Lost luggage at the airport

[parris]

My friend travelled to Mexico with American Airlines (indirect flight) 10 days ago and is due to take his return flight today. He still hasn't received his luggage back from the airport. He reported the matter to the airport authority in Mexico after arriving there. My friend incurred extra expenses as he had to buy clothes etc and all the essential items whilst waiting for his luggage. Please could anyone suggest what steps he would need to take to claim compensation.

[KARL]

Assuming your friend reported the matter to the lost luggage department (which deals with American Airlines) and has a copy of the incident report, then he should keep all receipts and speak to the same department on departure to ensure he has up-to-date information of the status and that the airline has a note of his home address (cancelling the relevance of the temporary address). He should press hard to find out whether the baggage has been traced, ehere and when. He should at all times ensure he has a printout of his initial report or at least the relevant reference number. On arrival at home he should again raise the matter at the airport (straight off the AA flight) and again get an update. At this stage he should be talking to the airline itself (perhaps in addition to the luggage desk). He should obtain the contact details of their customer services desk which deals with lost luggage. If he has travel insurance then he should also advise the insurance company. If the baggage fails to be returned to him after a given time (peraps 2-4 weeks) then he should make a claim from the airline and/or insurance company. At now point should he fail to keep the initial missing baggage report details safe, otherwise he may have no claim at all.

[KARL]

Sorry, typo...please read 'At no point....'. Incidentally, I have assumed his baggage was checked through to his final destination - in any case, he should have made a report at whichever airport the bags failed to turn up at, then kept the details. It does not matter if it was a case of intermediate stop(s) so long as the matter is reported as soon as the bags fail to show.

[dzug]

Assuming the indirect flight was via a US airport - did your friend collect his baggage there, take it through customs and recheck it?

If not, I'd guess the luggage is sitting in a customs compound in the US.

And if that is the case, neither the airline nor the insurance company will be interested in paying anything out.

Apologies if I've gone off down a blind alley.

[parris]

Yes his baggage was checked in at the interchange airport.

[sitges]

My luggage was lost on a return flight from Mexico to the U.S. Actually it was taken off the plane at the airport where we went through customs before we flew back to the U.S.
We had to claim the lost luggage in the U.S. when we arrived in the U.S. We newwhere the luggage was and it still took 10 days to get the luggage back. This was on American Airlines also. I had to call several times before I could get any satisfaction and get my luggage back. Good luck. It seems that the Mexican subsidery of American runs what happens in Mexico and American can not do anything about it. Hope everything works out for you and you get your luggage back.