Just off Rotterdam w/ a luggage "mix-up" - now what? (Also, I packed an AirTag...)

[Ferry_Watcher]

A luggage mix-up story from Seattle's Pier 91 - There was an older man traveling by himself on a cruise to Alaska.  After arriving at SeaTac, he grabbed his two checked  bags and arrived at the port at around 2 pm.  When asked for his boarding pass at the terminal entrance, he opened the smaller of his two bags and realized that he grabbed the wrong bag.  He then opened the regular sized suitcase and realized that that bag was not his either. 

 

Long story short - a supervisor at Pier 91 contacted folks at SeaTac and one of his bags were located.  A car was dispatched from SeaTac to Pier 91 where the found smaller size bag was given to the gentleman, and the two bags he accidently took were returned to SeaTac to be reunited with the rightful owners.

 

The story doesn't end there.  It turns out the gentleman had packed his passport in his larger size suitcase which was still missing.  By this time it was about 3 pm and the terminal doors close at 3:20 pm.  Staff tried to work with him to get a copy of his birth certificate so he could sail, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time.

It had been a last minute booking for just himself, and he explained that he was just scattered in the rush getting to Seattle for the cruise.

True story.

[jb008]

UPDATE:

And.... FedEx has now lost my bag. I spoke with customer service and they originally said it didn't leave the drop-off location (FedEx pack & ship) but I pressed them because the tracking info on their site says that it got to a regional depot in FL. The rep mentioned that sometimes scans get missed, so the bag might be in transit but just not tracking fully in their system. I shared that I have an AirTag in the bag, and it is continuing to ping at their regional depot address.

 

Based on that, the phone rep called the depot and they've determined the bag is presently missing in action at the depot and they've opened a "tag" to track it down and get it back to its regularly scheduled travels.

 

I'm sorry to sound like a salesman, I promise I'm not. But, the hero of this story continues to be the AirTag as I was able to tell a day early that there's no way the bag is getting to me as scheduled and that was the prompt that allowed the phone rep to push the depot staff that the bag is already late and in limbo.

 

 

[waiting2retire]

Thanks so much for sharing your bag’s adventures here. Your post has prompted me to purchase AirTags for next year’s travels in Europe on multiple transportation modes. Seems like a small price to pay for the potential benefits. 
 

Enjoy your continued reprieve from laundry!

[3rdGenCunarder]

Wow, that bag is cursed! The only bit of a silver lining is that it's happening at the end of the cruise, not the beginning. If you hadn't used your airtag info to call them on their vague response, they might not have bothered to do anything.

[Heartgrove]

Like GeezerCouple mentioned, I have bright orange and bright yellow handle wraps that I purchased from Brookstone on our bags. They wrap around the handles and use velcro to close. Easy to spot and definitely different feeling when grabbed.

[Midwest Sunseeker]

We have used a similar bright green straps for years.  We always could spot our bags easily.   I do have handmade handle wraps that go on each suitcase at the pull out handle and the two handles attached to the luggage used in lifting.   We try to do self disembark,  pack all necessities , swimsuits and one day and  evening wear outfits in airline carryon.  For Christmas we bought ourselves Apple AirTags.   After reading about your troubles I am glad we did .   So sorry you are going through this. The airline lost our luggage before our Panama Canal cruise.  It was sitting on our porch 18 days later.   My formal gowns,  my husbands tux and all our other clothes inside. I am hoping your suitcase troubles are solved satisfactorily soon. 

[Tampa Girl]

I will second the covers suggestion.  We use them for all checked baggage.  They are colorful, of various designs, and zip up.  A few years ago when we arrived in Buenos Aires for our SA/Antarctica, we spent three hours in the immigration line.  By the time we finally emerged, there were only three lonely pieces of luggage in the retrieval area - all brightly visible with our colorful covers.  This is not to say that there might not be some idiot who can't see the forest for the trees, but it does cut way down on these walk-away instances.

 

As for the suggestion of those people who enjoy traveling only with a carry-on for a two-week-plus trip, the more power to them.  On a cruise, I want variety.

[Navybikermom]

I also have only carry-on when I travel these days, even for cruises two weeks or so. I manage to stuff three dressy outfits and plenty of “dinner” clothes, along with casual things into a regular suitcase that fits in the overhead bins of the standard planes. I have a big tote for things like toiletries, jewelry, shoes, and reading material. I have checked plenty of bags in the past and so far, only one went astray. The airline had it delivered to our home three days later. Whew!

[Duquesmom]

I bought Air tags yesterday after reading this thread. 

9 hours ago, jb008 said:

 

I'm sorry to sound like a salesman, I promise I'm not. But, the hero of this story continues to be the AirTag as I was able to tell a day early that there's no way the bag is getting to me as scheduled and that was the prompt that allowed the phone rep to push the depot staff that the bag is already late and in limbo.

 

 

 

[riverrat]

5 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

As for the suggestion of those people who enjoy traveling only with a carry-on for a two-week-plus trip, the more power to them.  On a cruise, I want variety.

 

Agree. I took a planned capsule wardrobe on a 6-week cruise. You know 3 pants, 4 LS, 4 SS, 4 shorts etc. I got super tired of wearing the same four long sleeve shirts over and over on sea days! The other thing to note is some stretchy fabrics do not fare as well through on board laundry. We had a joke among some of us ladies that we must be losing weight as our shirts were growing. Just guessing but thinking the elastic fails from the hot laundry press?

[RuthC]

6 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

As for the suggestion of those people who enjoy traveling only with a carry-on for a two-week-plus trip, the more power to them. 

My meds, make-up, and jewelry fill the carry-on (roll-aboard) all by themselves. I need a second carry-on (tote) to hold the CPAP machine, since it won't fit in the first one! 
Clothes? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! 

[12cruise2]

We always get off when they call our luggage tag, even though we are four star.  Better to get out to the luggage first ahead of others.  Also, we always put ribbons on the top handle of the suitcase.  Painting stuff on the side, etc. can't be seen the way they stack the luggage, so we are sure to put something on the top handle, as well as the side handle.  I'm sure air tags would be great.

Yes, we got away with someone else's bag--same sort of story as above.  My husband doesn't really know our suitcases or pack anything.  After an 89-day around Africa, we got off in Miami and I pointed to a case across the luggage hall--they use carousels at the Miami Princess terminal.  It was silver and had red ribbons, he didn't know the difference in the ribbon type, and pulled it, and put it on the bottom of three suitcases on a luggage trolley.  Of course I didn't check it, dumb.  We get to the Princess shuttle bus to Fort Lauderdale airport and waited for it to fill up.  Pretty soon one of the port workers came out and called me name; they had figured out that I got someone else's bag because it looked just like the other peoples' bag and mine was the only one left in the luggage hall.  Problem is, they could take their bag from me after I waited out front the terminal, but because they didn't take my bag through CBP, they wouldn't give me our bag.  Grrrr.  Long story short, Princess agreed to pay for shipping, put some much less weight amount (like 20 lbs) on the airbill, and shipped it to me.  And it was broken, but at least I got it back, and at least it was on the way home.

Edited January 1, 2023 by 12cruise2

[tallyho8]

On 12/31/2022 at 8:23 AM, jb008 said:

UPDATE:

And.... FedEx has now lost my bag. I spoke with customer service and they originally said it didn't leave the drop-off location (FedEx pack & ship) but I pressed them because the tracking info on their site says that it got to a regional depot in FL. The rep mentioned that sometimes scans get missed, so the bag might be in transit but just not tracking fully in their system. I shared that I have an AirTag in the bag, and it is continuing to ping at their regional depot address.

 

Based on that, the phone rep called the depot and they've determined the bag is presently missing in action at the depot and they've opened a "tag" to track it down and get it back to its regularly scheduled travels.

 

I'm sorry to sound like a salesman, I promise I'm not. But, the hero of this story continues to be the AirTag as I was able to tell a day early that there's no way the bag is getting to me as scheduled and that was the prompt that allowed the phone rep to push the depot staff that the bag is already late and in limbo.

 

 

Getting off our cruise in Vancouver, our 2 bags were nowhere to be found. We reported them and had to catch our plane home, to New Orleans with no bags. Three weeks later Celebrity found our bags and sent them to us Fed Ex. We were thrilled that they were on the way because we had another cruise booked in 2 more weeks.

 

Well, Fedex delivered one small bag a week later and we found out that they "did not know where the other bag was. They would not say it was lost because when they declare it lost they have to pay for it. Weeks were going by so we had to purchase new luggage and new clothes for my wife to go on the next cruise. A couple weeks after we returned from the next cruise they delivered our lost bag. No compensation was offered because they never declared that our bag was lost even though it took 6 weeks to be delivered.

[Walfam]

Decades ago, I put bright neon yarn pom-poms on all the handles of our luggage, including the carryons because ... gate-checked hand luggage.  Initially, my Hubby snarked and made fun, but over time he started asking me to put them on his new bags.  The last few trips, I added a bright orange duct tape letter to the front and back sides of our checked luggage.  It really helps identifying ours on the carousel, now that other people have added the bright color pompoms to their handles.

 

After reading this topic and seeing all the bags over Xmas standing upright at Southwest airlines' unclaimed baggage, I'll add some duct tape to the narrow sides and tops, also.  Our suitcases aren't cheap and I'd hate to lose them and everything inside.

 

I also like the Air Tags idea and will implement that before our next trip.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Walfam

[jb008]

Update: FedEx has now updated the tracking number to show that the item has arrived at the depot, indicating the item which arrived to their facility late in the afternoon of the 12/29 was finally scanned in on 1/2 (although they were closed the 1/1 for New Year's Day). The delivery date now shows as "on time" and has magically updated from 12/31/2022 to 1/4/2023. I've got my fingers crossed that this all goes smoothly from here.

 

Disembarked on 12/28 and hopefully will get my bags home exactly one week later. I knew I should have stayed on board for the b2b 😉

[triiip42]

On 12/31/2022 at 7:23 AM, jb008 said:

I'm sorry to sound like a salesman, I promise I'm not. But, the hero of this story continues to be the AirTag as I was able to tell a day early that there's no way the bag is getting to me as scheduled and that was the prompt that allowed the phone rep to push the depot staff that the bag is already late and in limbo.

I know you said this but you really should contact AirTag folks and sell them your story.🙂....Just look at how many people on this forum have said they are going to buy airtags just from your experience.

 

[tallyho8]

We keep our suitcases well marked so that the wrong person won't pick them up. Of course that doesn't prevent someone from stealing them as a high profile person has been seen doing on the news lately. But even so, this is the suitcase that was lost and not returned to us for over 6 weeks.

 

 

 

 

[Tampa Girl]

On 12/31/2022 at 9:23 AM, jb008 said:

UPDATE:

And.... FedEx has now lost my bag. I spoke with customer service and they originally said it didn't leave the drop-off location (FedEx pack & ship) but I pressed them because the tracking info on their site says that it got to a regional depot in FL. The rep mentioned that sometimes scans get missed, so the bag might be in transit but just not tracking fully in their system. I shared that I have an AirTag in the bag, and it is continuing to ping at their regional depot address.

 

Based on that, the phone rep called the depot and they've determined the bag is presently missing in action at the depot and they've opened a "tag" to track it down and get it back to its regularly scheduled travels.

 

I'm sorry to sound like a salesman, I promise I'm not. But, the hero of this story continues to be the AirTag as I was able to tell a day early that there's no way the bag is getting to me as scheduled and that was the prompt that allowed the phone rep to push the depot staff that the bag is already late and in limbo.

 

 

 

Being totally ignorant of "air tags" and the use thereof, can someone please enlighten me; i.e.:   Is Air Tag a brand name or a description of these devices?  What capabilities should one be looking for when taking a cruise or plane trip, such as distance, blue tooth, etc?  When I Googled the subject, I noted that some devices had a distance of 250 miles.  That didn't sound reasonable for travel.  Any recommendations for brand or type?  Is Amazon the best place to find these?

 

Thank you in advance for any and all info.  

[jb008]

5 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Being totally ignorant of "air tags" and the use thereof, can someone please enlighten me; i.e.:   Is Air Tag a brand name or a description of these devices?  What capabilities should one be looking for when taking a cruise or plane trip, such as distance, blue tooth, etc?  When I Googled the subject, I noted that some devices had a distance of 250 miles.  That didn't sound reasonable for travel.  Any recommendations for brand or type?  Is Amazon the best place to find these?

 

Thank you in advance for any and all info.  

Apple released a product called AirTags that run for about $29 or $99 for a 4-pack. They are small gps trackers that use bluetooth to transmit current location and piggyback on any nearby Apple device to upload their location back to the cloud, which makes them pretty effective since Apple devices are assigned to their staff by some companies including delta airlines. Apple does not report the location history on an AirTag - only showing me the tag’s last updated location. The battery is supposed to last about a year and is a replaceable coin battery.
 

Tile is a similar tracker device that is Apple independent, but the number of devices that passively detect and report the tile tracker location is less than any Apple device. I’m not sure if there’s an equivalent for Google (at least yet?). 

 

I don’t know technical specifics, but there’s been numerous travel articles about using AirTags in luggage to track bags, which is why I bought some before a trip to Europe about 2 months ago. 

[boeckli]

Looking into luggage trackers now.

Question: Do you place them inside your suitcase (and if so is there a preferred place) or do they have to hang outside?

[jb008]

41 minutes ago, boeckli said:

Looking into luggage trackers now.

Question: Do you place them inside your suitcase (and if so is there a preferred place) or do they have to hang outside?

If you have a non-metal bag, I recommend placing the tracker inside. The signal attenuation (aka loss) is not that significant in my limited experience, and I don't want the tracker to fall off while the bag is being handled. A number of Delta frequent flyers losing their annual "medallion" tags in transit is a regular gripe on social media. I also don't want someone to nick my AirTag since the tag and holder is worth >$30.

 

I currently have my AirTag riding in an outer pocket (not locked), but in the future it will be buried in the main compartment behind a TSA-approved luggage lock (noting that luggage locks are a minor deterrent mainly intended to keep the nearly honest out - don't google this though, it'll just freak you out).

[boeckli]

2 hours ago, jb008 said:

If you have a non-metal bag, I recommend placing the tracker inside. The signal attenuation (aka loss) is not that significant in my limited experience, and I don't want the tracker to fall off while the bag is being handled. A number of Delta frequent flyers losing their annual "medallion" tags in transit is a regular gripe on social media. I also don't want someone to nick my AirTag since the tag and holder is worth >$30.

 

I currently have my AirTag riding in an outer pocket (not locked), but in the future it will be buried in the main compartment behind a TSA-approved luggage lock (noting that luggage locks are a minor deterrent mainly intended to keep the nearly honest out - don't google this though, it'll just freak you out).

 

Thanks for your prompt response.  I was thinking along similar lines re possible loss (mainly while being manhandled in luggage 'combat').

 

Hope your bag makes it home real soon 🤞

Edited January 4, 2023 by boeckli

[Alfisti]

It's sad that some people can't be bothered to check the luggage tag to just ensure they have the right one.  I double-triple check the luggage tags because I've seen so many duplicate bags over the voyages - some even missing the same emblems that fall off etc... 

 

Recently I just stopped putting bags out, rather do self-assist and have my belongings with me (easier the morning of to get ready as well). 

 

[jb008]

7 days later and I was just reunited with my bag!

 

FedEx delivered 3 days late, but I finally got my dirty laundry back 🤪

 

I saved the daily planners in case anyone’s interested. 

cheers!

[VTcruisenut]

loved reading this thread!  as an FYI, there is a FB group of Holland America Cruisers and someone there lost his Air tag on the ship and he is now tracking it to see where it is cruising next!  It's hilarious!  He named him Artie....................