Lost luggage

Tammy, sorry to hear of your lost luggage issue. You mention American and also Alitalia. I'm sure you completed a lost luggage report and you have a contact number. What we have done on a few "lost luggage" occasions is sought local help. We were fortunate when living in Rome to have Italian friends who could run interference for us. They cut through the "barriers" that we hit. But before moving to Rome, we also had a few issues and we used folks in our hotels. We came into MXP one time and ... no luggage. We were headed to Florence, Rome, and Naples so we made sure we gave all hotel addresses to the luggage handlers. But in the end, it still took a local, a concierge, to find and recover our luggage. So that may be your best option. One concierge made the calls and had the luggage delivered to the city we were in. We came back from an afternoon out and there was our luggage! So talk to those folks. We had an international phone but all that did was burn up our minutes - Get some local help! (I did tip the concierge for all the work he did). There's really no need to head to the airport until you're sure your luggage has arrived. Usually, you'll get even less help there unless you have a contact or specific luggage location - and you'll waste your valuable vacation time. No, better off to get help and make them bring the luggage to you. You can read about our luggage issues - and what we learned to do to prior to flying - in this article: Lost Luggage at the FCO Airport

Oh yes Tammy, this sounds terribly familiar to me. In July my sister-in-law and her husband met us in Rome for a 3 week vacation. Alitalia lost both their bags on a direct flight from Newark Airport. Alitalia was HORRIBLE to deal with. After 5 days of being jerked around, they went to Rome airport and picked up the one bag that had been found. Then we left for the Amalfi Coast. After 10 days, they had to go retrieve their second bag from Naples airport. Alitalia will NOT get your bags to you. You will likely end up having to go get them yourself. I just posted this advisory recently when another poster was considering using Alitalia. Unless your going with carryons only - I wouldn't use this airline. They have horrific customer service!!!! It almost ruined my relatives trip, and my brother in law has lung cancer to boot - this did not even get them better service from the airline.

Our lost luggage experience was just like Ron's. We travel with another couple and their bags were lost on an Alitalia flight to Rome. Our destination was Positano. When we arrived in Positano that night, the concierge at our hotel - the Punta Regina - got on the phone and handled everything. The next morning their bags arrived at the hotel - a 4-hour or more drive from Rome. So our advice is let a local help you - preferably a good hotel concierge.

I don't understand how Alitalia is involved if you flew American Airlines. Alitalia's US travel partner is Delta, not AA.

happened to 2 different couples we were traveling with 3 weeks ago. one couple got response from alitalia and bags in 24 hours. the others took 8 days and we had to go pick them up. what finally got results was our friend who is a delta pilot called a contact and had them get in touch with alitalia. alitalia said they had been holding the bags because they had no authorization to send them thru customs. if you can speak to a real person maybe ask if that is the case??? good luck

Be sure to keep any and all receipts from anything you had to purchase. One of the few time I checked my bags I ended up going from Mi. to Grand Cayman in Feb. I arrived in winter clothes and did not get my stuff for 6 days. It was Spirit Airlines and although it took me 4 months and numerous phone calls I was sent a check for about $500. Not sure of policies on Alitalia, but check it out.

This past june took a Air France flight from CDG to Geneva and AF lost luggage for approximately 30 people. We filled out the lost luggage form and gave the persons working at the airport our Switzerland hotel schedule. The RS tour guide we meet in Montreux helped us get our luggage and a few days later our luggage arrived in Zermatt. 5 years ago I lost a lot of valuable things on a flight from Milano to CDG which was never found. The airport weights you luggage and they pay you by the weight which was way below the cost of my clothes. I will not book a flight on Alitalia as I do not like this airline. Some of the AF flights to Italy are done using Alitalia which I avoid.

I'm sure all airlines lose luggage; it's their customer service afterwards that is important. In our experience, Alitalia's customer service was horrific. They were absolutely useless and made a bad situation 10X worse. They couldn't have cared less or been less helpful. They just added to the stress of not having our luggage.

I know I'm coming down hard on Alitalia; but it's only because they SO deserve it. We've never experienced anything like it. I have a clear consience as I bash this airline every chance I get!

How many times do they have to lose your luggage on the way over the Pond, you don't have your stuff for the first week of your trip - before travelers start to realize that in European travel, you sometimes get what you pay for, but you almost never get what you don't pay for. You want the lowest airfare, but you also wanted your luggage. Oh well.

Tammy, so sorry to hear about your experience. I'm still curious about the American v. Alitalia question asked above, if you get a chance to answer that. And did you finally get your bags? I know it doesn't help you, but this just drives home for me the added advantage of going strictly carry-on. I know that's not an option for some people, though. We did carry-on for our trip in May on Alitalia and absolutely loved them. It would be great to get an update.

I read where someone lost a lot a valuable things in a lost luggage situation. You never want to check in anything valuable if you can at all help it. I always take my things I do not want to loose into the plane in my carry-on if I have to check anything.