There are a whole lot of vacationers on the market who refuse to examine their baggage.
Nonetheless, I typically do — particularly once I want sufficient gear for a protracted journey, as I did on a current three-month journey round Europe. And since many European airways have smaller carry-on limits, I did not need to threat it.
After a blissful 5 days in Porto, Portugal, I took a three-hour EasyJet flight to Prague solely to understand upon arrival that my checked bag had a giant dent within the high nook.
Naturally, I used to be aggravated, however I saved issues in perspective and centered on what I may do to interchange the bag and get some compensation.
Listed here are the 4 steps I went by way of.
Compensation from the airline: Denied
Lining up at an airport, particularly after touchdown, whether or not it is for immigration, baggage or catching a trip, is one in every of my least favourite issues. So, I skipped talking with a baggage agent in individual.
Fortunately, EasyJet has an internet course of for submitting claims for broken, delayed or misplaced baggage.
You should file inside seven days of your flight, and the provider strongly suggests taking pictures of the injury earlier than leaving the airport, as “pictures taken later might not be accepted.” I snapped some photos once I arrived at my lodge half-hour later and submitted the declare the subsequent day.
The on-line type — hosted by the third-party supplier DamagedLuggage.com — took lower than 10 minutes to finish.
Each day E-newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Each day e-newsletter
Be part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants
I uploaded:
- My flight particulars and reserving reference quantity
- My private data
- My lodge’s handle
- An outline and pictures of the injury
- A duplicate of the acquisition receipt
I acquired an automatic e mail with a declare reference quantity. Then, 10 days later, a letter denying the declare “on the grounds of beauty injury, because it would not compromise its capability, and all options stay in full working order … Whereas it is unlucky, it would not have an effect on the performance” arrived.
This was technically true, and the letter was surprisingly nicely written and appeared to return from an actual human.
If I hadn’t had safety by way of one in every of my bank cards, I’d’ve pushed again and submitted an enchantment. However there was a better path to compensation.
Buy safety: Ineligible
My first intuition was to say by way of the buy safety profit on my American Specific® Gold Card, which I had used to purchase the bag.
Nonetheless, I purchased the bag in April 2023, and this profit solely covers loss, theft or injury throughout the first 90 days of buy. So, I used to be out of luck.
Journey insurance coverage coverage: Not value it
I buy a 12-month journey insurance coverage coverage every year once I return to Australia, the place I am initially from. (These are usually cheaper and extra beneficiant than U.S. insurance policies.)
Whereas my protection included baggage injury, it got here with a 200 Australian greenback ($130) deductible. On condition that the bag solely value me $196, it wasn’t value submitting a declare.
Reimbursement from Chase: Success
Since I had used my Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see charges and costs) to e-book my flight, the cardboard’s journey protections kicked in.
This profit would additionally apply if I had paid for the flight with factors and lined the taxes and costs with the cardboard.
Below its “misplaced baggage reimbursement” profit, the Sapphire Reserve covers as much as $3,000 in damages, nicely above the $196 alternative value of my bag.
To qualify, I needed to notify Chase inside 20 days of the incident. I submitted:
- My journey itinerary
- Proof that I used my Sapphire Reserve to pay for the flight
- The denial letter from EasyJet
- The bag’s buy receipt
I submitted the declare on-line by way of Chase’s card advantages portal, now administered by Assurant. Chase beforehand used eClaimsline, which had a fame for poor customer support; in distinction, I discovered Assurant’s course of fast and clear.
The shape took lower than 5 minutes to finish. I submitted it the identical day I acquired the denial letter from EasyJet.
9 days later, I received an approval e mail asking for my financial institution particulars. And the subsequent day, the $196 reimbursement landed in my account. I had anticipated a partial cost because the profit technically covers solely the depreciated worth of the merchandise, so receiving the total quantity was a nice shock.
Backside line
Whereas I wasn’t thrilled that my baggage was broken, I used to be fortunate to have layered protections in place that made the reimbursement course of comparatively painless.
My tricks to put together for the same scenario are to:
- Hold your receipts.
- Keep away from checking a bag when attainable.
- Examine your bag for injury earlier than leaving baggage declare.
- Take pictures of any injury.
- Submit a declare with the airline.
- If relevant, file a purchase order safety declare inside 90 days of buy.
- Use a journey rewards card with baggage safety to buy your flight.
It is a reminder that the perks your bank card presents aren’t simply advertising and marketing fluff. When one thing goes fallacious, they’ll actually repay, so long as you are prepared to place in slightly bit of labor.
To study extra, learn our full evaluate of the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Associated: Which bank cards cowl baggage delays?
