Lost luggage Holland America Alaska Cruise Aug 2015

[Simplysls]

Hi,

I'm new to this online cruise critic, but am hopeful someone might be able to help me.

I'm writing to help my mom who has been trying to locate her lost luggage for 24 hours now.

We had a luggage transfer from the holland America ship to the Seattle airport yesterday August 22, 2015. Than, from Seattle the luggage was suppose to go to DIA in Colorado, but my moms bag never came. Another suitcase had been double 'tagged' with her name and information on it and it wasn't hers. It belonged to a lady who stayed on the same floor as my mom on the holland America ship. That bag was suppose to go to CA, but instead went to Denver. The bag got tagged incorrectly when it was going from holland America to the airport. Because that bag was double tagged not only with the incorrect name but also the incorrect airlines. My mom flew with Delta, but the incorrect bag she received was suppose to be flown by Jet Blue. Apparently if you agree to a transfer, holland America has a third party tag each bag with its correct name of the owner, the airlines and state destination. The outside tag had my moms name & information on it, and the second tag (the inside tag) had the correct owner info on it. Needless to say, I believe my moms bag had the same outcome. Unfortuntially, no one from the Delta airlines has any idea where my moms bag is, what airline it might haven gotten flown on and even if it's in this country. They also don't know where to start to try and find her bag. It's a purple and black suitcase, has a bright pink name tag on it and would have been flown somewhere in the U.S. Or other parts of the world yesterday, August 22, 2015. It could have been flown on any airline and any state. Please help. If anyone has any information, advise or can help me in anyway, i'd be grateful. Thank you!

[CaveDiving]

It’s really not nice to lose a bag. I can sympathize with you.

 

I would start two places. First I would contact the person whose luggage your mother received. It is certainly possible that the tags simply got switched and that person may have received your mother’s bag.

 

Second I would contact Holland America to see what help they can provide. They do have a bit more pull with the airlines than you as an individual.

 

Good luck with your efforts.

 

Scott & Karen

[Simplysls]

Thank you so much Scott and Karen! I appriciate any and all help/advise. I feel so bad for my mom...I wish I could just make her bag reappear, I'd do anything.

 

Thank you again!!

 

Sarah

[Krazy Kruizers]

I hope your mother got the name off the tags of the suitcase that she accidently got.

 

You definitely need to contact Guest Relations in Seattle.

[Simplysls]

Yes she does have that information from the other suitcase. I'll tell her to contact guest relations in Seattle. I hope it can be found.

 

Thank you,

Sarah

[msmayor]

Is the suitcase, by any chance, somewhat unique in design? A color other than black or grey? That could be important for all parties to know.

 

A few years ago my daughter was flying back and forth from Philadelphia to Hilton Head for college. On one trip, her checked bag went astray. That was always a risk since she changed planes in Atlanta every time.

 

We were able to send a picture of the bag to Delta (it was a Vera Bradley duffle, brightly colored with a design). They said that really helped in tracking the bag down, and they finally found it in (get this) Salt Lake City!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Guess we all have to start taking pictures of our luggage.

[dakrewser]

I'd first contact the 3rd party luggage transfer service to see if they've tracked the bags - and where to.

[Fouremco]

The more I see of posts like this, the more I'm tempted to buy one of the luggage locator devices such as this one: https://lugloc.com They aren't inexpensive, but like most forms of "insurance", are worth their weight in gold when something goes wrong.

[sapper1]

Yes she does have that information from the other suitcase. I'll tell her to contact guest relations in Seattle. I hope it can be found.

 

Thank you,

Sarah

 

Did your mother have an information sheet inside her suitcase? If she did she may be lucky and get her bag returned.

People laugh at me for all the attention to detail but all our luggage has an info sheet inside--including carry on bags.

Edited August 24, 2015 by sapper1

[Fouremco]

Did your mother have an information sheet inside her suitcase? If she did she may be lucky and get her bag returned.

People laugh at me for all the attention to detail but all our luggage has an info sheet inside--including carry on bags.

No laughter here, as we do exactly the same thing. On a business trip to Paris many years ago, my checked bag went missing. I provided the officials at Charles de Gaulle a description of the bag and the fact that there was an info sheet inside. The bag was delivered to my hotel the following day.

[DocF]

To help retrieve lost, delayed, mishandled bags, I do these things.

 

First, since all bags we check and most carry ons are hard sides, I have a large label affixed to the outside of each case with home address, phone, etc. I have booking information and another copy of the outside label inside each case.

 

To aid porters, shuttle bus drivers, and myself each of our carry on bags has a laminated orange tag that is attached that says carry on. I usually affix a baggage check to these, so the carry on label is very much needed.

 

There is only so much one can do, but these are all good steps. In my time as security consultant for Amtrak, I learned that one must give the baggage handlers some clues.:)

[richwmn]

The late great Louis Grizzard once said that he showed up at Atlanta airport to check in for a flight. When he got to the attendant he said hi, I'm going to Miami today, I want this bag to go to Chicago and that one to go to Denver.

When the attendant said that they couldn't do that, he responded "Well, you did it last week!"

Edited August 24, 2015 by richwmn

[Crew News]

We put large stickers on all sides of our luggage so that it cannot be mistaken by others and makes it very visible on luggage carousels.

[sail7seas]

No laughter here, as we do exactly the same thing. On a business trip to Paris many years ago, my checked bag went missing. I provided the officials at Charles de Gaulle a description of the bag and the fact that there was an info sheet inside. The bag was delivered to my hotel the following day.

 

I always have a large sheet of paper on the very top inside every suitcase that says: This bag belongs to: and gives all pertinent info including itinerary.

I also put a copy in every outside pocket if the bag has any pockets.

 

One just has to hope someone will bother to not only look for such information but will make good use of it. :)

 

OP.... I so hope you are able to recover your Mom's bag.

Good luck and please let us know.

 

[sail7seas]

the late great louis grizzard once said that he showed up at atlanta airport to check in for a flight. When he got to the attendant he said hi, i'm going to miami today, i want this bag to go to chicago and that one to go to denver.

When the attendant said that they couldn't do that, he responded "well, you did it last week!"

 

lol....... Great !!

 

[missmishka]

To help retrieve lost, delayed, mishandled bags, I do these things.

 

First, since all bags we check and most carry ons are hard sides, I have a large label affixed to the outside of each case with home address, phone, etc. I have booking information and another copy of the outside label inside each case.

 

To aid porters, shuttle bus drivers, and myself each of our carry on bags has a laminated orange tag that is attached that says carry on. I usually affix a baggage check to these, so the carry on label is very much needed.

 

There is only so much one can do, but these are all good steps. In my time as security consultant for Amtrak, I learned that one must give the baggage handlers some clues.:)

 

I suggest that you not put your home address on your luggage tags and/or any stickers you place on the outside of your luggage. If you're still working put your business address on the tags in place of your home address. If you're not working, only put your name and cell phone number.

[Fouremco]

I suggest that you not put your home address on your luggage tags and/or any stickers you place on the outside of your luggage. If you're still working put your business address on the tags in place of your home address. If you're not working, only put your name and cell phone number.

We use these tags: http://www.leevalley.com/en/gifts/page.aspx?p=68875&cat=4,104,53221&ap=8

 

Only our names are visible to someone casually looking at the bag and luggage tags, but the remaining information is still accessible with a little effort should it be needed.

[Simplysls]

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

[Shmoo here]

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

 

Well, that's a bit strong. We've done ship's transfers (not just HAL) on many cruises with no issue.

 

It's good advice that anything important, valuable, or expensive should be with you (in your carry on bag) not in your checked bags. And the ID inside the bag.

 

Luggage insurance is always possible, but, from what I've read, difficult to collect on and doesn't cover full value of contents.

[Boytjie]

Was your mother using a HAL transfer to the airport and not Luggage Direct?

 

I have not used an airport transfer; we either use Luggage Direct or take a cab (to the airport or our hotel depending on our plans.

 

What kind of tag would HAL put on the luggage for transfers? If the passenger doesn't have airline tags to put on the bags before handing it to HAL, how is it handled? Does the passenger collect the luggage when exiting the bus so they can check in?

[Simplysls]

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.

[ger_77]

I'm sorry to hear your Mom's luggage went astray. Hopefully HAL will come through with a minor miracle and your Mom's bag will end up at her house in a short while.

 

I always take a photo of our luggage in the kitchen the night before we leave, just in case one or more of the pieces decides to go on it's own vacation. If needed, I can produce the photo to show exactly what the errant bag looks like, hopefully speeding up the process so it gets back to us quicker.

 

Please keep us posted on the progress, and good luck!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Edited August 25, 2015 by ger_77

[cruz chic]

It's a good idea to take a picture of your luggage. I also have my own luggage tags with my name and phone number that are always on my luggage. I can't understand how luggage can be sitting somwhere without somebody says "what is that doing there"? If someone has it you'd think they would say something but I've heard some odd stories. I hope the luggage does turn up.

[Boytjie]

It's a good idea to take a picture of your luggage. I also have my own luggage tags with my name and phone number that are always on my luggage. I can't understand how luggage can be sitting somwhere without somebody says "what is that doing there"? If someone has it you'd think they would say something but I've heard some odd stories. I hope the luggage does turn up.

 

I have heard of people having someone else's luggage in their cabin and not saying or doing anything about if for days.