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My luggage with over $5418 in clothing and electronics was just lost and here’s what I did

“The airline lost my luggage. What do I do?”
T

hat was the first query I typed into google while stuck at the St. Martin (SXM) airport after my luggage was lost on my way back home from St. Barth (SBH). Our flight out of SBH was at 1:25 with a travel time of 15 minutes and our flight from SXM to Newark (EWR) wasn’t until 3:10, giving us about 1.5 hours. After weather delays, our flight didn’t take off until 3pm and somehow my bag was put on an earlier flight and either sent to EWR without me or lost in SBH or SXM.

If you find yourself in a situation like mine where the airline loses you luggage or you want to prevent this nightmare scenario from happening to you, here’s what I did.

First of all, I didn’t personally have to do any of these tasks (luckily), that’s because I used my assistant, FancyHands, and scheduled all these tasks for them, saving me at least 10 hours of my time. Get 50% off your plan when you use my referral link.

File a lost baggage claim ticket with the airline that lost your luggage

WinAir is the airline that lost my luggage and the baggage manager took down my information along with my the baggage ticket on my bag. I suspect they put the wrong tag on the bag so that’s why they were never able to find it.

File an insurance claim with your credit card

Once I had my lost baggage claim ticket, since I booked with Chase Sapphire Reserve, I was eligible for up to $3500 in reimbursement. In my suitcase I had my drone, external hard drive, clothes and accessories that exceeded that amount but something is better than nothing.

Call the airline of your connecting flight

I suspected my bag was loaded onto my United flight into EWR so I called the airline to see if it was in their system. It wasn’t but it was good to put in the call just to make sure.

File a claim with your renters or homeowners insurance

I use Lemonade for my renters insurance and in addition to covering items while they’re in our home they also cover any loss or damage out of the home which includes luggage, electronics and clothes in my suitcase.

How to prevent your bag from being lost

  • Always allow at least 2 hours for connections and maybe 3 hours if you’re flying into a tiny airport
  • Purchase a Tile tracker to remotely locate exactly where your bag is. I just bought the new replaceable battery unit so I’ll be able to track my bag for years to come
  • When booking your flights always use a card with lost baggage insurance like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Amex Platinum
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