Does ME collect airline reports when necessary?

[DaniB]

Our Visa covers "baggage delay" when baggage is delayed by the airport for more than 4 hours. This works out better that "lost baggage" as we would have to wait 2 weeks to claim lost baggage...

However, the insurance provider (RB) said we would have to get an "airline report" from the airline if this happens.

Since we are travelling with ME - will ME collect this report and an "airline receipt" as well when the luggage turns up?

Has anyone had this happen?

 

[seashoreCM]

In most cases, DME does not know of baggage not arriving into Orlando. An exception is if you did not have yellow DME tags and you showed your claim checks to the DME welcoming area CM thus putting them on the lookout for your bags.

I would suggest that you contact Visa and RB, sending them the paragraphs below:

RE: Baggage Delay Benefits.

I am staying at a large resort complex that provides ground transportation from the airport about 15 miles away. As a guest convenience they intercept the checked baggage, transport that in separately routed trucks to the resort, and deliver that to the guests' rooms while the guests bypass the airport carousels.

In the event baggage does not arrive in the guest's room, the guest files a claim at the hotel front desk in the same manner as s/he would when not finding his/her baggage at the airport carousels. It is as if the shuttle bus trip from the airport to the resort complex is a "connecting flight".

Usually the guest partakes of various resort activities upon arrival and does not return to his/her room until many hours have passed since his/her plane landed.

Please advise me whether you accept the "missing baggage report" prepared by the resort in lieu of the "airline report" that I might receive at the airline's baggage claim desk.

The name of the resort complex is Walt Disney World and the name of the mostly outsourced ground transportation service is Disney's Magical Express.

If the answer is "no" you may want/choose to not use the DME yellow tags and fetch your baggage from the carousels yourself. Visa is offering a service over and above what the airlines do while DME just matches what the airlines do.

 

[DaniB]

If the answer is "no" you may want/choose to not use the DME yellow tags and fetch your baggage from the carousels yourself. Visa is offering a service over and above what the airlines do while DME just matches what the airlines do.

Thank you for replying SeashoreCM! I will phone on Monday and inquire further. We pay for our trip July 31st so I need to have our insurance figured out as well.

I quoted the above as I was hoping you could clarify something for me. What is it that the airlines do (that DME matches)? Our family has not flown before. The flight, the whole trip actually, is a first for us in every way.

 

[seashoreCM]

What is "matched" is the baggage claim procedure. For example there is a limit of X dollars of compensation and a delay of X day before they give you that. You go down to the front desk with your baggage claim checks and, if used, the yellow DME tags. You would have to describe what was lost. In the event they want receipts to prove the value of items, you will be allowed a reasonable time to (complete your vacation and return home and) send copies of those after filing the claim. The purchase price of now used items is "depreciated" considerably to determine how much you are reimbursed. Certain kinds of items notably including electronics are not covered unless declared prior to flight with extra insurance purchased from the airline. Now they may (varies by airline) reimburse you for some of the items you needed to buy because those items you packed were in the missing bag. In some cases Disney provides you with items from the gift shop rather than give you money.

One difference built into DME is that airlines also require that you file a claim within four hours of arriving. Since this last part is generally impossible with DME baggage delivery (you need not wait in your room), claim eligibility must exist when you discover the bags missing which may well be late in the evening when you get to your room even though you arrived in the morning.