My horrible experience with this airline and airport was sending my child alone by Lufthansa through Frankfort. It was so bitter, fearful, and heartbreaking that I cannot write about it. Let me just tell you about theft. I was traveling by Lufthansa from Tehran through Frankfurt to Chicago, and then from there to Seattle. When arriving at Chicago airport, I did not see my luggage, so I asked one of the airport employees to check what the problem was. She scanned my baggage ticket and said that it has been scanned in Tehran, but it has not been scanned in Frankfurt. I immediately knew that I would not see my suitcase anymore. Besides so many valuables in my suitcase, I had a very fine and old tea set which was a memento from my grandmother, thus I kept calling and calling, but each time no help and worse than that how impolite the reps were, talking in a way that I have done something wrong. It is more than one month and still nothing, not even compensation for my lost luggage. Same thing had happened to me twice before. Worse experience than that was my husband travel to Germany for a seminar. He is a dentist and so took his laptop with him which by mistake he put it in his checked suitcase due to being heavy and neck problems. They gave him the suitcase two days after in his hotel, and beside so many other things his laptop was not there. He had desperately kept calling, suggested a prize for bringing it back, because the dental software (ortho) cost more than 11,000 dollars, and worse than that it had valuable information of his five years constant work. Since then he has not seen his laptop, and Lufthansa has even refused to pay him even for the computer excusing that the receipt is paper, because he had bought it from Costco. So many of my countrymen are facing the same problem with this airline, and I was shocked when I saw other people reporting almost the same issue. Due to sanctions, we have to take this route and we have no alternative, otherwise I would have never ever put my foot in Frankfort. What bothers me is that a 23kg suitcase is not something that could be easily stolen by one person. It is a chain of thieves definitely. Shame on the executive director of this airport. Real shame.
Posted by
Missouri City
252 posts
Theft at airports is an ongoing problem and not always easy to deal with.
While I am very sorry for the losses you suffered, anyone who travels should know to NEVER put anything of value in a checked bag. Even without the problem of theft, thousands and thousands of bags get lost every year and never make their way back to their owners.
If it is that valuable that you can't stand to lose it, then you MUST carry it on with you or leave it at home.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23642 posts
This is a report that is hard to accept or respond to since it could be just a rant against Lufthansa. This is your first postings here so we really have no idea who you are or how credible you have been in the past. Second, how do you know that you luggage actually got on the plane in Tehran and was not stolen there before it made it on the plane? This is the first I have heard of any wide spread theft problems with Lufthansa or Frankfurt. Many people on this site have passed through Frankfurt many times with no problems. The Germans are pretty efficient so If there was a serious problem at Frankfurt it would have been addressed. I think there is more than one side to your story.
Posted by
CA, USA
1254 posts
Same thing had happened to me twice before.
Makes me think of a saying about doing the same thing and expecting different results...
Posted by
Freedonia
16411 posts
Just because the bag was scanned in Tehran doesn't mean it got on the plane.
And you have no proof that the thefts occurred in Frankfurt. They could just as easily occurred in Tehran.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16618 posts
I'll agree with the posters above: just because the bags were scanned in Tehran doesn't mean they were ever loaded onto the plane, or loaded with all of the items intact. The theft could very likely have happened on that end and not in Frankfurt.
Anything of considerable or irreplaceable value should NEVER be packed in checked luggage. Aside from theft, luggage is sometime just lost in the system. Theft of luggage from airport carousels by persons posing as travelers is also a problem.
The best way to receive compensation for lost or stolen luggage is to buy travel insurance.
I'm not sure what all of this has to do with sending your child alone on Lufthansa through Frankfurt?
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9249 posts
None of this has anything to do with Lufthansa or the Frankfurt airport.
Bitter and fearful? Nothing you wrote here sounds remotely fearful.
Who puts their valuable laptop in checked luggage?
This is a crank post with lots of fishy innuendos. Chain of thieves? Not one word about your child either. Your suitcase is probably in Tehran, not in Frankfurt.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33994 posts
Somehow this rant doesn't hold together - in many ways....
Posted by
Atlanta, GA
86 posts
And first and only posting.
Posted by
Seattle
409 posts
The loss of a computer on a business trip can be a big problem.
Another reason, among many, to backup important information on your computer and store the backup away from the computer.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7168 posts
I don't know a single person (and I know some airheads) who would put their computer or a prized family heirloom in their checked bags.
Posted by
Sioux Falls, SD, USA
3102 posts
1) Don't check bags. Carry everything on.
2) If you must check bags, put nothing of value in them. But why are you checking bags?
3) Ship the valuable tea set, and insure it.