Possibly using RAC again with some caveats!!!!

[stargazertechie]

I am absolutely livid at this point. RAC managed to not only misdirect all of our bags, but the bags for about half of the people on our flight. There are no words that are DIS appropriate to describe the hot mess of a scene that is the baggage office at MDW right now.

Yep. Never checking a bag again, this is absolutely inexcusable. Went to RAC at 7:30 AM to drop our bags for our 8:55 PM flight. One would think they could manage to get the bags 30 minutes up the road in 12 hours


Update 7/11:

Well, the full resolution is on page 2, but I will probably use RAC again in the future as long as I don't have a late night flight. It seems that the longer between the time you drop your bags and your flight, the higher the liklihood of misdirected luggage. I probably also wouldn't use it if I had a connecting flight, or during the winter when there is a high liklihood of a flight delay.

That being said, BAGS is incredibly careful when it comes to scanning luggage, and Mears (who handles all BAGS complaints) is an AWESOME company to deal with if your bags are lost!

 

[maxiesmom]

How do you know it is RAC's fault and not the fault of the airline? Is that what they told you?

Sorry you are having to deal with that.

 

[edbo77]

I'll ask the question, what is RAC?

 

[Kimberle]

RAC - resort airline checkin

When I use RAC, they show me the tags on my bags so I can verify they are correct.

 

[Gracie09]

Double post

 

[Gracie09]

doesn't mean it's rac. They could have handed off the luggage to the airline and the airline misdirected it. Sorry it happened to you. I hope it gets sorted out

 

[goofy4tink]

RAC always shows me the destination code on the tags before affixing them. I'm not sure that you can blame RAC if, as you say, almost half the plane had the same issue. I seriously doubt all those peopled used RAC at a WDW resort! That would be beyond belief. I mean, seriously? How would that happen? The bags are taken from you, tagged (you should always check the destination tags before you leave the RAC counter), then put aside for transport. They are put in a luggage caged and onto the truck. That truck may make stops at several resorts before heading back to the airport. There, the bags are dropped and sent to the respective airlines to be stowed. I just can't wrap my head around RAC being able to misdirect that many bags. It is usually something that happens at the airport...bags mistakenly tagged for a different airport.
I just can't see where that would happen to so many people on the same flight!

 

[sam_gordon]

I am absolutely livid at this point. RAC managed to not only misdirect all of our bags, but the bags for about half of the people on our flight. There are no words that are DIS appropriate to describe the hot mess of a scene that is the baggage office at MDW right now.

Yep. Never checking a bag again, this is absolutely inexcusable. Went to RAC at 7:30 AM to drop our bags for our 8:55 PM flight. One would think they could manage to get the bags 30 minutes up the road in 12 hours

So half the people on your flight were not only AT Disney, but staying at a Disney resort, AND used RAC to check their bags? I'd say the odds of RAC causing the problem are almost astronomical. Odds GREATLY favor the airline.

Was this a connecting flight or a direct? Where did the bags get misdirected to? Did you happen to see the luggage tags as they were attached?

 

[stargazertechie]

I recognized quite a few folks in the baggage office from my resort, and everyone who was there had either WDW clothing on or were carrying WDW bags. The folks who were continuing from MS all had their bags.


It was a direct flight for those of us boarding at MCO, a continuation of a flight from Jackson.

Yes, I watched the proper luggage tags affixed, and when southwest searched the claim tag numbers, they show that they were never checked in at MCO. As of right now, WN has no clue where our bags are.

FWIW, the southwest CSR at midway said they've had a ton of problems with the offsite BAGS company in the past few months

 

[Lewisc]

I'm assuming the OP means more then half the people filing a claim for missing bags appear to have used RAC and not more then half the passengers were missing luggage.

People on DIS like to assume DME/RAC is generally without blame. Late bags arriving and missing bags on your return flight must the fault of the airline. Airlines don't want bags 12 hours before your flight. Get to the airport too early and you'll have to wait to check your bag. Check in as early as the OP did and RAC holds the bag at your resort until closer to your flight time. Those bags sometimes wind being held too long and the bag misses the flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm assuming the OP means more then half the people filing a claim for missing bags appear to have used RAC and not more then half the passengers were missing luggage.

People on DIS like to assume DME/RAC is generally without blame. Late bags arriving and missing bags on your return flight must the fault of the airline. Airlines don't want bags 12 hours before your flight. Get to the airport too early and you'll have to wait to check your bag. Check in as early as the OP did and RAC holds the bag at your resort until closer to your flight time. Those bags sometimes wind being held too long and the bag misses the flight.

Actually? The OP said ' RAC managed to not only misdirect all of our bags, but the bags for about half of the people on our flight.' So we all assumed that's what he meant.
Now, as far as not thinking DME or RAC isn't capable of making a mistake? Not my way of thinking at all. It happens. But....if we are allowed to check our bags, then we should be able to assume that those bags are going to get to the airport. I guess it would be a perfect world if we could all get to the RAC counter 4.5 hrs prior to our flight departure time..that would enable RAC to get the bags to the airport in plenty of time and relieve the airport of the issue of having all those addtl bags, waiting to be checked in. But, in all reality? That isn't always possible. RAC closes down at 1pm. So, if you have a 9pm flight, then your bags are still going to be checked in at least 8 hrs prior to departure!
Many times, if bags get to MCO too early? The airline sticks them on an earlier flight. That has happened to me several times. And even then, there is still a good chance those bags are going to go astray...they tend to get put aside and forgotten about.
If the airline says the bags were never checked in at MCO? Then I guess the airline needs to take it up with RAC/BAGS.

 

[Lewisc]

Actually? The OP said ' RAC managed to not only misdirect all of our bags, but the bags for about half of the people on our flight.' So we all assumed that's what he meant.

That is what the OP said, however it doesn't make sense for reasons enumerated by PP. We can either assume the OP made up his story or we can assume he made a mistake in posting. He mentioned recognizing people waiting to file a claim for missing luggage. My explanation is his observation of half the passengers is limited to those filing a claim. I certainly can't argue with posters who prefer to think the OP made up the incident.

Airlines won't generally accept bags more then 3 or 4 hours before your flight. I don't know exactly how that policy is applied with respect to RAC checked bags but I know RAC is required to hold bags checked that early. RAC closes at 1, I don't know where the bags are held.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm assuming the OP means more then half the people filing a claim for missing bags appear to have used RAC and not more then half the passengers were missing luggage.

People on DIS like to assume DME/RAC is generally without blame. Late bags arriving and missing bags on your return flight must the fault of the airline. Airlines don't want bags 12 hours before your flight. Get to the airport too early and you'll have to wait to check your bag. Check in as early as the OP did and RAC holds the bag at your resort until closer to your flight time. Those bags sometimes wind being held too long and the bag misses the flight.

Actually, I think the better point is the ODDS greatly favor the AIRLINE as the ones at fault. It's not that DME/RAC can't do anything wrong, it's just the chances are MUCH greater the airline is to blame.

Now, with the added information from the OP, it does sound like the problem lies with RAC/BAGS. It sounds like the bags never got to the airport. Although that still seems strange, because you'd think more people and flights would be affected, not just a single flight.

 

[seashoreCM]

I take it that BAGS Inc.'s other hotel locations (Rosen, Marriott, Hilton, etc.) also close at 1 PM. The check in desk employees then end their shifts and all the bags trucked out to a place where the baggage can be sorted by check in time as well as sorted by airline and introduced into the airport baggage processing at the proper times. This holding and sorting leaves room for error. Ideally the location should be at the airport so highway traffic is no longer an issue but I would not be surprised if there is a final sorting area at WDW.

 

[francie57]

If the bags had the appropriate tags put on when you checked them in with RAC, my guess would be its the airline at MCO that is to blame. The truck could have dropped off the luggage with the airline and the airline never put the luggage on the flight. Wouldn't be the first time. Our DD flew from JFK to Dom. Rep and the airline purposely left off the luggage for a number of passengers so they wouldn't be too heavy. One never knows what the airline will do. We use RAC every trip and have never had a problem but I think you take a chance each time just like checking your luggage in at the airport.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Given that the sorting area for inbound luggage is at the airport, and that outbound luggage is locked in cages and placed on (gps-trackable?) trucks, it only makes sense that the sorting area for the outbound luggage is the same on-airport warehouse.

Yes, I watched the proper luggage tags affixed, and when southwest searched the claim tag numbers, they show that they were never checked in at MCO. As of right now, WN has no clue where our bags are.

Given that Southwest/WN shows the luggage was never checked in, it's apparently still in the possession of BAGS; not misdirected, just not directed.

It sounds like the bags never got to the airport. Although that still seems strange, because you'd think more people and flights would be affected, not just a single flight.

Yup. It seems as if (all) the luggage (that was checked in at that and other resorts around the same time) made it onto a truck in plenty of time. It just seems like the luggage that should have gotten put on that specific flight, didn't.

FWIW, the southwest CSR at midway said they've had a ton of problems with the offsite BAGS company in the past few months

A Southwest CSR saying something doesn't make it fact. Hyperbole ("a ton") makes a claim even less believable. There are two parties here - any issues could as or more easily be caused by Southwest, the newcomer to RAC.

Yep. Never checking a bag again, this is absolutely inexcusable.

Which is your choice - but just so you're aware, airlines misdirect about three million pieces of checked luggage per year.

 

[Minnesota!]

Inconvenient? Sure. But not even close to something that would infuriate me or cause me to never use that service again.

I would (as I have done in the past) give them my home address/phone number so that when it DOES show up, the courier can deliver it to me. It's happened a few times over the years and only once has it taken more than 24hours for my luggage to land at my house.

I would say if this is the first time it has happened to you - you are doing well.

 

[DebbieB]

I know SW scans them as they are loaded on the plane but I wonder if they scan them after BAGS delivers them. BAGS ends service at 1:00pm, even if they took them on their last truck it should have arrived at the airport long before the flight. Since there was such a large time difference, SW may have been put aside since they were not going onto a plane for hours and forgot to pick them up. It just seems odd that there were so many from one flight. If everyone was coming from the same resort and checked them at the same time, I could believe that BAGS didn't deliver them.

 

[livndisney]

OP-I saw you mentioned SW. Was this a SW flight "operated" by Airtran?

 

[Lewisc]

Given that the sorting area for inbound luggage is at the airport, and that outbound luggage is locked in cages and placed on (gps-trackable?) trucks, it only makes sense that the sorting area for the outbound luggage is the same on-airport warehouse.

Incoming luggage is sorted so it can be bused to the appropriate resort. Outgoing luggage all goes to the same destination, MCO. Outgoing luggage has TSA security requirements. Incoming luggage has no such requirements. Outgoing luggage can be checked remotely, curbside or at the airline counter. MCO already had a system for sorting such luggage. It's possible MCO expanded luggage sorting handling to a facility outside the main terminal building.

I don't know where incoming luggage is sorted but I'd be shocked if it was done if it was done at the same facility used for outgoing luggage.. OK I guess it's possible an unused hanger was converted with part of the building being used for outgoing and a separate facility being used for incoming.

I understand one of the delays in adding Southwest was making sure the RAC office in the resorts and MCO could handle the additional bags. Soutwest has an allowance of 2 checked bags per passenger. Some people thought Southwest could double the number of bags being handled by RAC.

The fact is someone has to hold luggage checked that far in advance. Makes sense some bags will occasionally get left behind.