when do you get reimbursed for lost luggage?

[dck12ga]

My question is if my luggage misses the flight and i go on a cruise that day, when does the insurance company give me the money to buy clothes or do they reimburse you after you purchase the clothes!?!?

[VegasCrossfire]

On our last cruise we ended up losing 1 bag (out of 4). When we got home we put in a claim and had to send receipts for what we bought that we lost (including one piece of luggage). They sent a check to us about 3-4 weeks later. It actually had 2 parts to the claim because first of all they consider it "delayed". Then "lost".

 

Hopefully that answers your question.

[sirwired]

Yes, they'll reimburse you (up to the limits on your policy) after you get home, and usually after you collect whatever the airline will agree to cough up.

[dck12ga]

so what do people do for clothes for the cruise??? I am not sure I would be able to buy a new wardrobe for everyone in the family!?!?!?!

[sitraveler]

When we had luggage delayed 10 days, we shopped a little on the ship and at each port of call until we had enough for then. The ship did do our laundry each night.

 

So we learned-- never not have a roll on with essentials- a bathing suit and enough for 2-3 days with us. I've fought with flight attendants where the roll on was going to be checked- told them my tale a woe and they found room for my bag.

[klfrodo]

so what do people do for clothes for the cruise??? I am not sure I would be able to buy a new wardrobe for everyone in the family!?!?!?!

 

First of all, the chances of the airline "losing" any piece of your luggage is less than 1%. The chances of them them losing ALL of your families luggage would be 0.001% maybe.

 

Second. Never pack all of your clothes in one bag. In other words don't pack "his" clothes in 1 bag, "her" clothes in one bag, and sons clothes in one bag. Always cross pack.

 

Third. Your insurance max payable is only going to be around $500 TOTAL. Not per bag. You're not expected to buy a whole new wardrobe for the entire family.

If you don't have all of your fancy clothes, those who care will understand, those who don't understand, don't matter.

[2ndhoney]

Our bags were delayed from our flight on American Airlines - thankfully our cruise departed 4 days later. I only had cruise insurance with Celebrity for our South American cruise.

 

We had to call American Airlines and have them start a file - after 2 days with them saying "we don't know where it is (both bags)" we argued that we are going on a 2 week cruise and need clothes. They said to go shopping 'within reason' and keep all receipts and then file a claim when we get back home.

 

On our embarkation day we 'speed shopped' at the closest mall to our hotel and got enough clothes for 5 days. It wasn't easy since Argentinians don't dress they way we do (underwear was a problem as well as other lingerie) and some sizes were hard to understand, and it was very expensive. We ended up buying 1 suitcase and clothes for the 2 of us for ~$1,500 out of pocket.

 

Our first day on the ship we went to customer service - they started a 'lost luggage' claim and were very helpful trying to track down our luggage with the airlines.

 

Thankfully, we had an overnight on the ship in our departure city for the cruise and the next day (they day we were leaving port) our bags finally made it to the airport. We trekked out there, got them and got back to the ship a few hours before it left port.

 

When we got home from the cruise we made copies of the receipts and sent them to American Airlines and Celebrity.

 

Within 4 weeks we received 2 checks for $500 from Celebrity for delayed luggage.:D

 

It took 3 more weeks for American Airlines to send us a check for the total amount we spent on the clothes & new luggage.:D

[Hlitner]

Filing a lost luggage claim can be a real "treat." Insurance companies will often ask you for a list of everything in the lost bag along with purchase receipts for each item. And if you happen to have that info (which nobody on earth has) then they will depreciate the items. So a nice dress shirt that cost $60 five years ago might be valued at $10....assuming you can prove the item was in the bag. Now some companies like Travel Guard are really nice about this stuff. Here is what they say,

 

Q. List of Claimed Items

A. If you do not have the original receipts for the lost items, please include a list of missing items, with the date purchased and the price you paid at the time the item was purchased.

 

So if you had 15 underwear items in the bag, all you have to do is say when you bought each piece and what you paid. This is the kind of info that everyone has at their fingertips :)

 

Hank

[Marie51]

so what do people do for clothes for the cruise??? I am not sure I would be able to buy a new wardrobe for everyone in the family!?!?!?!

 

A few years ago I arrived in Miami 2 days prior to a cruise. My suitcase was lost. Since I had the time I went shopping and bought a few things at CVS and Ross. So...........2 days later on the day the cruise was departing my suitcase finally showed up. Surprisingly Delta coughed up the money for everything I had bought so I did not have to file a claim with the travel insurance even though I had purchased it.

 

Also I always carry stuff in my carryon including 2 outfits, extra underwear, bathing suits, extra shoes, etc and this way if your checked bag is missing at least you've got something to wear.