A Delta Passenger's Urine Soaked Luggage Ordeal
One story spreading across the web is so outrageous it almost seems like an urban legend. A young man's luggage criss-crosses the country and continents, dumped at airport to airport, and when it finally is delivered to him, the contents are allegedly soaked in urine.
Except a passenger named Sy Haze says it happened. He was flying Delta between London and Minneapolis. He made it. His luggage, however, was not so lucky.His bag ended up in Boston, three separate times, including being sent BACK to the UK, then to Minneapolis, and then back to Boston again, before showing up in his hotel room in Minneapolis.
When the bag finally showed up, it was filled with his damp, wrinkled clothing that gave off a strong odor of...urine. Haze aired his grievances on a YouTube video that has made the media rounds.
Is this an unfortunate incident? Yes, especially for Delta, which recently was ranked as the worst airline.
Do airlines lose thousands of bags year? A qualified yes.
The real numbers are actually quite impressive, and in the airlines' favor. They deliver more than 98 percent of all passenger bags. And the other 2 percent? Half of those get delivered within 72 hours after their original arrival time.
As for the remaining 1 percent, well, Mr. Haze falls into that category. Those bags are either damaged, or lost forever. That's roughly 300,000 a year.
Those of you who read my columns or watch me on CBS know my general luggage mantra: There are only two types of airline bags, carry on and lost. But we're not just talking that 1 percent of bags that ultimately are never reunited with their owners. We're also talking about that precious commodity for business travelers called lost time.
The Solution for Frequent Fliers
- Send your bags via UPS or another courier service. On domestic flights, I haven't checked a bag in nearly nine years. In my case, I FedEx my bags. But there are several other courier services that can accomplish the same thing, as well as UPS and even the U.S. Postal Service.
- On average, I save nearly two hours of my life every time I fly by NOT checking bags. I'm not schlepping them to the airport. Not standing in line at the counter, and then standing in another line to give them to the TSA.
- Upon arrival, I'm NOT waiting at the baggage carousel, my eyes transfixed on that belt, hoping against hope that my bag was actually on the same flight I was. And, of course, because I waited for bags, I'm either last in line for a taxi, or stuck in traffic, or both.
- By couriering my bags, there is no heavy lifting, and it only requires two phone calls. One, to track the bag (via the waybill number) and two, the call to the hotel concierge to alert them to the bag delivery and ask them to put it up in my room.
- ID your bags, clearly. Don't just put an ID tag on the outside of the bag. Conveyor belts eat those tags for breakfast. Tape a large (and legible) ID on the inside of each bag.
- Include your name and your contact phone number, but never your address.
- When your bag does come out on the conveyor belt at arrivals, most of us are usually so thrilled to actually see our luggage that we pick it up and race out of the airport. That's a mistake.
- Take 2 minutes and open your bag. What few people understand is that baggage thieves rarely steal bags. They steal individual items from bags. If you wait to get home to discover a particular item is missing, then it's your word against the airline's, and the airline will likely win.
- Delayed or Grounded Flight? Here's Your Plan B
- Carry-On vs. Checked Bags, the Latest Dilemma
- Passengers Battle Airlines Over Fees for Lost Luggage
