One of the most common problems passengers have is losing their luggage at the airport. According to statistics, up to 25 million suitcases are lost annually. Fortunately for travelers, the non-refund rate is low, only 3.4%. The majority of lost suitcases and bags find their owners.

However, you need to know the sequence of actions in such a situation. Search activities are the same in all cases. And as an example, you can take the search for luggage at Sheremetyevo airport.

This procedure is regulated General rules air transport. Most of the requirements are universal for all carriers operating on domestic and international routes.

Suitcases will be handed out after passport control in a specially designated room. Items must be received immediately when they arrive for delivery, and at the exit from the terminal you will have to present a tear-off coupon for the baggage tag.

The internal rules of airport terminals detail the issuance procedure. In Sheremetyevo, cargo can be received in the delivery hall, which is served on a conveyor belt indicated by an indication on the information board.

If the load is missing from the conveyor belt

Everyone should know what to do when a suitcase or bag is not found on a conveyor. The main thing here is not to panic. Loss of baggage by an airline is a serious problem, but it can be solved. First you need to make sure that things are missing:

  • Wait for the end of delivery. They may have been the last to be unloaded.
  • Inspect the transporters delivering cargo from other aircraft. Rarely, but mistakes do happen.
  • Check the oversized load belt.

If there are no doubts left and things are lost, you will have to contact the search service at the terminal. There is a possibility that they were mixed up upon receipt and are already waiting for owners from the employees of this service.

Where to go

Usually this counter is called “Lost&Found” or “Luggage Search” in Russian. If necessary, any of the airport employees will show where it is. It is possible that such a stand is missing. Then the place to contact could be:

  • representative office of the air carrier whose crew performed the flight;
  • representative office of the national air carrier of the country of destination;
  • if there is neither one nor the other, contact the airport administration.

Before applying, check that you have the documents required to complete your application:

  • identification;
  • ticket;
  • tear-off coupon baggage tag.

Office staff must help the passenger at the time of request, regardless of the time of day. The victim fills out the necessary documents in the form of a statement of loss addressed to the carrier, fills out a Search Report or Property Irregularity Report (in the abbreviation the name is written as PIR).

How to fill out the act

The claim must be filed immediately after discovery of the loss. Before filling out, you will need to present the tear-off coupon, which is usually attached to the air ticket. The Act must indicate:

  • flight number;
  • passport series and number;
  • color, weight and size characteristics of the suitcase;
  • special features (stickers, external defects, bright details, trademarks, name tags, etc.);
  • contact details and address to which the lost suitcase, bag or backpack needs to be delivered.

Example of a completed act (click to enlarge):

The claim is made in two copies. One of them remains with the applicant, and the second goes to the management of the airline, which must organize the search. If the loss could not be discovered within five days, a detailed list of things that were inside the luggage is attached to the application.

Search algorithm

Regardless of the reasons for the loss, the search for baggage is the responsibility of the air carrier. If the flight was operated by Aeroflot, its employees will conduct the search. The search must begin immediately upon receipt of a written application.

The carrier sends requests:

  • to the airports of departure and arrival for the presence of things;
  • to airports where items may have been sent by mistake;
  • When they are detected, a request is sent for delivery to the destination.

The found loss is delivered to the address specified by the owner in the act. Delivery does not require additional payment and is carried out at the expense of the airline. When receiving things, you must present your passport, coupon and certificate, which must be kept until the end of the search.

How to track searches

Usually the loss is found quickly, but sometimes it can take a long search. In this case, contact details of airline employees will be required. Take care of this when filling out the PIR. The service desk has telephone numbers, which you should write down in advance. If you have internet access you can use the unified World Tracer database, through which the owner can track the search.

After receiving a statement of loss, all data is entered into the database. To access information in the request form, you must indicate personal data and the code received when drawing up the Search Report. On the Sheremetyevo Airport website you can see a list of airlines that are tracked in this database.

How to get compensation

Since the carrier is responsible for the cargo, the airline will compensate for the loss. Claims for damages can only be made after three weeks. If during this period the search for the baggage put on the wanted list is unsuccessful, it is considered lost.

Compensation must be paid on the basis of a written claim, which must be submitted before the expiration of 6 months if the problems arose during domestic flights, and up to 18 for international flights.

The following are attached to the application:

  • air ticket;
  • tear-off coupon;
  • insurance documents, if the items were insured;
  • receipts confirming the value of the contents of the suitcase or bag.

The airline management is obliged to consider the claim within 30 days and pay the amount required by law or refuse in writing.

Payment amount

Amounts of compensation payments for losses on international flights established by international agreements. If things were lost during an international or transit flight, when one landing was outside the country, 20 dollars or 19 euros are paid per kilogram of cargo. On domestic flights the amount is 600 rubles per kilogram.

If the exact weight is unknown, then calculations are made using the average, which is 35 kg per person. In cases where the value of the property was announced by the passenger in advance, payment is made in the stated amount. The amount will be higher if the items are insured.

In addition to the specified compensation, you can claim:

  • Compensation for other losses. When a passenger has to miss a connecting flight or train departure, the company must refund the cost of the tickets.
  • Payments for moral damage. If there is no way to confirm health problems, their size will be small.
  • If the carrier did not satisfy the claims voluntarily, and compensation had to be obtained through the court, an additional payment of a fine in the amount of 50% of the amount paid to the passenger is possible.

Such payments will most likely have to be sought through the court, so after receiving the found items, you should not sign the documents stating that there are no claims.

Other payments

In cases where luggage is lost and a passenger is left without essential items, some companies may offer reimbursement for the cost of purchasing them. This is not the carrier's responsibility, but most provide such assistance for reputational purposes. The amounts are usually small and are paid after receipts confirming expenses are provided. When purchasing clothes, half the cost is paid.

If these expenses were not paid by the company, they can be included in the list of legal claims.

In addition to the loss of bags and suitcases, passengers have to deal with other troubles. Usually this:

  • stealing things;
  • property damage;
  • mixed up suitcases.

In the first two cases, you will also have to contact the carrier to file a claim. Based on this, the issue of compensation is considered. This may be full or partial cost, depending on the decision of the commission. If a suitcase breaks, compensation for repairs is possible.

The latter situation requires the prompt return of items to the carrier’s office or to the airport.

How to avoid problems

Most often, items are lost on connecting flights when a carelessly attached tag comes loose. In this case, things can either fly away in any direction or remain in place. To prevent such situations, speed up the detection of losses, and reduce material losses, it is necessary to:

  • If possible, avoid routes with transfers;
  • make sure that the tag is present and that it is firmly attached;
  • remove previous tags left over from previous flights;
  • do not transport particularly valuable items;
  • insure the cargo;
  • wrap your bag or suitcase in plastic, which will reduce the risk of damage and theft;
  • When choosing a carrier, read the reliability ratings and take them into account when purchasing tickets.

Be sure to include your last name with initials, contact information, destination and flight on the name tag. Although this partially duplicates the information from the coupon, it will significantly speed up the process of finding luggage if it is lost. If you have encountered troubles, do not despair, more than 90% of losses are found within the first two days.

You may also be interested

One of the most common problems passengers have is losing their luggage at the airport. According to statistics, up to 25 million suitcases are lost annually. Fortunately for travelers, the non-refund rate is low, only 3.4%. The majority of lost suitcases and bags find their owners.

However, you need to know the sequence of actions in such a situation. Search activities are the same in all cases. And as an example, you can take the search for luggage at Sheremetyevo airport.

This procedure is regulated by the General Rules of Air Transport. Most of the requirements are universal for all carriers operating on domestic and international routes.

Suitcases are issued after passport control in a specially designated room. Items must be received immediately when they arrive for delivery, and at the exit from the terminal you will have to present a tear-off coupon for the baggage tag.

The internal rules of airport terminals detail the issuance procedure. In Sheremetyevo, cargo can be received in the delivery hall, which is served on a conveyor belt indicated by an indication on the information board.

If the load is missing from the conveyor belt

Everyone should know what to do when a suitcase or bag is not found on a conveyor. The main thing here is not to panic. Loss of baggage by an airline is a serious problem, but it can be solved. First you need to make sure that things are missing:

  • Wait for the end of delivery. They may have been the last to be unloaded.
  • Inspect the transporters delivering cargo from other aircraft. Rarely, but mistakes do happen.
  • Check the oversized load belt.

If there are no doubts left and things are lost, you will have to contact the search service at the terminal. There is a possibility that they were mixed up upon receipt and are already waiting for owners from the employees of this service.

Where to go

Usually this counter is called “Lost&Found” or “Luggage Search” in Russian. If necessary, any of the airport employees will show where it is. It is possible that such a stand is missing. Then the place to contact could be:

  • representative office of the air carrier whose crew performed the flight;
  • representative office of the national air carrier of the country of destination;
  • if there is neither one nor the other, contact the airport administration.

Before applying, check that you have the documents required to complete your application:

  • identification;
  • ticket;
  • tear-off coupon baggage tag.

Office staff must help the passenger at the time of request, regardless of the time of day. The victim fills out the necessary documents in the form of a statement of loss addressed to the carrier, fills out a Search Report or Property Irregularity Report (in the abbreviation the name is written as PIR).

How to fill out the act

The claim must be filed immediately after discovery of the loss. Before filling out, you will need to present the tear-off coupon, which is usually attached to the air ticket. The Act must indicate:

  • flight number;
  • passport series and number;
  • color, weight and size characteristics of the suitcase;
  • special features (stickers, external defects, bright details, trademarks, name tags, etc.);
  • contact details and address to which the lost suitcase, bag or backpack needs to be delivered.

Example of a completed act (click to enlarge):

The claim is made in two copies. One of them remains with the applicant, and the second goes to the management of the airline, which must organize the search. If the loss could not be discovered within five days, a detailed list of things that were inside the luggage is attached to the application.

Search algorithm

Regardless of the reasons for the loss, the search for baggage is the responsibility of the air carrier. If the flight was operated by Aeroflot, its employees will conduct the search. The search must begin immediately upon receipt of a written application.

The carrier sends requests:

  • to the airports of departure and arrival for the presence of things;
  • to airports where items may have been sent by mistake;
  • When they are detected, a request is sent for delivery to the destination.

The found loss is delivered to the address specified by the owner in the act. Delivery does not require additional payment and is carried out at the expense of the airline. When receiving things, you must present your passport, coupon and certificate, which must be kept until the end of the search.

How to track searches

Usually the loss is found quickly, but sometimes it can take a long search. In this case, contact details of airline employees will be required. Take care of this when filling out the PIR. The service desk has telephone numbers, which you should write down in advance. If you have internet access you can use the unified World Tracer database, through which the owner can track the search.

After receiving a statement of loss, all data is entered into the database. To access information in the request form, you must indicate personal data and the code received when drawing up the Search Report. On the Sheremetyevo Airport website you can see a list of airlines that are tracked in this database.

How to get compensation

Since the carrier is responsible for the cargo, the airline will compensate for the loss. Claims for damages can only be made after three weeks. If during this period the search for the baggage put on the wanted list is unsuccessful, it is considered lost.

Compensation must be paid on the basis of a written claim, which must be submitted before 6 months if problems occurred on domestic flights, and up to 18 months for international flights.

The following are attached to the application:

  • air ticket;
  • tear-off coupon;
  • insurance documents, if the items were insured;
  • receipts confirming the value of the contents of the suitcase or bag.

The airline management is obliged to consider the claim within 30 days and pay the amount required by law or refuse in writing.

Payment amount

The amount of compensation payments for losses on international flights is established by international agreements. If things were lost during an international or transit flight, when one landing was outside the country, 20 dollars or 19 euros are paid per kilogram of cargo. On domestic flights the amount is 600 rubles per kilogram.

If the exact weight is unknown, then calculations are made using the average, which is 35 kg per person. In cases where the value of the property was announced by the passenger in advance, payment is made in the stated amount. The amount will be higher if the items are insured.

In addition to the specified compensation, you can claim:

  • Compensation for other losses. When a passenger has to miss a connecting flight or train departure, the company must refund the cost of the tickets.
  • Payments for moral damage. If there is no way to confirm health problems, their size will be small.
  • If the carrier did not satisfy the claims voluntarily, and compensation had to be obtained through the court, an additional payment of a fine in the amount of 50% of the amount paid to the passenger is possible.

Such payments will most likely have to be sought through the court, so after receiving the found items, you should not sign the documents stating that there are no claims.

Other payments

In cases where luggage is lost and a passenger is left without essential items, some companies may offer reimbursement for the cost of purchasing them. This is not the carrier's responsibility, but most provide such assistance for reputational purposes. The amounts are usually small and are paid after receipts confirming expenses are provided. When purchasing clothes, half the cost is paid.

If these expenses were not paid by the company, they can be included in the list of legal claims.

In addition to the loss of bags and suitcases, passengers have to deal with other troubles. Usually this:

  • stealing things;
  • property damage;
  • mixed up suitcases.

In the first two cases, you will also have to contact the carrier to file a claim. Based on this, the issue of compensation is considered. This may be full or partial cost, depending on the decision of the commission. If a suitcase breaks, compensation for repairs is possible.

The latter situation requires the prompt return of items to the carrier’s office or to the airport.

How to avoid problems

Most often, items are lost on connecting flights when a carelessly attached tag comes loose. In this case, things can either fly away in any direction or remain in place. To prevent such situations, speed up the detection of losses, and reduce material losses, it is necessary to:

  • If possible, avoid routes with transfers;
  • make sure that the tag is present and that it is firmly attached;
  • remove previous tags left over from previous flights;
  • do not transport particularly valuable items;
  • insure the cargo;
  • wrap your bag or suitcase in plastic, which will reduce the risk of damage and theft;
  • When choosing a carrier, read the reliability ratings and take them into account when purchasing tickets.

Be sure to include your last name with initials, contact information, destination and flight on the name tag. Although this partially duplicates the information from the coupon, it will significantly speed up the process of finding luggage if it is lost. If you have encountered troubles, do not despair, more than 90% of losses are found within the first two days.

You may also be interested

The global airline industry has demonstrated better baggage handling performance. In 2015, its losses fell by 10.5 percent. And in 2018, passengers will be able to track the movement of suitcases online, just like parcels are now.

Experts from Rossiyskaya Gazeta told us what to pay attention to when checking in luggage and what to do if the suitcase is lost.

In 2015, only 6.5 pieces of luggage were lost for every thousand passengers, according to SITA's annual Baggage Report. This is the best figure in the last 20 years. In 2011, almost 9 suitcases per thousand were lost on the road. However, since 2003, the number of lost luggage has been halved, while international passenger traffic has increased by 85 percent.

In many ways, good results were achieved due to the widespread automation of baggage processing and loading/unloading systems. Manual labor at major airports is kept to a minimum. They are equipped with conveyor systems that move luggage from the check-in counter to the baggage sorting area for a specific flight. Manual processing permitted only when transferring baggage into air containers or onto baggage trolleys. However, today these jobs are gradually being given over to robots.

The reasons for lost luggage are known. In 45 percent of cases, it is lost during transit flights. In 2015, 8.43 million suitcases and bags were lost for this reason. Baggage not loaded on time accounted for another 19 percent, while ticketing errors or malfunctioning baggage switches accounted for another 16 percent of baggage losses.

Only a small part of the suitcases is not returned to the owner. Last year 79 percent lost suitcases and bags were returned to their owners, in another 15 percent of cases the suitcases were damaged. Only 6 percent of passengers did not receive their luggage back. On average, suitcases were found and delivered to their owners within 1.76 days.

The luggage, whose owner has never been found, is stored in the airport's unclaimed baggage room. Each air hub sets its own storage period for suitcases, on average 6 months to 1 year. In the US, airports sell suitcases after their shelf life expires. In New Zealand they are being destroyed.

Unclaimed baggage in Russia is considered the property of the airline and is sent to the carrier's base airport if the initial search for the owner does not yield results.

Today, searching for lost luggage is a whole area of ​​IT development. This spring, Aeroflot was one of the first to introduce an online service for tracking lost luggage based on the international search program WorldTracer. The International Association was directly involved in its development. air transport(IATA), which sets standards in international air travel. WorldTracer is used by more than 440 airlines and 2,800 airports around the world. Thanks to this system, Sheremetyevo Airport returned 90 percent of lost luggage to its owners in 2015.

IATA has also taken the initiative to strengthen controls over the carriage of baggage. From 2018, airlines will track every piece of baggage throughout its entire travel route. “Passengers will be able to track their luggage in the same way as regular mail,” says SITA head Francesco Violante.

The SITA report also notes the rapid adoption of do-it-yourself tag printing technology. It began to develop with the advent of electronic tickets and check-in for flights via the Internet. Currently, about 40 percent of the world's airlines and airports offer self-service baggage tag printing to passengers using kiosks. There is no printing of tags in Russia yet. But airports are switching to baggage processing for passengers checked in using electronic tickets online at separate counters. In 2016, every third passenger in the world will check their luggage themselves using automated kiosks or through specially designated counters with the help of an airport employee, SITA predicts.

The loss of a luggage tag is the main reason why a suitcase cannot be returned to its owner, even when using the most advanced search engines. Without identifying elements, it is very difficult to find among thousands of others.

However, tags have already been developed that do not get lost. They are an electronic device into which information about the owner and flight is entered by the passenger independently using mobile application on your smartphone, allowing you to check your luggage from home or on the way to the airport. Data about the flight and passenger are reflected on the module, which is attached to the suitcase. Now the airline is already implementing such tags. The new tags will not cause any inconvenience to airport employees - the information is reflected on them in the same form as on paper tags.

Suitcases and bags are often lost due to the fault of the passengers themselves, for example, if they do not comply with or are not aware of the rules for transporting baggage on a specific route. In this case, it is important to remember:

Baggage for connecting flights on one payment receipt is issued to the final destination at the request of the passenger. This needs to be specified when checking in for a flight, so that the passenger does not end up at the final destination, and the suitcase on the baggage claim belt at the intermediate point.

The legislation of some countries requires mandatory declaration of prohibited items or passage through the green corridor. In this case, you need to collect your luggage at the transit point and then return it to a special transfer baggage counter.

For legal or technical reasons, many airports cannot reload baggage without your participation. Therefore, always check during transit whether you are required to collect your luggage at an intermediate point.

If a passenger is flying on connecting flights on several route receipts, at connecting airports he receives his luggage and re-checks it at the check-in counter.

“In case of loss of luggage, the passenger must contact the baggage tracing service staff before leaving the arrival area and fill out a special form,” said Aeroflot press secretary Maxim Fetisov. “The search for lost luggage is carried out within 21 days from the date of receipt of the application from the passenger.” According to him, if the luggage is not found after this period, the passenger can present a written claim to the carrier and demand compensation.

The decision on monetary compensation and its amount is made based on the provisions contained in the Air Code of the Russian Federation, the Warsaw Convention and the airline’s regulatory documents, he noted.