Lost Baggage! (china Airline)

[BambinA]

Guys,

I have been in Utrecht, the Netherlands since 31 August 08. However, I do not get my bag yet as it gets lost from the airport.

Funny thing is it was a direct flight BKK-Amsterdam. I should not have any problem yes?

The secretary at Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is working hard for that as they email/call the airline quite often.

The china airline can not even track the barcode of the tag. They offer me 5O USD (about 30's Euro) for buying things ..<deleted>! It is nothing in europe.

My sister who lives in BKK also work on it (contact with the Thai side)

What'd I do next?

Dank u well.

Bambi

ps. I went to the "lost baggage room" at schiphol already last Sunday and I was not able to find my bag. How sad..Icried as the weather here is funny. It is cold, rainy and hot in any moment .

Edited September 10, 2008 by BambinA

[LaoPo]

Hi Bambi,

welcome to Holland and I am so sorry for your inconvenience; you must feel horrible, missing your personal belongings !

Did you try to contact China Airlines* in Holland ?; it could be that it went missing in Bangkok but also Amsterdam.

Did you contact lost and found when you arrived on Schiphol Airport - Amsterdam and described your luggage to the people attending the office in the arrival hall where the luggage normally arrives?

http://www.china-airlines.nl/

http://www.schiphol.nl/AirportInformation/...LostLuggage.htm

http://www.schiphol.nl/AirportInformation/...ostAndFound.htm

Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Good luck

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

Just in case you didn't see or use it yet:

http://www.schiphol.nl/AirportInformation/...dAtSchiphol.htm

Good Luck !

LaoPo

[BambinA]

Dear LeoPo,

Yes, I think I have done several thing you have mentioned

(Did you contact lost and found when you arrived on Schiphol Airport ) - yes, I have got a form that i filled in already

(contact with www.china-airlines.nl) - yes, the secreatry of FVM at Utrecht University is in charge with it

[LaoPo]

Dear LeoPo,

Yes, I think I have done several thing you have mentioned

(Did you contact lost and found when you arrived on Schiphol Airport ) - yes, I have got a form that i filled in already

(contact with www.china-airlines.nl) - yes, the secreatry of FVM at Utrecht University is in charge with it

Thanks, our messages crossed each other within 5 seconds.

I hope you will be able to trace and find your luggage....

LaoPo

[enyaw]

Maybe it'll turn up but did you purchase any travel insurance, a standard policy pays (around) upto $3000 on lost baggage otherwise I'm sure Laopo will be able to give you a few of his old frocks to tie you over.. ?

[Carib]

Sorry to hear about your trouble Bambina, Yes the weather is different than what you are used to, temperatures are lower, more wind and heading to wards autumn/winter.

I really cannot give you advice as you already stated that work is done on both sides, Bkk/Ams.

Did you by any chance pay for the trip with a credit card? If yes there is a possibility that the credit card company also offers some money to get through the first days, and if the suitcase is never found, they will deal with it as an insurance case. All depending of course on what bank/company issued the card.

Cannot be of anymore help.

I see that you have learned some dutch already, but it is even more easy than you wrote it. It is: Dank u wel. With just one l.

[BambinA]

I am not really sure about the travel insurance is China Airline is a low cost flight.

I would get 20 USD / Kg of my bag's weight (it is 23 kgs)

Anyway, i do not want that money. I jsut want my bag

Maybe it'll turn up but did you purchase any travel insurance, a standard policy pays (around) upto $3000 on lost baggage otherwise I'm sure Laopo will be able to give you a few of his old frocks to tie you over.. ?

[jetjock]

Bambina..Sorry to hear that the airline lost your checked bag. I worked for the airlines for over 35 years and have had checked bags lost several times. Usually the probem involves being routed to the wrong place so they eventually turn up albeit several days late. In most cases the airline eventually finds the misrouted bags and they are returned within a few days however in your case it appears that it has been over 10 days since it was lost which unfortunately is not a very good sign. Hopefully you will be lucky and they will eventually find your bag.

Some of the things that I do as an experienced traveler to try to cut down on my incidence of losing my bags is to make sure that tags they put on the bags have the correct routing and also to mark my suitcases with extremely distinctive marking so no one accidentally picks mine up at baggage claim. I have at least 4 separate baggage ID tags with my name, address, etc. on each suitcase just in case one accidentally falls off. Most importantly, I try to get to baggage claim before the bags arrive so that I can watch them come out the chute and pick up my bag before anyone else accidentally or purposely walks off with my bag.

Hope you have fun over there going to school. My Thai wife is currently traveling throughout Europe with four of her Thai friends that are finishing up their doctorates at universities in England and Austria. She is having a wonderful time traveling to all the different countries over there as I am sure you will have once you get settled in and hopefully get your bag back. Good luck.

[WorldwideALOHA]

Excellent advice Jetjock. I've had bags lost before too.

In addition to all of the above, always put tags INSIDE of your bag. If your outer tag gets torn off / disappears, your bag will eventually end up in lost baggage somewhere. These lost baggage centers hold bags for 30 days and inventory all inner contents for identification purposes. If you have included a tag inside of your bag it will be returned.

I use those sticky mailing labels and stick them on the inside of my bag and also on a few items inside to be sure.

Aloha

[Nampeung]

Bambi PM me your Euro mobile and I'll call for a chat hon

[jetjock]

Excellent advice Jetjock. I've had bags lost before too.

In addition to all of the above, always put tags INSIDE of your bag. If your outer tag gets torn off / disappears, your bag will eventually end up in lost baggage somewhere. These lost baggage centers hold bags for 30 days and inventory all inner contents for identification purposes. If you have included a tag inside of your bag it will be returned.

I use those sticky mailing labels and stick them on the inside of my bag and also on a few items inside to be sure.

Aloha

Mahalo for adding that WorldwideALOHA as I forgot to mention it. I keep color copies of my passport and my drivers license instead of tags inside all of my suitcases which not only can serve as identification for a lost bag if the airlines have to open it but can also help me out if I ever lose my actual passport or drivers lic. when I am traveling.

[gk10002000]

I believe Thailand and the Netherlands and most countries have signed the same international plane travel agreement that specifies how much the airlines will pay for lost luggage. Domestic USA flights have certain fixed dollar amounts. International agreements seem to have a default value of:

".... International travelers are reimbursed by the pound -- about $9 a pound with a ceiling of $640 for each checked bag..."

I looked over China Air Line web site. buried down in one of the pages is the "conditions of passenger and baggage." From the home page click on "Customer Response" Looks like they may pay up to $20/kg for lost luggage.

http://www.china-airlines.com/en/en_def.pdf

[rainman]

You should have a baggage check receipt with a number on it. They should have attached it to your ticket when you checked-in. Do you have that? If so, ask both the airport and the airline to do a trace on it. All bags get scanned as they pass through the checkpoints at the airports and when they get loaded onto the airplane. This should give you an idea as to where it went or where it was last seen.

[gk10002000]

Guys,

I have been in Utrecht, the Netherlands since 31 August 08. However, I do not get my bag yet as it gets lost from the airport.

Funny thing is it was a direct flight BKK-Amsterdam. I should not have any problem yes?

The secretary at Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is working hard for that as they email/call the airline quite often.

The china airline can not even track the barcode of the tag. They offer me 5O USD (about 30's Euro) for buying things ..<deleted>! It is nothing in europe.

My sister who lives in BKK also work on it (contact with the Thai side)

What'd I do next?

Dank u well.

Bambi

ps. I went to the "lost baggage room" at schiphol already last Sunday and I was not able to find my bag. How sad..Icried as the weather here is funny. It is cold, rainy and hot in any moment .

I believe the $50 is only intended to be a temporary solution you could use for immediate purchase of basics for one day or so. Based on $20/kg and 23 kg, you should be entitled to $460 USD. I read you did not care about the money but only wanted the bag. I would let go of the bag and take the money. I would take the $50 but make sure you and the airlines agree it is not a final settlement but only an interim amount while you wait for the whole amount. Otherwise, if you accept the $50 the airline may presume you have settled completely.