What happens if your luggage gets lost by airline and you're not staying in arrival city?

I would check the website for the airline you will be flying. They probably have a section on lost luggage that details their procedure.

Hi Eliza,

I am assuming you’re flights are on a single ticket. Take a list of the hotels and the dates you will be at each one in whatever you are carrying on board to give to the lost baggage people in the case your bag does not arrive with you. I would also suggest putting another copy of that same list in your luggage. We also take a change of clothes in our small carry on and make sure those clothes coordinate with what we wear on the plane. You could conceivably make it through the entire trip with just those few things by sink washing. You wouldn’t want to but could. If you are traveling with a partner, split your things between the two pieces of luggage. Be sure that anything that you absolutely cannot afford to be without is in that carryon - meds, reservations, etc. If all else fails, you can always go shopping for what you need. The other alternative is not to check your bag at all and just do carry on.

If you are worried about it, and 40 minutes is pretty short, maybe do just carry on.

That transfer time is too short even if you are not concerned about your bag. You should consider changing the flight.
The only way that you can be reasonably sure that your bag will arrive is to take it as a carry-on. Even so, 40 minutes may not be enough.
That said, depending upon the size of the bag, many local flights in Europe will not accommodate a carry-on. You may end up gate checking it. Nevertheless, a gate check is almost certain to arrive with you.
If it were me, I would try to change the flight to Florence to a later one and I would plan to spend the first night in Florence. Then I would take the bus to Sienna the next day, or the train if that is your preference. The bus arrives higher up the hill.

You say that you won’t have a working phone. You will still be able to communicate by email or calls over Wi-Fi. Don’t forget that possibility. The other option is to sign up for a “pay as you go” phone plan from your carrier. For example, ATT, $10 for each day you use your phone. No emergencies, don’t use your phone and there is no charge. An emergency? $10 won’t seem that important.

Eliza: The "short" answer is, yes, the airline will deliver your bag to the city where you are...even though you will be in a different country from your arrival city. On our trip last year, we flew into Zurich and immediately took the train to Appenzell an hour away. My suitcase did not make it When it arrived in Zurich about 40 hours later, the airline turned it over to a courier company, when then delivered it to the hotel in the middle of the night.

Mary has given you excellent advice, of making a list of your hotels AND also making sure your carry-on has ALL your essentials...including a change of clothes (or at least underwear and socks).
Maybe consider purchasing Air Tags, if you are an Apple user. We just purchased a set for our upcoming trips, but haven't used them yet. (Oops! just re-read you won't have a working phone).

My advice was based on past experience. On one trip, we started in Strasbourg, France and my luggage had not arrived. For the first time in our travels, we had not split up our things between us. Big mistake. My husband had clothes and I didn’t. I ended up shopping every day in Strasbourg for clothing which wasn’t a bad thing. My “luggage” became an Au Printemps shopping bag so I was really traveling light. Honestly, it was very freeing and great. Less is more. We moved on to Rothenburg, Germany four or five days later and my luggage was waiting for me at the Rothenburg hotel. Some luggage can go missing for a lot longer. When I say pack essentials into your carry on I mean essentials only. Things you cannot live without and cannot easily replace.

I'd be carrying-on in these circumstances, no doubt. If the flights are booked together, the airline is supposed to give you a "legal" connection time that is realistic.
Do you really travel without a phone? I'm impressed! It would be wonderfully freeing, but definitely complicate efforts to get any delayed luggage delivered to you.

"I would also suggest putting another copy of that same list in your luggage."

Yes to this. I put a complete hotel itinerary in a sheet protector clipped to the inside of my suitcase. I do not lock my suitcase (nothing in there to steal) but I do have the zips fastened with a carabiner so they don't some open and spew my unders around the baggage carousel.

I'll add that I haven't had mis-directed luggage in 40 years but that might just be chance.

This is really good advice even if you’re not traveling to a different city right away. I never thought about putting an itinerary with my hotels in the suitcase, but I will definitely be doing that now! Thanks!

I’ve never checked luggage in Europe - just do carry-on, but I have had luggage lost in the US years ago. Pack a daypack/small backpack or whatever with one change of clothes, your essentials from your toiletry kit, including medicine, your phone or ipad & charger, and any reservations/tickets info. Assume your checked bag will be lost for three days - whatever is vital to have with you.

Luggage typically gets lost when there is a change in schedule like a canceled flight and you get re-routed through different cities. If your flights are on one ticket, then even if you do not make your flight your luggage likely will. If your luggage arrives with you in Vienna and you go through customs, then I am pretty sure it will make it to Florence. Unfortunately, if you are moving around, fairly quickly it might have difficulty catching up with you. I have lost luggage once on an entire Ireland/UK trip. I learned a lot from that experience. I got my luggage back the day I arrived back in St. Louis. My travel companion never did receive her luggage. (I assume it ended up in some luggage sale somewhere). A further delay in getting your luggage is also if it has not cleared customs. Heathrow would not release our luggage until the forms were completed online and then they lost our luggage again. We also had our luggage labeled inside and outside and we also had Travelguard trying to find it. We took all precautions. It was just a canceled flight, a British Airways IT meltdown, and us ending up in a different arrival city than our original itinerary.

If you have two separate tickets, then you will have to re-check luggage through a different airline. That is going to take a lot longer than 40 mins. If you can carry on luggage that is your best bet.

Margaret

It's Austrian Airlines... one ticket! Didn't realize it was so short when I booked it.

Yes, Vienna is first Schengen stop so I need to go through border control.

Amazing they have such a short transfer time.

If when you get to Florence, your luggage is not there when you make you lost luggage claim, be sure they know where you are each day so when it does get found, they know where to send it.

Be sure to have a change or two of clothes in a carry on to get by if there is a luggage separation.

( I deleted my earlier post after I researched and saw Austrian has that on their schedule.)

I am glad it is on one airline. It will depend on how long it takes you to get through customs and drop off your luggage. I don't know the airport in Vienna, but most European airports have a drop point for transferring passengers. Typically, your luggage quickly gets transported to the flight as you make your way to the gate. I don't think the airline will lose your luggage if it is a simple transfer. The worry is that you may not make your flight. Is there a later flight leaving for Florence? Perhaps that will be your plan B if you can't make the connection fast enough. The good news is, the airline has the responsibility to get you to your final destination as you are on one ticket. If you are worried about the connection time and there is a later flight, call the airline and perhaps change it to that.

Do you remember that old post from one of our fellow travelers? He went to the counter in New York to check in for his international flight, with 3 suitcases, and handed a note to the counter attendant. She looked at the note, then looked back at him and said: “This says you want one bag to go to Helsinki, one bag to Manila, and the third bag to Santiago, Chile. We can’t do that!!” “Why not?” said our colleague. “That’s what you did on my last trip when I did NOT want you to, why can’t you do it when I DO want you to?”

Larry, thank you so much for my morning guffaw.

If you cannot change the connection, then here are my tips. When you check in, get both boarding passes. Make sure your luggage is tagged to Florence and asked them to tag it as "Short connection" (or whatever they call it now). Take a photo of your checked bag and make a note of the dimensions. You will need this if you have to file a missing luggage claim. Allow plenty of time at the Florence airport to take care of that. And do get the contact information for the airline regarding your lost luggage since you may need to follow up - though hopefully not. Finally, pack everything you need for the first 48 hours in your cabin bag.

BTW, if your bag doesn't come, you can take the tram (in case you weren't planning to anyway) to the Florence train station. Buy a ticket on the platform - it's a 2-3 minute walk from the terminal and stops right in front (well, at the side entrance) of the station. You may want to take the bus - on the other side of the station - to Siena instead of the train. It gets you closer to the city center than the train does.