SWA or Magical Express...ever had luggage lost?

[camdensmom]

I'm starting to panic.

I was nervous enough about a lost bag when it was just flying.

Having the Magical Express people pick up the bags is just one more opportunity to have it lost.

Now I'm told that since we added the dining plan and thus have a new reservation # that our yellow tickets are no longer valid and to just bring our baggage claim tickets to them and the luggage team will "magically" find our unmarked luggage and transport it to our rooms.

Since we are traveling with an infant and more infant-related stuff than I thought imaginable I am not overly eager to get the luggage myself. However, the idea of having my bags lost is scary.

Any experiences to share either way?

thanks in advance!

 

[gw_lit]

I can't comment on Magical Express, but I have had luggage lost on Southwest and a couple of other airlines. In each case, I've received my lost luggage within 24 hours of my arrival time. Just be sure to pack at least a day (or maybe two for the infant) worth of supplies in a carry-on so you know it gets to Orlando with you.

 

[seashoreCM]

Now I'm told that since we added the dining plan and thus have a new reservation # that our yellow tickets are no longer valid and to just bring our baggage claim tickets to them and the luggage team will "magically" find our unmarked luggage and transport it to our rooms.!

You can still use the old yellow tickets if you don't receive new ones. Cross out and write in the resort name if that has changed but don't cross out the bar code. Also bring the (yellow?) stub (from which you tore off the tickets) to the Magical Express welcoming area. This will make finding the baggage a little faster.

 

[CleveRocks]

If you ask enough people, you'll find anecdotes of Southwest Airlines losing luggage ... and American ... and Delta ... yada yada yada ....

Every airline loses luggage. It happens. Actually what's more likely, though, is an airline MISPLACING and DELAYING luggage, that "finds you" a day or 2 later. That's why smart packing in carry-ons for the first day or so is so vital. It is quite literally an insurance policy against delayed luggage. It's amazing how little room is taken up by a complete change of clothes, PJs, bathing suit, toiletries, medications, etc. It's just the smart way to travel, not just for DME but for any air travel anywhere anytime.

For some strange reason, your question reminded me of the movie Rain Man, when Raymond wouldn't fly on any airline but Qantas because they were the only one never to have a plane crash. Well, the movie was made in 1988, and Qantas ended up having a crash in 1999. So now EVERY airline has had a crash. That fact alone shouldn't stop us from flying. Now, if we knew that a particular airline had a pattern of crashes, that's another story. If you hear a story or two of lost luggage on Southwest, that shouldn't stop you from flying Southwest. I'm not aware of any data reporting that one airline or another has a significantly better or worse record for losing luggage.

In my 17 years of flying I've had luggage delayed twice. I figure I've flown about 50 times in that span, so that means 100 one-way trips. Two incidents out of 100 is 2%, and I'll bet that makes me pretty unlucky. I doubt the airline industry delays 2% of the luggage it carries. Now, I can tell I have too much time on my hands tonight -- I just went to the website of the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics [GOD BLESS GOOGLE!] and read that in February of this year the airlines reported mishandling 0.496% (less than one-half of one percent) of passengers' luggage. And my personal data is at 2%. MAAAAAAAN, I am unlucky after all.

 

[Rachael Q]

I have never used ME, but have flown Southwest. I have flown many, many airlines and luckily for me my luggage has been "lost" twice and damaged once. British Airways ripped a bag open, nothing was lost but the bag was beyond repair. BA apologised, and our insurance covered the replacement cost.

Qantas lost our bag - but found it very quickly, had it on the next flight and delivered it to our accommodation - it actually arrived before us - because we didn't have any luggage, we stopped for dinner on the way to our accommodation.

Southwest lost our bags on the way home from Disney World in Jan 2005. We flew into Seattle and were then getting a coach to Vancouver. We had two suitcases each and they were well and truely lost. SWA couldn't tell if they were still in Orlando, if they had been offloaded in Phoenix or anything.

It was over a week before they found either suitcase. Then they had FEDEX deliver them to us in Vancouver, which was great - except they put the value on each suitcase at $1000.00 each - which meant customs dinged us for taxes and duty (on our own clothes) and then FEDEX charged us a handling fee.

The whole time the Southwest staff were very friendly and apologised numerous times. I sent a letter to customer service requesting that Southwest reimburse us for the handling fees (Canada Customs eventually refunded the taxed and duties), and I complimented the two staff members who assisted us (one at SEATAC and one on the phone). I also made a point of saying that we would fly Southwest again and we would recommend them to family and friends.

Southwest phoned us to thank us for our patience and our letter, and said they would send a small gift to offset the inconvenience. They sent us gift certificates or the value of our flights! Way more than I was expecting.