What to Do When Your Checked Bag Is Lost?

All set for a vacation, your family and you load all your bags in your car and reach the parking at LGA. You chatter and chirp (and of course take selfies) at the airport while you wait for the board to be announced. The next few hours go by excitedly inside the aircraft, and you can barely hold in the excitement when the airplane lands and begins taxing towards the arrival terminal. The family excitedly makes its way to the luggage carousel and waits for the luggage to arrive. And then they wait some more. And they keep on waiting till every other passenger has collected every piece of their luggage. And then it hits you that if anything can go wrong during a vacation, it will. Your airline has managed to misplace your luggage.

The instances of airlines losing passengers baggage are so common now that regular fliers are almost used to it and take it in their stride. But for many of us, the loss or misplacing of our luggage brings forth several emotions (just like a well-made movie). We feel a sense of dread about whether we will ever get back our stuff. There is also a sense of frustration just like losing an EWR parking coupon. And most of all, it is the irritation of the impending wastage of time and the hassles associated with this. But like we said, this is a pretty common occurrence and most airlines have well-drilled procedures to take care of such eventualities. Here is what you should do (or not do) when it happens to you:

• The first rule is not to panic. It has happened to many others, and they have lived. So will you.
• Report the loss to the baggage claim office of the airport you are in, giving as much detail as possible of your bag as you can.
• You should also give complete contact details of the hotel you are heading to.
• Inform the hotel about this and wait patiently for the baggage to be located and delivered.