When you head off on holiday, there’s plenty to look forward to. Sun, sea, sand – and a bevy of memories you’ll carry with your forever. However, it’s isn’t all roses and sunshine. Sometimes things sadly go wrong. One such example comes in the form of luggage going missing. Here are some tips for knowing what to do when this does occur:
Report it
Don’t be shy about reporting your loss. As the CAA point out, most airports will have a specialist baggage area where you can report lost or damaged items as soon as you arrive. If this happens, you’ll receive a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) from them.
This is required if you want the airline to accept your claim. It can also be applied to damaged property, should your bags turn up in a less than acceptable condition. Whatever the case, it’s pivotal you get in contact with a member of airport staff as soon as you can when you know something’s up.
Knowing if you’re covered
Half the battle when it comes to dealing with lost luggage is knowing if your insurance covers the items or not. Work out if you are by consulting online guides, such as the one from TINZ. These will determine whether or not you’re able to get any money back for your missing goods.
More often than not you’ll be covered if it’s the fault of the airport. These mistakes do happen, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have to cover the expense yourself. Make sure you know when you aren’t forking out the bill.
Finding new clothes
Once you’ve accepted your items have been sacrificed to the airport gods, it’s time to move on. That will usually involve heading out and finding a new wardrobe for yourself. At the very least, you can head out and treat yourself to some fancy new threads. Unless you’ve packed your life into your suitcase, you’ll not need to completely blow your budget.
A few simple items should be enough to get you through the average holiday. In the case of longer stays, you might need to get compensation from the airport. It’s unreasonable to expect you to spend your hard-earned cash when, after all, it wasn’t your fault things went missing in the first place.
Carrying stuff on the plane with you
There are plenty of guides detailing what you should include in your carry-on bag, but an important aspect of this includes clothing. While documentation and money will naturally be pivotal, taking spare clothes will also play an integral part in ensuring your things go to plan.
Don’t panic if your luggage does go missing. These steps make the entire process much simpler before and after a loss. Follow this guide and you’ll find your next trip is totally stress-free!
Brought to you in collaboration with Cassandra Miller
