A carrier reneges on its promise to reimburse a student when her suitcase goes missing

After completing my junior year in college, I participated in a Habitat for Humanity project in Botswana with some of my classmates. When the project ended, I flew back to the United States via London on British Airways. After landing in Boston, where my school is, I was informed that my bag was lost. This created a problem, since in four days I was to leave for Buenos Aires to be a volunteer in an infectious-disease laboratory. Everything I needed for that trip was in my suitcase. I called British Airways, spoke with a supervisor in the airline's operations center in Florida, and pleaded my case. The supervisor, whose name I carefully noted, told me to replace my belongings that were in the lost suitcase, as long as it wasn't with, I quote, "Armani," and that BA would then reimburse me. I relied on this promise and purchased the things I needed for my trip to Argentina. Four days later, I filed a claim for $1,500—the cost of replacement luggage, work clothes, and related items—at the British Airways office in Logan Airport, attaching the receipts.

My bag was finally found two days after I left for Argentina, but my claim was never settled save for a token $200. I tried to get the airline to pay the balance, but my numerous calls and e-mails—and a letter to the CEO of British Airways—went unanswered for a few months, until I received a call from an airline employee, informing me that my claim had been denied. I relied on the assurances of a BA supervisor that I could replace the clothes and be reimbursed. British Airways is not honoring that pledge. Can you help?

Marisa Flavin
Sausalito, California

Promises, promises. We read about them all the time in the letters this column receives—particularly the ones that are followed by inaction. Granted, some of the promises that readers write to us about are impossible to substantiate, but Flavin's case was different: She was savvy enough to get—and, just as important, to keep a record of—the name of the employee who made the offer. Armed with this information, we wrote to British Airways to see if it would stand behind the promise made by one of its own.

Soon thereafter, a public relations manager called us. He explained that each lost-baggage claim is individually evaluated. If a lost bag cannot be traced on the spot, the passenger is given an allowance or advised of a limit on how much to spend for his immediate needs. The decision regarding how much BA allows a passenger is contingent on what's in the bag, when the items are needed, and when the bag is expected to be delivered—if at all. That said, the manager agreed to reimburse Flavin the remaining $1,300 of her claim. Ombudsman applauds the carrier for eventually honoring its pledge.

Lost luggage is an ever-increasing problem. According to U.S. government statistics for 2007, incidents involving "mishandled luggage" (defined as lost, damaged, delayed, or pilfered) rose five percent over the previous year and were 16 percent more frequent than in 2005. So what should you do if your suitcase goes missing? First, file a report within 24 hours (ideally before leaving the airport). At that point, your carrier should outline its allowance so that you can purchase essentials. Once your bag is returned, send in receipts for the essential items that you purchased and you should be reimbursed—provided your expenditures were within the limits stipulated by the airline.

If your bag is never recovered or if it remains missing for more than 21 days, when it is deemed lost (per the Montreal Convention, which streamlined baggage rules from the Warsaw Convention), you are repaid the value of all the contents of your suitcase, up to a cap. The United Kingdom, where British Airways is headquartered, is one of a number of countries—including the United States and many European nations—that have signed the Montreal Convention, which currently sets the liability cap at around $1,600 per suitcase. Flavin is no doubt pleased that she resisted extravagance in her expenditures, and that her claim fell within the airline's limits—a lesson all readers should take note of in case they find themselves in a similarly unpleasant position.