Honeymoon ends with loss of bags, lost opportunity and loss of time with wife
On Oct 22, 2016, I gave 2 bags to American Airlines to be checked through to Moscow, Russia. My wife and I had spent our honeymoon in the U.S. and were on our way home from Portland, Oregon to apply for my Residence Permit. On arriving in Moscow, I would have 2 days left on my visa, just enough time to get to Blagoveshchensk where we live to make the application and then get back to Moscow to catch a flight out of the country.
I paid the $82 extra bag fee and boarded the plane. Our connection in Chicago ran late due to an air conditioning failure. When we got to London, we were booked on a later flight with British Airways to Moscow. We arrived in Moscow with just enough time to make our flight with Vim Airlines. Our luggage, however, did not arrive with us. The time that it took to fill out the paperwork for the claim of lost bags was just 5 minutes too long. The guy at the desk would not issue a boarding pass, and told us to see the people at British Airways.
It was 5:55pm. The British Airways desk was supposed to close at 6pm, but there was no one there. The sign said they would return at 2am. With no one to help and nothing to do, we got a hotel room and came back the next day. The British Airways agent said that she couldn’t rebook our flights because we needed to have them rebooked at the time we missed our flight. Even though we explained there was no one at the desk, she confirmed that there should have been and that we were out of luck.
My wife left caught a flight to Blagoveshchensk, booked at her own expense. I stayed another night in Moscow and my flight out the next day to avoid violating my visa and possibly going to jail. The airlines then sent my bag to Blagoveshchensk, and my wife’s bag to Malta. On Oct. 31, I finally got my bag. (My wife got hers around the same time.)
When I contacted the airlines involved, American Airlines sent me an electronic voucher for $50, which is to be used on a future flight and doesn’t even cover the $82 for the second bag fee. While British Airways seemed more apologetic, on Nov. 27, they sent me a notice saying that they would pay for the single set of clothes that I bought during the 5 days I was only with 2 days’ worth of clothes (approximately $75). They said they couldn’t cover anything breakable because that should be carried in the carry-on. (I didn’t have anything breakable in my bags, but I guess knowing is half the battle.) Everything else should be covered by travel insurance, which I didn’t purchase.
In the end, I lost the money for 2 flights (one round trip) to Blagoveshchensk. The cost of a hotel for 2 nights. The cost of a background check and physical for my Resident’s Permit and the actual opportunity to apply for the permit, which means when my visa expires in April, I will have to leave Russia again and my wife and I will be apart from each other for an additional 3 months.
I am not angry about it. Things happen. I am disappointed that the airlines didn’t do a better job after the damage had occurred. Had the British Airways agent not left his or her post 5 minutes early, would we have been able to get on the Vim flight? I don’t know, but maybe we would have been able to catch another flight to Blagoveshchensk that would have still fit our schedule. Can the airlines do anything to help me get back the 3 months I won’t be at home with my wife because of their mistake? Not that I am aware of.
The best they could have done is refund the $82 for the extra bag, cover the cost for the hotel in Moscow and cover the cost of our miss flight with no opportunity to rebook because there were no agents available, even after calling the British Airways help number in Moscow (the office was closed according to the recording). Instead, American Airlines disavowed any liability, and British Airways apologized.
I paid the $82 extra bag fee and boarded the plane. Our connection in Chicago ran late due to an air conditioning failure. When we got to London, we were booked on a later flight with British Airways to Moscow. We arrived in Moscow with just enough time to make our flight with Vim Airlines. Our luggage, however, did not arrive with us. The time that it took to fill out the paperwork for the claim of lost bags was just 5 minutes too long. The guy at the desk would not issue a boarding pass, and told us to see the people at British Airways.
It was 5:55pm. The British Airways desk was supposed to close at 6pm, but there was no one there. The sign said they would return at 2am. With no one to help and nothing to do, we got a hotel room and came back the next day. The British Airways agent said that she couldn’t rebook our flights because we needed to have them rebooked at the time we missed our flight. Even though we explained there was no one at the desk, she confirmed that there should have been and that we were out of luck.
My wife left caught a flight to Blagoveshchensk, booked at her own expense. I stayed another night in Moscow and my flight out the next day to avoid violating my visa and possibly going to jail. The airlines then sent my bag to Blagoveshchensk, and my wife’s bag to Malta. On Oct. 31, I finally got my bag. (My wife got hers around the same time.)
When I contacted the airlines involved, American Airlines sent me an electronic voucher for $50, which is to be used on a future flight and doesn’t even cover the $82 for the second bag fee. While British Airways seemed more apologetic, on Nov. 27, they sent me a notice saying that they would pay for the single set of clothes that I bought during the 5 days I was only with 2 days’ worth of clothes (approximately $75). They said they couldn’t cover anything breakable because that should be carried in the carry-on. (I didn’t have anything breakable in my bags, but I guess knowing is half the battle.) Everything else should be covered by travel insurance, which I didn’t purchase.
In the end, I lost the money for 2 flights (one round trip) to Blagoveshchensk. The cost of a hotel for 2 nights. The cost of a background check and physical for my Resident’s Permit and the actual opportunity to apply for the permit, which means when my visa expires in April, I will have to leave Russia again and my wife and I will be apart from each other for an additional 3 months.
I am not angry about it. Things happen. I am disappointed that the airlines didn’t do a better job after the damage had occurred. Had the British Airways agent not left his or her post 5 minutes early, would we have been able to get on the Vim flight? I don’t know, but maybe we would have been able to catch another flight to Blagoveshchensk that would have still fit our schedule. Can the airlines do anything to help me get back the 3 months I won’t be at home with my wife because of their mistake? Not that I am aware of.
The best they could have done is refund the $82 for the extra bag, cover the cost for the hotel in Moscow and cover the cost of our miss flight with no opportunity to rebook because there were no agents available, even after calling the British Airways help number in Moscow (the office was closed according to the recording). Instead, American Airlines disavowed any liability, and British Airways apologized.