Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

[Mike_Lowery]

I came back to Kauai from Honolulu last night, and everyone in my family had their bags. According to the agent, my bag could've ended up in Samoa or Las Vegas in addition to the other neighbor islands (since flights to those places left around the same time as mine).

Has anyone had experiences with lost baggage and Hawaiian Airlines? How likely will I get it back? How long does it take to get it back? I had some items of immense sentimental value in there.

EDIT: forgot to mention that it was strange...my family's luggage had red "First Class Priority" tags on them upon arrival in Lihue. When we left Oahu, the desk agent checked the bags and did not put any red tags on them.

[TuNnL]

Re: $&^@! Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!!!!

my family's luggage had red "First Class Priority" tags on them upon arrival in Lihue. When we left Oahu, the desk agent checked the bags and did not put any red tags on them.

I think what you mean to say is: it had the tags upon departure from Lihu‘e.

[Mike_Lowery]

Re: $&^@! Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!!!!

I think what you mean to say is: it had the tags upon departure from Lihu‘e.

no, upon arrival. When we checked in on Oahu, there were no red tags. When we got back, they showed up on the carousel, red-tagged.

[cyleet99]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

Sounds like someone maybe caught the error and saved all the bags but one....

Hope they locate it for you quickly and return it even faster.

[Mike_Lowery]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

Sounds like someone maybe caught the error and saved all the bags but one....

Hope they locate it for you quickly and return it even faster.

Ahhh...sounds like a logical and rational explanation. Better than my initial reaction of checking the bags of everyone that was on my flight.

[Kaukura]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

I was on a las vegas to honolulu flight a few years ago and upon arrival in hnl, my bag was nowhere to be found. They said it would probably be on the next day's flight and sure enough it was. They put the bag in a taxi and delivered it to me at work.

[Amati]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

Yes, when the bag turns up, the airline should contact you. Sometimes they tell you to come fetch the luggage, but if you respond that they'll need to deliver it to you, they will do it. You'll need to sign for the bags, so make sure to note on the slip if you see any damage. (Our last "lost" bag finally turned up from the airline, busted! The airline replaced it, but only because we had proof that it was delivered to us damaged).

Last year, airlines lost seven bags for every 1,000 passengers, according to the Department of Transportation.

[tutusue]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

Many years ago a major airline lost my bag after a flight from HNL to LAX. My kids and I were visiting my parents for Christmas. In that bag were all my clothes, including the ones I needed for 2 Christmas parties the following 2 nights. I received my bag on the 3rd day! The airline delivered it...a drive from L.A. to Laguna Beach (half way to San Diego)!!! Everything was intact!

[Mike_Lowery]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

Many years ago a major airline lost my bag after a flight from HNL to LAX. My kids and I were visiting my parents for Christmas. In that bag were all my clothes, including the ones I needed for 2 Christmas parties the following 2 nights. I received my bag on the 3rd day! The airline delivered it...a drive from L.A. to Laguna Beach (half way to San Diego)!!! Everything was intact!

What, no Christmas gifts?


UPDATE: My bag was found in Vegas! It just arrived at OGG at 1:30 PM. Should be on my doorstep by 5 PM. Whew! I can sleep now...my security pillow was the item of "immense sentimental value" in my bag.

[shaveice]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

amati, you're pretty lucky. as someone who used to travel a lot, i've had about 5 hard case suit cases damaged by various airlines. each time was a hassle and they are now (in my experience) less likely to fully refund/fix your suitcase. in the last case, they only offered to have it "fixed" which means a cheap bandaid type of treatment; the crack is still there and will crack again later. totally unacceptable.

in frustration, i finally bought a pelican case which is indestructable. you could drop that sucker off a tall building and the case would still be okay. i used it happily for about 5 years (?) until the airlines started getting tight over weight. still remembering my past experiences, i reluctantly forked over around $500 for a lightweight suitcase that is tough as nails. it's metalic so i don't think it's nearly as indestructable as the pelican case (made of rubber). too bad weight became an issue because pelican cases are fantastic AND waterproof.

i hope you get your bags back in one piece and soon.

[Amati]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

amati, you're pretty lucky. as someone who used to travel a lot, i've had about 5 hard case suit cases damaged by various airlines. each time was a hassle and they are now (in my experience) less likely to fully refund/fix your suitcase. in the last case, they only offered to have it "fixed" which means a cheap bandaid type of treatment; the crack is still there and will crack again later. totally unacceptable.

Actually, I've had, similar to you, numerous "damaged" suitcases. Handles pulled off, wheels knocked off, soft sided ones "cut" thru the material. Those I just repair myself if doable, because as you say getting the airlines to cooperate is almost hopeless. The one that they had to refund was one that was obviously dropped from an extreme high, or something heavy dropped onto it. The metal bars inside the luggage were completely collapsed. When they delivered to the house, it was all smashed up. I think I was mostly mad that the airline KNEW when they loaded it into the delivery vehicle that they'd ruined the suitcase, but they never said a word and just tried to pass it off.

[shaveice]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

ha! man, could we trade horror stories over a beer! bad experiences; very frustrating.

on another note (sorry for venting), i remember asking the guy who used to run a mochi shop on maui why he didn't sell his stuff on oahu and he said without any hesitation that his stuff would often get stolen by the baggage people! totally unbelievable; so anyway, he just gave up. a sad reflection on how people behave in our society....

[sophielynette]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

I've had my luggage lost a few times, but the airport always delivers the bag back to me. Unfortunately the last time I lost a bag, I was only spending the night in Cincinnati with a friend before heading to Chicago early the next morning, so I needed that bag right away. It ended up coming that evening, but apparently somebody had left it out in the rain before loading into the van because when I got it everything inside was soaked. I ended up spreading my clothes all over my friend's apartment to dry them overnight.

Although the incident that annoys me the most is last month when I accidentally left my sketchbook in the back seat pocket of an airplane. I called Lost and Found numerous times and they never recovered it. I know it's my stupid mistake for leaving it behind without any contact information on it, but I'm annoyed at the airline as well, they're supposed to clean the planes out after each flight, you'd think they would have found it.

Wow, long rant on my part.. I'm glad you got your suitcase back Mike, hopefully everything arrives intact.

[Mike_Lowery]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

So I got my bag and contents back in one piece at 7 PM!

I'm glad I got my bag in before Tuesday, because I needed the barong tagalog I bought from Nancy's Fashions for a function.

[Vanguard]

Re: Hawaiian Airlines lost my luggage!

A European airline lost one of my bags a few years ago. It was never returned to me, I wanted compensation, and they asked me for receipts for every item that was in my bag. Who keeps receipts for everything they own? I don't even shop that much!

I'm glad Mike got his bag returned!