base again with Holland America about the progress in finding her bag. She was also given a number to the 3rd party tagging company the cruise ship used, so she could fill them in on the sistuation as well. They informed my mom that during the tagging process their computer printing system had a glitch and the printed tags got out of order creating incorrect tagging on some of the luggage. And yes, you are correct, my mom was given a tag from the ship the night before she put her bags out for the transfer, to place on her own bag with all the correct contact info, the airline the bag was to be put on & what city it was to be flown too. That tag was correct. When the 3rd party transfer service had the printing glitch a different tag was placed onto her bag. I guess if a transfer is used 2 tags are put on each piece of luggage. Her original correct tag & the incorrect tag. Because the incorrect tag was put on the top of the two tags, the airlines used the one most visible. The tag that was placed on her bag was for a bag that was to be flown on anther airlines to CA.

We decided to use this transfer service because we had our final excursion the day we were going to fly home. We didn't want to deal with our luggage the entire day and thought it would be easier to use this option.

Don't get me wrong this is a really bazar story & im sure it is pretty unlikely to happen, but it did happen to her. The chances are there I suppose if multi people are involved in getting your luggage home. Anything is possible. I'm just very happy it didn't go out of the country, as that would have been a puzzle that may have not been solved.

This is fabulous, Sarah.

Thank you so much for sharing exactly how to go about it.

I have printed this post for reference lest I need it for one reason or another.

Very generous of you to outline all those steps.

 

May all your travels be safe and may your luggage always go where you are going and arrive the same time you do. :)

 

Thank you, I sure hope it helps and isn't too confusing. Again, I'm happy to help if you ever would like. I can give you some personal contact info if that's an option on this site, if not I can find another way. Let me know.

Hopefully you'll never have a need to use any of these lists I've created and that you and your bags arrive at the same place at the same time as well as you in the future too!! Happy and safe travels!! Thank you so much again for all the support!!!

I thank you for the tips too. Air France kept my luggage in Paris for a couple of extra days after I flew home last year, and I was a wreck. So glad you located the luggage!

Thank you, thank you. I'm happy this puzzle has almost been solved!! Hope the tips come in handy in the future. Sorry to hear about your bag!! It's a really awful feeling & I would never wish anyone to have to go through it. It's too bad mix-ups like this happen...

Appriciate your support!!

So happy to hear your mom!s luggage has been found. Thanks too for the tips.

 

 

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Thank you SO much!! I'm happy to has been located too. Hope the tips come in handy!!

Hi sail7seas,

Thank you for your kind words. I too hope all the contents is inside safe & sound!!! We'll see...

I'd be happy to share how I 'got the word out' via social media.

All social media, except Vine (I think) has the ability for you to contact other people directly to share messages, photos, etc.

You must join each form of social media below. It's fairly easy to join & set up a page with each. There's usually step by step instructions. Happy to assist if needed.

Twitter for example allows you to connect directly to the airlines themselves. In your message, include the @ symbol. For example, I touched base with JetBlue. In my tweet, I wrote @jetBlue and listed all other airlines I could think of so they all would get my same message and luggage picture. (For example: @delta, @united, @frontier @americanair, and so on). You can research other ways to connect by directly going to, for example, Delta's Twitter page. I typed in @delta and was directly routed to their Twitter page, where I discovered there was a delta assistant. I wrote directly to them as well by getting the Twitter address, ie: @deltassit. Twitter however, was my least helpful form of social media regarding this sistuation, as I have yet to hear from anyone to correspond with.

Facebook worked the best. If you log into FB there is a search at the top of the page. There I typed in each airline I could think of and was directed to their personal home page. If you scroll down there's usually an area that you can click that reads 'post to page.' Click that and write what you'd like directly to their page. You can also send them a private message, by going to the top of their FB page and clicking 'message.' Your message will be sent to them privately. Another good thing to do is when posting info about a messing bag, make sure that post will be seen by the public. Change the settings before posting it if you have certain security settings on. Allowing your message to be viewed publicly will reach out to more people than just those who are your FB friends. You want this message to get out to everyone if possible.

Instagram is mostly for pictures, but you have the ability to write a caption under the photos. Where Instagram differs is the way you can contact certain groups of people. Once you post a picture you can include certain groups your photo. If you type in #lostluggage, your photo & contents will be directly linked and posted to anyone who has ever typed in that hashtag. Your picture is now included in a group of basically everyone who has lost luggage. I used the hashtags: #lost #lostsuitecase #lostluggage #lostandfound #airplane #delta and so on. You can also direct your picture to certain people and pages as well by tying in @delta and that info will go directly to them along with anyone you also include.

LinkedIn helped me research contact information of VP, CEO's, etc of each airline. Sometimes you can get lucky and get a more direct contact number, but most of the time it's the Centeral 1-800 number.

Also every airlines has a separate baggage phone number. Again, it's usually an 800 number, but worth calling. From there they usually will direct you to their lost luggage department. And you can give them all the pertinent information. Some airlines had a nationwide database for info containing lost luggage. I had the one who did take all my if I and directly add it to their database. Anyone in that company could pull up the last luggage database & see that I was searching for a certain bag. Some airlines, such as South West didn't have a lost luggage nationwide database unfortunately, but most did.

I hope this isn't too confusing and helps a little. Let me know if you need more clarification, as this can be a bit confusing - completely understandable. I'm happy to help you should you need any assistance with regards to this.

Always,

Sarah

Thank you Fouremco!! I'm hoping the same about her personal items...keeping positive hopes. I'll let you know later tonight.

Thank you for your support too!! Means a ton, truly.

Sincerely,

Sarah

Thank you so much Cruz Chic!! You also have been so helpful and supportive. Couldn't have done this without all this great support.

I'm sorry to hear you went through a similar sistuation. It's such a 'lost' and 'helpless' feeling. I'm happy your luggage was found.

Thank you so much again!

Always,

Sarah

Thank you so much Mar56. You have been so great! I appriciate all of your support.

I'm glad you found my 'suggestion' helpful. I've learned so much the past few days. I hope it can help you out with all of your future travels.

I had no idea how this whole 'lost luggage' thing worked exactly. I hope my struggles and lessons learned helps at least one future traveler.

Always,

Sarah

After nearly 72 hours, the help of social media and a countless amount of effort we have located my moms luggage in New York. It will be flown to Denver tonight, where my mom & I will personally pick it up.

According to the gentlemen in New York, her bag flew on Alaska Air and JetBlue. It never once flew with Delta (the original, correct airlines). I'm not sure as of yet if it traveled anywhere else. Apparently, according to Holland America there are "quite a few bags" this has happened too. My mom and I have pieced together at least 9 that we know of. There are still 3 bags from our cruise transfer in New York that have yet to find their way home. We have notified Holland America of this.

Im not sure of the current state of the bag, or if all the contents is still inside, but I'm hoping all is fine...

I just want to personally thank everyone who helped me and responded well as the advice and tips on what to do. If it hadn't been for Social Media my moms bag probably wouldn't have been found. Thank you again. I appriciate all your support, kind words and helpful hints.

I have learned a ton the past few days not only about transfers from cruise ships, but airlines themselves and what I personally should do to insure my bags safety in the future. Here are some of my suggests and the things I've learned - I'd like to pass to you this info; the weary, innocent traveler:

1. Purchase luggage insurance for trips that go outside the United States

2. Buy a suite case tracking devise that slips into your baggage which is connect to your phone so you can find your own bag should something happen via a GPS.

3. Take pictures of the contents in your luggage as well as the outside of the luggage itself before you travel

4. Place a list of items and their description on the inside of your suite case, along with your name & contact information, in addition to your 'bags' destination. Keep a copy for yourself so you have proof of everything you took for future reference - you WILL need this should your bag go astray

5. Make sure all contact information for your bag is securely fastened to your bag and the information card is filled out with the correct phone & address

6. Be weary of cruise ship transfers. I'd suggest holding onto your bag even though it's a pain. It's better to keep an eye on your stuff

7. File a missing bag report right away once you realize your bag is not on the carousel when you travel. DO NOT leave the airport with no paper trail. Make sure you notify everyone

8. Carry on board with you ALL your jewelry, electronics and anything else that could be to value to you, including medication. The airlines only compensate $3,300 for lost domestic flights and only $1,742 for international

9. Continue calling the airlines & cruise lines after you have returned home. I have found "out of sight, out of mind" plays a big role in this hide-and-seek game

10. Return to the airport of where your bag was suppose to have landed. One trip might not be good enough, ask if you can look in their "lost luggage closet" with them to ensure your bag is truly not there. Bring them a photo of your bag so they know exactly what they are looking for. A small description like "it's red" isn't good enough. They actually need to see it

11. Double check the airline has written down your correct contact information, especially your phone number should they find your bag. It's likely they switched a few numbers because of careless human error

12. Try to touch base with other airlines. Contact the baggage service of as many airlines as you can think of. It's a really lengthy process, but one you won't regret. (I have that info should anyone need it, lol)...not funny. It's very possibly there was a tagging error and your bag may have gone on a completely different airlines than you

13. Try with all you can to just travel lightly & pack only want you need. By doing this, it's possible you can just carry your suite case onboard with you so it never leaves your sight

14. Do NOT wait for the airlines or the cruise ship to find your bag. You will have to do some legwork here. More than likely, your case has been tucked away with all the other 'lost bag' reports and they are not really looking into it. It's best to do all you can and as quickly as you can. The longer your bag is missing the worse it gets. For example, SouthWest airlines only holds onto a lost bag for 5 days. Once that time has passed they are no longer "responsible" for your property. Bags are usually found within 48 hours.

15. Use social media as another tool to find your bag. It's good to let everyone you can know about this. Especially contact other airlines using social media - that's the only reason my mom has located her bag

16. Fill out information online such as airportlostandfound.com and easyjetworldtracer.com - it's some of the largest databases for lost items worldwide

17. Avoid rushed check-in's and connections. You might make it on time to your flight by running, but more than likely your bag will not

18. Keep in mind the airlines has 21 days to find your missing or delayed luggage, after that it is considered 'lost' and you'll need to file a claim. Do not wait on doing this. Follow every step in the order your are instructed. The airlines are more willing to work with you if you 'follow the rules.' You should also be compensated for everyday you were without your luggage up to the 21 day marker. Make sure you are familiar with all the rules and regulations of the airline you are traveling, so you have all the accurate information

19. Find online blogs related to your trip, airlines or cruise. Post your 'lost luggage' story there, along with a picture of the suite case. A lot of people will read & some will respond. Anything helps

20. Finally, keep in mind that luggage considered 'lost' after 21 days will more than likely be sold at an auction to companies similar to goodwill. There they will riffle through the contents of your bag & sell it for profit. Not all airlines do this, but most do. To avoid this, keep doing everything you can. Work at finding your bag everyday. It will take hours & hours, but it's worth your time. Once your personal items get auctioned off you will never see them again. 21.8 million bags were 'Mishandled' last year alone. Granted, the majority of those found their way back to their rightful owner, but some did not. Don't let your bag be one of these, as it is very possible.

Hope this helps future travelers. Keep in mind that 80% of mishandled bags do get found & reunited with their owner.

Thank you again,

Sarah

I was actually thinking the same thing Cruz chic, why wouldn't someone from whatever airlines it landed at just look at the information both on the pink luggage tag as well as the information card on the back of the suitecase? It seems odd that no one has done that. All her information is right there. I feel like this could be resolved if we had people more dedicated towards looking into problems & doing some research. I get they are busy, but come on...just read one of the MANY information cards attached to that luggage, it's that simple.

The only other thought that crosses my mind is that her luggage was picked up by another passenger or stolen from the carousel...I hope not, but it does cross my mind after going on 48 hours now. Plus, what's the tracking system like in other countries? What do they do with misplaced luggage? Are they more lax on their procedures and rules when it comes to that type of stuff? Ugh, wish I could fix this...

Side note: my poor parents have been through a lot lately, my dad having two surgeries due to his M.S. the past few months. I just want to help, but don't really know how. If I could find this bag, it just might make a small difference..

Hello again,

No new information was found at the airport, however we were able to talk to Frontier & see if they had a nationwide database for lost luggage. They do, and my mom case was put into that, so if her suitcase happens to appear on that airline, they can contact her. Southwest however does not have that capability and the lines were too long for Jet Blue and American Airlines for lost luggage. Delta really has little hope of finding it because 'tags' are the only way to track things. It's unfortunate because my mom has the correct tags, just not the right suitcase. So somewhere in either the United States or anywhere in the world sits a purple & black suitecase with incorrect tags.

We decided we'd make a list of every airline in the world, find the lost baggage contact number & go from there. There are just hundreds of airlines, but I'm not sure what else there is to do.

In terms of transfers Boytjie, it was a direct transfer from the ship to the Seattle airport. We have used HOlland America luggage transfer one other time with no problems at all. How this works: everyone who has requested a transfer for their luggage must place their suitecase outside their rooms about 12 hours prior to leaving the ship. You are giving tags before-hand and its up to you to put them on the suitecase. The bags are than picked up by the staff & taken to a 3rd party for additional tagging. That's where our problem began. Because there are so many bags going to different places around the world and on different airlines, I can see how a mix up could occur. The unfortunate part of this whole mess is under the 2nd tag is the original tag my mom put on her bag the before, but no one is pulling the tags apart to see that information. We knew the suitecase that had my moms information on it was wrong, obviously by the color, but also by pulling the 2 tags apart, we were able to determine that bag should have gone to CA on another airline. According to Delta, the suitecase destined for CA, the one my mom received, those tags were placed on a bag headed to FL. So, we do know that this has impacted at least 3 different families.

Thank you so much for all the great responses!

We are still looking for my moms bag. My mom has told me she has been in touch with both Delta and Hollamd America. Holland America seemed suprised, but said they would try to sort this out & get back to her. The Delta customer service rep said they were still looking, but seemed to have little hope. I guess when tags get incorrectly placed on bags, it's unlikely that those bags ever get back to their rightful owners because there's no way to track them. Infact, I've read bags that go unclaimed are put up for auction and the bag along with its contents are sold for profit. Last year alone 24.1 million bags were either lost or mishandled (SITA research). I guess I don't understand why the lost baggage departments can't look to see if each unclaimed bag has identification and call the phone numbers. I know this would take a ton of time, but it would put the minds at ease of those who have had their bags lost.

Not only is the lost bag an issue, I wonder what happens to bags just left on carousel's that rotate forever. Do they get stolen? Does the contents also get riffled through and stolen? We can no longer lock our bags, so it's pretty much fair-game? Scary thoughts!

Anyway, we are now on our way out to DIA to see if anything has changed. My mom feels her bag may never be found. We are going in with pictures of the bag & more information in hopes it could help find it. We are pretty much up for trying anything at this point.

My suggestion to all future cruise guests - never ever do a transfer from Hollamd America to the airport, carry on ALL important things so you know where they are at all times, take photos of your bag & any of its contents, purchase luggage insurance if possible, make sure there's identification on your bag that can't be ripped off, and all the above advise.

I'm still holding out hope for her. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Thank you again!! The support & advise has been so helpful. Learning lots, needless to say.

Sarah