Q: My friends and I traveled from Conakry, Guinea last year on a Brussels Airlines flight to Washington Dulles, with a connection in Brussels. Our luggage could not be found when we landed. The airline told us it was on a different flight and would be delivered by FedEx to my residence in Philadelphia. My friends live in Australia and they were leaving two days later. The airline promised to send their luggage to them if it was not delivered in time for their flight to Australia. It arrived at my residence four days after my friends left, but the airline refuses to deliver the bags. Can you help? —Mariam D., Bensalem, PA
A: The first thing to know about this case is that the flights to Australia were not connected to the flights from Conakry—it was an Emirates itinerary booked on separate tickets, from JFK to Perth. Much like passengers, airlines have an obligation to deliver bags only to the destination on the ticket, which is one more reason to be careful of multi-city ticketing. Airlines may deliver bags farther afield, such as to a hotel that is two hours from the airport, or return them to a passenger’s home if the bags don’t catch up before a trip is finished, but it’s unlikely an airline will deliver them to another country (let alone continent), if that country was not in any way related to the airline’s own ticket.
The next thing to know is that there are six bags stranded at Mariam’s residence. I understand why neither she nor her friends have chosen to ship them on their own. A quick check of shipping choices revealed that an inexpensive method would likely cost between $500 and $1,000. And, given the verbal assurances they received from the airline, they expected it would ultimately ship the bags. Once Baggage Services reviewed the written details of the claim, however, it determined that it would not. There are a few reasons for this: First, Brussels Airlines made no promise in writing to deliver the bags to Australia; second, the claim did not list the delivery point for Mariam’s friends’ bags as a temporary residence, nor did it state the date of their departure to Australia; third, related to overarching policy, I contacted the U.S. Department of Transportation. It stated the following:
“There is no DOT rule that governs this type of situation. As for standard industry practice, it would depend in large part whether the flight(s) to Australia were on the same ticket (same 13-digit ticket number) as the flight from Conakry to D.C. If they were separate tickets—even if they were purchased at the same time from the same outlet—Brussels Airlines probably has no obligation under interline baggage agreements to forward the bags.”
So, if the claim had listed Australia as their permanent residence, because the round-trip itinerary terminated in Washington, D.C., the airline wasn’t likely to send the bags to Australia anyway. Even though a representative told Mariam and her friends that it would forward the bags, it’s difficult to substantiate verbal promises and it doesn’t surprise me that the airline ultimately defaulted to its contract of carriage and industry norms.
There are three main takeaways here. One, as we’ve stressed before, whenever possible, get documentation for any claim or promise. Two, be careful when booking an itinerary that includes separate airline tickets; it’s always best to leave a large window of time between unconnected flights—24 hours is a good rule of thumb. Of course, Mariam’s friends had two days to get their luggage, but that still wasn’t enough time, which leads to number three: If you can, pack light, particularly if you have a multi-ticket journey planned. If you check only one bag, it’s a much simpler and less expensive proposition to ship it home if you must. Even better, stick to a carry-on, which should allow you to avoid the problem entirely.
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