Luggage Direct Claim Reimbursement Form

[WYB!]

Hello,

 

Just got off the 10 day cruise on the Zuiderdam.

 

I had signed up for the Luggage Direct Service that the ship offered.

The Luggage Direct Service transfers your bag from the ship to the airline in Ft Lauderdalem, so the theory is that once you put your bag out side your cabin door on the final night, you'll next see your bag at your final destination airport. Newark in this case for me.

 

I've been checking my stateroom account periodically and there were no surprises. Up until the final bill was delivered to my room that is.

 

On my final bill there was a charge for "Airline Baggage Fee" $60/pp ($120 total).

 

I happen to be flying on Continental Airlines, and also Elite on Continental so I know there are no fees for Elite passengers or passengers travelling on the same reservation with check-in baggage. Immediately upon seeing the extra $120 tacked on, I went immediately down to the front desk to inquire. While the front desk was unable to remove the charge, they did say specifically that the airline would reimburse the charge at the airport if it was the case that I was elite and that I should take it up with the agent at the airport. My issue was that it wasn't the airline that charged me but Holland America. So Continental Airlines would not be able to reimburse me anything nor would they know what I was talking about since they didn't charge me anything.

 

Long story shortened, as I sit in FLL awaiting my flight to EWR is that I called the accounts receivable department of Holland America (1-800-391-6254) and explained the situation. The Holland America representative on the phone sounded more familiar with the problem then the person at the ship's front desk. After taking my name and booking number, the HAL representative said that it would take about 2 weeks for the claim to clear, and that I could check back for a status update anytime.

 

How to avoid this situation in the future is to inform the person at the front desk when submitting the Luggage Direct service of any special status you have with the airlines which may void any fees.

 

I do like the Luggage Direct Service program that is offered, just wanted to inform you of stuff like this which can happen and how to resolve.

 

Hope this helps,

 

- CWipes

[terigo]

I'm convinced that the front desk staff of all HAL ships study at the University of the Chronically Clueless, at which there is a School for the Hopelessly Unable to Problem-Solve.

 

Degrees from both are required for these positions.

[woodworker&knitter]

I'm sorry but I don't think that was a fair comment about the staff at the front desk. You did book the Luggage Direct with HAL and not the staff on the ship.

[Boytjie]

I'm convinced that the front desk staff of all HAL ships study at the University of the Chronically Clueless, at which there is a School for the Hopelessly Unable to Problem-Solve.

 

Degrees from both are required for these positions.

 

And HAL Seattle must be studying at The School of a Thousand Different Answers. ;)

[VermeulT]

Oh I totally agree about the front desk staff! And about EVERYTHING - not just Luggage Direct charges.

We found them to be difficult to understand and communicate with and rarely got the correct/ final answer the first time to a question.

 

 

 

 

DH and MIL both said if they charged $100 - it would be worth it to use Luggage Direct!

 

 

to the OP - I'm sorry you had this issue and I appreciate you sharing with us for future consideration.

[WYB!]

I just want to clarify, that I think very highly of the front desk staff on board the ship.

 

There just are some rare instances that do not often happen that no one would knows the answer to as it's rare. This happened to be one of those rare instances.

 

I reached my final destination and my luggage made it too so I'm satisfied with the service.

 

I just wanted to pass along this information if ever you run across the same problem.

 

Safe travels,

 

- CWipes

[AZWTRLVR]

Last September on the Oosterdam we signed up for Luggage Direct. When I had completed the form at the beginning of the voyage I had indicated that we were traveling First Class so there would be no baggage charges, other than the $19 pp for Luggage Direct service.When we received our preliminary statement the night prior to disembarkation we had been charged $25 per bag pp.

 

I called the main desk and explained. I was told it would be corrected on our final statement. It wasn't. I went to the Main Desk embarkation morning and after about fifteen minutes, the charge was reversed. There were a couple other people in line with the same problem. Main desk personnel were very nice about it but it was a bit unsettling at the last minute.

 

Along the same line. Prior to the cruise I had booked and paid for, online, a dinner for DH and I at the PG. Being three-star Mainers we are given a discount at speciality restaurants. That hadn't been given to us on the final statement either. That actually took longer to resolve than the baggage fees.

[Boytjie]

With different rules for differnt airlines and frequent flyer statusses, I can imagine it being a nightmare for the ship's crew to get all the fees right.

[Pam in CA]

What happens is that HAL contacts the airline, checks you in and prints your boarding pass. If the airline charges you the fee, they pass that along. With all the variables in airlines, booking options, seating options, fare rate codes, etc., it's almost impossible for HAL to fight on your behalf to make sure you are charged correctly, so the simplify it by doing the above.

 

There's a similar thread on the Princess board by someone who used miles for their air and because of their status with the airline, shouldn't be charged a per-bag fee even though their airline ticket is coded as a regular fare. They wanted to make sure in advance that Princess got it right. Well, he** no; they aren't because they will pass along the charge the airline tells them to.

[WYB!]

With different rules for differnt airlines and frequent flyer statusses, I can imagine it being a nightmare for the ship's crew to get all the fees right.

 

I totally agree with you there. But I'd rather have them say that they don't know the answer rather then say, you should take it up with your airline carrier when you get to the airport.

 

Of course the correct answer would have been nice too.

 

- CWipes

[WYB!]

What happens is that HAL contacts the airline, checks you in and prints your boarding pass. If the airline charges you the fee, they pass that along. With all the variables in airlines, booking options, seating options, fare rate codes, etc., it's almost impossible for HAL to fight on your behalf to make sure you are charged correctly, so the simplify it by doing the above.

 

There's a similar thread on the Princess board by someone who used miles for their air and because of their status with the airline, shouldn't be charged a per-bag fee even though their airline ticket is coded as a regular fare. They wanted to make sure in advance that Princess got it right. Well, he** no; they aren't because they will pass along the charge the airline tells them to.

 

 

Hi Pam, I can tell you that was not the case.

 

When HAL checked me in, the airline didn't charge a fee for my baggage it was just HAL that charged me a fee. So having HAL tell me to take it up with my airline at the airport that didn't charge me a fee didn't make any sense.

 

In this case it was easier for HAL to charge a fee per bag and hope that I wouldn't notice before I got off the ship.

[GeriatricNurse]

I'm convinced that the front desk staff of all HAL ships study at the University of the Chronically Clueless, at which there is a School for the Hopelessly Unable to Problem-Solve.

Degrees from both are required for these positions.

 

 

A rather harsh & non productive post!:mad:

[WYB!]

Just to follow up.

 

It's been 2 weeks since I filed my claim. I called Holland America's Luggage Claim department again.

 

While the claim has not been approved it is in processing. They ask that I try calling them back again in about a week.

 

- CWipes

[510picker]

We tried using the luggage direct on one of our cruises. We signed up, but apparently whoever was supposed to transfer the bags from the port to the airport didn't show. It was a pain getting our money refunded, but it eventually was.

 

The luggage direct concept is a good idea, especially for myself since I am in a wheelchair, but that one bad experience has kept us from using it. I'm sure you too will eventually get your refund. It's just a little frustrating to have to jump through so many hoops to get it.

[bishop84]

Hi Pam, I can tell you that was not the case.

 

When HAL checked me in, the airline didn't charge a fee for my baggage it was just HAL that charged me a fee. So having HAL tell me to take it up with my airline at the airport that didn't charge me a fee didn't make any sense.

 

In this case it was easier for HAL to charge a fee per bag and hope that I wouldn't notice before I got off the ship.

 

Cwipes,

 

According to the HAL website they just collect the fees as advised by the airline. If this is correct I would think it is more the airline or BAGS Inc fault than HALs.

 

Airline assessed baggage fees will be applied to guests' onboard account - fees vary by airline and all pricing is communicated directly from the airline to our partner company, BAGS, Inc. These fees are collected onboard and are then distributed to the airlines.

[RedmondCruiser]

On luggage direct HAL sends the airline booking number to the airline and they come back with the bar code and the charges to be made. If the OP did not show up on Continentals computer system as Elite then its not HAL's fault. If Continental does not want to refund the money then

We used the direct baggage on the last cruise and it worked perfectly. Our statement reads "luggage direct - $19"

[WYB!]

Being elite on an airline, I'd like to think I'm familiar with the check-in process with that airline. That being said, if HAL did check me in using the booking number I provided (which they did since I received my boarding pass), they would see that when checking me in and selecting "add baggage", there would be no additional charge.

[MovingForward]

I too had Elite status and was still charged for my baggage when I opted for Luggage Direct (others stood in line at the front desk with the same problem). I'm not sure why some of these people are coming to Hal's defense, but there is really no excuse for HAL to get this screwed up so much. The airline does not charge you for baggage when you are an Elite customer. The problem is the front desk person who takes your booking information, prints your boarding pass, and doesn't read anything. The luggage direct form clearly states that you will be charged the fees applicable to your booking. In my case, no fees were applicable so why did HAL charge me $60? Fortunately, after reading posts about all the surprise charges on the final day, I decided not to register my credit card and used cash instead. I was able to get my refund as soon as I showed the front desk person the mistake.

 

I think its ridiculous to have to put in claim forms, and wait weeks for bogus charges to be released from ones account. Cash will be the way to go for me from now on.

[NMLady]

I'm sorry but I don't think that was a fair comment about the staff at the front desk. You did book the Luggage Direct with HAL and not the staff on the ship.

 

 

Au contraire, my friend. Luggage Direct is booked through the front desk of the ship. It is the front desk staff that passes out the forms to your cabin. It is the front desk staff that you return the Luggage Express forms to, so you'd expect the front desk staff to understand about it. We used Luggage Express on our Alaska cruise on the Amsterdam.

 

However, if we'd had free baggage service I would have written that fact on our Luggage Express form to alert the front desk staff to that fact.

[Palmetto Lady]

We used Luggage Direct on our last cruise. Since we were flying First Class home from SanDiego, I indicated on my form under baggage fee N/A and informed the Front Desk the reason. We did not have a problem.