[leftwing]

I left my Bose noise headset in the seat back on CX flt HKG-SIN. 7 days later, I walked up to the airport staff and asked for the lost and found of CX at SIN aiport. 20 mins later my headsets were in my hand; with a reminder “they are very expensive you will not be lucky twice”

I was impressed in the understatement, the honesty and resoursefulness of the CX cabin crew and ground staff was amazing.

It is true the people make the company.

[LondonGuy]

The flyingbunny story is one of the best that I have heard on Biz Traveller so far!

There should be a voting system to see which of the stories on here most impresses.

I have to say – the Fedex’d suit story (Mandarin Oriental thread), the books swap on the Saudi flight and the note left on the headphones all are a close second.

For sheer hilarity, the sleeping wife story takes the pick!

[FlyingFramer]

I love the Flying Bunny story!
I once left 200 B&H on a SIA flight that landed early one morning at Manchester. Reported it to ground staff, but never expected to see them again.
1 week later postman brought them.
I could not believe my luck – well done SIA and MAN ground staff.

[JohnHowe]

Never left any thing on a plane but did drop my passport between the skybridge and the cabin door it sailed down the gap between both, you can imagine my panic.

But just as the doors were closing a member of the cabin crew gently placed the document into my sweating palm. I have never been so relieved in my life so much so that I had to drink the contents of a full bottle of Chilean white.

[BKK_FLYER]

I will say that as a former airlines employee I did my absolute best to get stuff back to people… especially the important stuff– passports, cellphones, wallets, keys.. etc.. I will also say that *most* airlines mandate that when staff (flight attendants or cabin cleaners) find items they are to turn it into a supervisor immediately.. do things still go “missing” due to theft? well, sure.. But I will say that in my opinion, far more things get found *and* returned than not.. I will also say that many people swear that they left it in the seat back pocket– only for us to find it on the floor– five rows forward (as it slid forward on the smooth carpet during landing).. Also, lots of things get “found” and turned into the carriers local Lost & Found office only to sit because no one comes for them– even after the airlines call them… I’ve called people for their passports, keys, credit cards, wedding rings (why is your ring off your finger?) and had people say “I’ll be by in a few days”… only they never show.. Eventually we had to turn in these items to the local police or in some cases we donate them to local charities (clothing, glasses, etc.).. You’d be suprised how much resources are directed at the lost & found function…

[ChickenTikka]

Well my experience of Lost Property at Gatwick was pretty abysmal – I left a book on a Flybe flight – although I couldn’t pick it up from the Flybe desk for a while so it was sent down to Lost Property – has anyone ever been down there…? The lady on duty when i asked for my book was impatient and sullen. I thought she had lost the plot. But in fact I had just lost my book. She explained through gritted teeth “we get hundreds of books every week” and so I had to describe my book in great detail. The cover not the contents. It did not help that I could not remember the date of my flight (I take many flights from Gatwick) She disappeared for about a minute and came back and said “no”. Not sorry sir your book is not here. Just no. It must be annoying to have so many people coming to that little window to ask about their property but I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important. I believe a little courtesy would not go a miss. Even if my book did.

[NTarrant]

Not quite on a plane, but… I pulled out my PDA without knowing it at the departure gate in Jersey whilst awaiting the flight to Southampton with Flybe. Having boarded the stewardess announced a PDA had been found in the waiting area, but as I didn’t use it in the departure gate I didn’t think it was mine. Until putting the newspaper back in my bag when getting off discovered that mine was that PDA.

I mentioned it to the stewardess who was sympathetic and suggested I go to the customer service desk in the terminal which I did to be told that because it was electrical they would not put it on a flight to Southampton. I would basically have to fly over to Jersey and pick it up and fly back again. Or wait until the next visit a couple of months later.

Lucky my colleague had not left the island and was able to collect it, with quite some problems from the Flybe and airport staff neither of which seemed to know what they were doing despite it all being arranged to be collected. He was going to Doncaster but as we were meeting a week later it was a lot cheaper than the alternative!

Moral of the story, if it is announced that someone has lost XY or Z and you have an X, Y or Z check incase!

[nikonlost]

we lost our nikon camera on an easy jet plane from Paris to Nice on the 29 of July.We had spent a week in Paris took so many photos we have not got a single photo.We were so disapointed the rest of our holiday was ruined.

[conair346]

For many airlines at MAN the lost property goes via handling agents to Global Baggage Solutions, the guys who deal with left luggage, lost luggage and also sell new cases etc.

A lot of things like books, hats, toys and glasses are handed in to ground staff but without paperwork from the crew or cleaners who found it we cannot process it. The rule of thumb is that if the passenger really felt attached to it, they would realise it was missing. Really only valuables like phones & wallets have a high return rate, a lot of stuffed animals get left even when handed in, hence in the few cases people want them back, they aren’t available.
The paperwork I need to take lost property from an aircraft is to ensure its documented at source what has been found, anything missing from the paperwork such as a card it falls on me. Anything missing not on the paperwork is down to the crew or cleaners.

I have on one occasion rushed an ipad from LH in T1 to CO in T2 for a LH Senator. Both airlines are the company’s customers so it was easy, though CO wouldn’t return the ipad to the passenger until they had it scanned locally in MAN. As though MUC’s procedures don’t meet ours. Silly American paranoia.

Airlines like Onur can’t hand over anything – including a passport, it must return to its point of origin even though we know the passengers cant get through the UK Border without a passport. Its a silly policy which I have bent a couple of times.

I have known the cleaners to deny having found things, when the passenger has returned to the gate, yet when you call the crew office and also speak to the cleaning manager the lost items (usually cigarettes) mysteriously appear from a bag of ‘rubbish’.

In the case of not being allowed back onto the aircraft, that is standard airport policy at MAN too. Once you leave the gate, you shouldn’t be allowed back down the bridge, I can when possible enforce this but other things crop up and the gate doors remain open so passengers do sometimes appear at the aircraft again. If you do loose anything report it to an airline representative in the bag hall or a member of crew if you see them. As always, if you really want it, you’ll make sure you have it before leaving.

[Stretch]

When I was 12, I flew with my parents to alicante on Iberia. I left my wallet in my seat pocket. My parents reported the loss whilst we were waiting for our baggage to arrive. 15 minutes later, I got my wallet back. Last year – flying Iberia to Tangier via Madrid in business class – I realised as I got on the transfer bus from the aircraft that I left my wallet on board. As soon as I got to terminal T4S, I reported the loss to Iberia customer services, but the wallet was not recovered. I had all my credit cards and £200 cash in the wallet. How times change! Thank God for travel insurance.

[stevescoots]

I left 1000 B&H on a QR flight to CAN, 15 mins after getting off i realised, went to the service desk, they were already gone….fortunatly 1000 B&H in Doha is only 60 USD or so.

I also left my wallet in HKG once, did not realise until I landed in HCM, travelex sent it to HK police, who sent it to my HK office, who fedexed it to the Sofitel, who then sent it to the mandarin oriental in Jakarta as i it arrived too late in HCM for me…who then sent it back to HK office as I was alreday on my way back there. it spent best part of a week flying without me and not one thing was missing!

[LostiPhone]

@nikonlost I know how terrible that feels. Have you tried Ifoundyourcamera.net ? Lost my iPhone with all the vacation pictures on our flight back last week (Cathay Pacific). Realized it in the taxi and went back and met the ground crew, but no luck. Cathay had the closed bucket seat so it couldn’t have fallen behind and I sat in the front row where the arm rest was a single piece that went all the way to the floor. It’s probably lodged in-between the seat cushion and the arm rest and traveling all over the world. If anyone happens to sit on seat 54D stretch your hand into that corner for me!

[LuganoPirate]

I recently flew an internal flight in S. Africa from George to JNB and left my iPad in the seat pocket. I’d cleared the airport when I realised and dashed back, went to the lost and found office and within 30 minutes had it returned to me.

I was really impressed.

[dsatrio]

I left a paperback on Japan’s carrier Skymark, and got it back at the Lost & Found desk a few days later. But I once left a Bose headset on an SQ flight and not a trace of it afterwards.
I think if the airline staff (or cleaning crew) finds it, the chance of the lost stuff getting back to you is bigger. But if it was nicked by your fellow passenger, then adios…

[JordanD]

Timely, as this weekend I managed to leave my duty free on a plane when I arrived in Edinburgh of a BA flight from LHR. I had purchased (at T5) a bottle of whisky, two boxes of chocolates … and a tube of toothpaste.

Unfortunately all the numbers for contacts at EDi were closed on Friday night, when I realised in a taxi away from the airport, but a call (and a Direct Message to the BA Twitter account) sorted me out and I was very pleased to find out that the crew had handed it in. I was informed I could collect it any time from lost property, which I did on my departure from EDI yesterday (Sunday).

I was disappointed to find out when I got there, that the sealed chocolates and toothpaste (which the receipt in the bag informed them had just been purchased) were considered perishables – despite use by dates in 2012 – and were therefore destroyed. Additionally, they informed me there was a handling charge which I would normally have been required to pay – however the apologetic lady at the desk (and she was), waived the charge as they hadn’t informed me of the ‘perishables’ rule.

So a small win – the whisky back and no charge – but a wider issue perhaps.

[Author]

Posts