Baggage broken into an items stolen at Madrid airport - Claim?

Rocksy_B

We got back from holiday a few weeks ago. When we picked up our luggage we noticed the strap lock was missing on the case(s) so we opened the bags and noticed that the case locks had been smashed. The strap locks were actually inside the suitcases now, and had been cut so the cases could be opened. We wondered if they had just been inspected but all our shopping, a MacBook, new perfume etc had been nicked. This was with Etihad. As we didn’t have travel insurance, I’m not sure what we’ll be able to do!

1. Does anyone have any experience/knowledge here?

2. Etihad say they need a pic of the bags with the luggage tags on. We have pics of the tags, but they were taken off when we reported the issue at the airport, and the tags were taken by the staff. Do you think that could be an issue, anyone? 

- This got reported immediately, at the airport so I can’t see why expecting the tags to still be on the (broken) suitcases is very reasonable.

TadleyBaggie

You have no idea where this occurred, could have been at Madrid or the arrival airport. Without travel insurance (why?) you might be SOL.

TELLIT01

As said above, you can't possibly prove where or when the bags were broken into.  Any advice I have ever read says not to put items of value into checked luggage.  It's highly unlikely that travel insurance would cover high value items in this situation but would have covered damage to the case.  Trying to save a few quid by not having travel insurance has backfired badly here

onashoestring

Worth checking your Home Insurance Contents cover, to see if you have 'Cover for your possessions away from your home' ?

Rocksy_B

onashoestring said:

Worth checking your Home Insurance Contents cover, to see if you have 'Cover for your possessions away from your home' ?

Hi, onashoestring. yes that was what we thought we had through my wife’s credit card. It turns out it had not auto-renewed, which was a bit daft of us. Wasn’t about “saving a few quid” like people are mentioning above. If wanted to save a few quid, I wouldn’t go on holiday!

macman

It has to be asked: why would you put a Macbook in your hold luggage rather than hand baggage? Even if not stolen, the risk of delayed luggage at present is very high.

Rocksy_B

macman said:

It has to be asked: why would you put a Macbook in your hold luggage rather than hand baggage? Even if not stolen, the risk of delayed luggage at present is very high.

You’d have to ask my mrs that, I had it in my carry on and she moved it!

eDicky

I've said it before (to the protests of some) and I'll say it again - airport baggage handlers in general, with exceptions such as Singapore, maybe Dubai, are basically dishonest to the the extent of being ready to rob anything valuable that they see contained in luggage during a scan. So you need to bear this in mind when packing your bags.

MalMonroe

eDicky said:

I've said it before (to the protests of some) and I'll say it again - airport baggage handlers in general, with exceptions such as Singapore, maybe Dubai, are basically dishonest to the the extent of being ready to rob anything valuable that they see contained in luggage during a scan. So you need to bear this in mind when packing your bags.

Here is another protest because that defamatory comment is not true. I will humbly stand to be corrected if you can supply detailed and correct data and statistics for us. If you are unable to, then neither you, nor we, can either assert or believe such facts.

I have travelled to many places - Australia, Canada, USA, South Africa, Asia (including Singapore), Europe and have never experienced any theft at all. If there are any dishonest baggage handlers I have never encountered any. On two occasions my luggage was misplaced and on both occasions it was recovered and forwarded on to me at my destination. Once - after a flight from Las Vegas, I noticed that my suitcase had been opened when I arrived in the UK and there was an official notice inside saying that the contents had been searched by US customs. They had broken the lock but they specified that they were allowed to do that by the US government. (Nothing was missing, nothing illegal found by them, just a random spot search.)

When packing bags to travel the best advice to offer is do ensure that you have comprehensive travel insurance covering not only lost baggage but also the costs that may be incurred if you're taken ill or have an accident. Treatment overseas costs a bomb and repatriation is extortionate. 

If I were a baggage handler anywhere, I certainly would not be happy about your blasé comment above.

TELLIT01

Rocksy_B said:

Hi, onashoestring. yes that was what we thought we had through my wife’s credit card. It turns out it had not auto-renewed, which was a bit daft of us. Wasn’t about “saving a few quid” like people are mentioning above. If wanted to save a few quid, I wouldn’t go on holiday!

You might be surprised at just how many people do try to save a few quid by not taking out travel insurance, even when spending a fortune on the holiday itself.  More often than not they are the ones who get the sob story headlines when something serious goes wrong and they expect other people to pay for their tightfistedness.

IvanOpinion

Just a thought, last time we travelled we were told not to include any Li-ion batteries in checked in luggage - we were told they would be removed. Is it possible that the MacBook was removed due to its battery at the source airport? Maybe check there to see if they have it.