Every day, more than 3 million passengers fly in and out of the United States. Some of them inevitably will lose their bags.
According to a 2023 piece in NPRUS airlines lost about 2 million pieces of luggage every year. If the bags are eventually found, their owners can claim them back. Otherwise, they are sold at a discount to interested buyers, contents and all.
Most of the time, you won’t know your bag is lost until you get to your destination. However, occasionally you will see your bag get lost or delayed in real time. At least that’s what TikTok user Anna Lappe (@annalappe0) says happened to her.
What happened to this woman’s luggage?
In a video with over 1.2 million views, Lappe shows the view outside his airplane window. Her pinned location indicates she is at Philadelphia International Airport.
A man stands near the gate. He drives with two suitcases while looking at a handheld device. After a few seconds, he makes a slashing motion and walks away from the bags, seemingly unable to load them onto the plane.
“POV: you see your luggage miss the flight in real time,” Lappe writes in the video’s overlay text.
In the caption, she adds: “Looks like our suitcases weren’t ready to come home and extended their vacation without us.”
What should you do in this situation?
If you ever find yourself in this unfortunate situation, there are a few steps you can take.
The first happens as soon as you check your bag. A gate agent will give you your baggage tag. Still, it’s best to also take a picture of the tag and the bag before you leave. This way, if there is an incident, you can provide accurate evidence of what your bag looks like and how it was tagged before departure.
But if you’re already on the plane and, like Lappe, can see that a holiday-ruining disaster is brewing, there’s still time to act.
For starters, you can tell a flight attendant what you saw. If necessary, you can also provide your seat number and baggage tag number. They may not be able to recheck the bag for the current flight. However, they can alert the gate or ramp team to the problem so that it can be resolved quickly.
Then, when you arrive at your destination, you can go straight to your airline’s baggage counter and report the problem, giving them all the relevant information.
What if my bag never arrives?
Fortunately, it is quite rare for a bag to disappear completely. That being said, it definitely happens. Airlines and regulatory authorities know how bad it can be, which is why they have adopted some safeguards for passengers who experience problems with luggage.
First, airlines in the United States are “required to compensate passengers for reasonable, verifiable and actual incidental expenses they may incur while their baggage is delayed” on domestic flights, per Ministry of Transport.
Of course, you can’t just claim your bag was full of Versace and run up a big bill on the airline’s dime. However, you can make reasonable claims against an airline to replace lost items. For example, if you planned a day at the beach but didn’t have your bag with your beach gear, you can buy an outfit, swimsuit and towel, then submit the receipts to the airline for reimbursement.
If your bag has been “delayed” for between five and fourteen days (depending on the airline), they will likely declare the bag “lost”. If this happens, the DOT says an airline is required to compensate you for the bag and its contents up to a limit of $4,700 for domestic flights. The airline is also obliged to reimburse you for your baggage fees.
Similarly, you cannot claim that your bag was full of gold and get the maximum amount refunded. If you claim to have expensive items in your luggage, an airline may ask for proof. This may include receipts.
Travelers are worried
In the comments section, many users said that if they were in this situation, they would try to complain to the airline staff. However, this may not be as effective as they would hope.
“You guys say talk to cabin crew… cabin crew don’t decide these things, closed hold means flight released, flight released means the tower knows you’re ready to leave,” one commenter explained. “You can’t just say ‘uhm, can we cancel all this stuff so they can put my bag in the hold?’ you would delay all other planes landing AND taking off. Just accept defeat and maybe make demands on the airport/airline.”
That said, many said Lappe shouldn’t worry.
“This happens sometimes and I’m pretty sure they just load it on another plane going to the same place. It’ll probably be there when you get there,” one user noted.
Others said that Lappe could actually take advantage of the situation.
“BRUH the airline is buying me a new wardrobe,” said one user.
BroBible reached out to PHL via email and to Lappe via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment.
