[VintageKrug]

BA recently won Best in Europe for correctly handling connecting bags:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/BA-Best-in-Europe-for-not-Mishandling-Losing-Checked-Bags

While errors always occur given the volumes involved, BA is now among the best for handling connecting bags.

There is plenty the passenger can do to ensure bags are not lost; clearly labelling your bag inside and out is one of the easiest things we can do to entirely eliminate the possibility of losing your bags; it’s a shame so few people do this properly.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

There seems to be an endemic problem at heathrow (to be clear it is not alone.) Edited to add that I have encountered it at T1, T2, T3 T4 and T5.

My bags missed a two hour conection last year and the same again with a 45 min (due to late incoming flight due to Heathrow flow restrictions) a fortnight ago.

Getting bags from on aircraft to another is not rocket science, I had a 25 minute connection at ZRH earlier in the year (due to a go around) and the bags made it.

My bags regulalry make 1 our planned connections at ZRH.

Someone at LHR shuld have a look at this, it costs the airlines lots of money in compensation and costs the traveller a lot of worry.

[Binman62]

“Clearly labelling your bag inside and out is one of the easiest things we can do to entirely eliminate the possibility of losing your bags; it’s a shame so few people do this properly”

Sadly this will not help your bag transfer between flights at any airport. The only label that matters is a bag tag. The use of labels, especially inside a bag is only of use when a bag has lost its tag and in order to reunite with an owner the airline will open it to try and identify the owner via the contents. This is not something that they would do inside a week.

The bag tag however links the passenger to the bag. The systems in use today read only the bar code or a micro chip if used. In the event that an inbound service was delayed and you were transferred to another flight, the theory is that the systems will recognise the bar code and direct the bag to the new flight automatically.

The team who load bags do not read the tags and even if a bag is tagged to SYD, if the system says it should be on a JFK flight that is where it will go. Bags are scanned before being loaded and it is a simple red or green signal that tells operators of a bag is cleared.

If a passenger has travelled and the bag did not travel with them then a series of additional security measures are undertaken and the bag becomes what is know as a rush bag. These bags should be routed to the owner via the most appropriate route but at BA you will generally find they fly the same aircraft/ route the next day.

In T5 there is a section of the baggage system where bags which are checked in early are stored. They are released at a pre determined time into the baggage system for loading which can be as little as 90 or 75 minutes prior to departure.

BA has become clever at preventing missing bags in the first instance by adopting a policy of landing bags at LHR in time of significant disruption and this undoubtedly helps keep the mishandle rate down.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Just a point to build on Binman’s post.

If you travel regularly

1 – stay at checkin long enough to confirm the agent has detached a bar code strip from the baggage tab and applied it firmly to the side of your case – 2/102 times last year, I had to remind the agent to add it. If the main baggage label is detached, this the backup

2- if, over a period of time, your case has accumulated a lot of bar tag codes, it is worth having a purge (often requiring the use of a solvent) to clean the excess off.

Binman may be able to confirm my feeling that old bag bar codes don’t work, but they do make it harder for the agent searching for lost bags to find the current tag and thus removing the old ones is a practical step in helping the airline to find your misplaced bag ASAP.

Thinking back, I have only ever lost two bags over the years, the others have always been located between the same day and three weeks after being misplaced.

So the system works well in avoiding absolute losses.

[newbie_bb]

DisgustedofSwieqi you make a valuable point regarding removing old barcode strips from bags. This is perhaps one of the main causes of bags not making flights as old tags confuse the system and result in bags being sent to a separate area to be manually investigated and dealt with. Many people often have old barcode strips and even old tags which they refuse to remove.

In T5, we have been requested by BAA and the baggage systems manufacturers not to remove the small barcodes and place them directly on the bags. Not exactly sure why as we do it in T3, but it is something about the system reading only one barcode at a time and having multiple ones gives error messages.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Thanks Newbie

Good to know that T5 works differently.

I don’t usually check in there, but if I do, I’ll not worry when they don’t do the usual.

[MartynSinclair]

HongKongIan, your posting was on the light side. DFW is (as thats where I currently am STUCK) a total mess. Clearing immigration took over 2 hours. Customs was going to take a further 45 minutes, but managed to fast track it through diplomatic thanks to a wonderful British Airways staff member.

Now sat in the AA lounge trying to work out my next flight.

To be fair to the airport, they have a very good system, its just that they lack the manpower to implement it.

It should not take 3 hours to change flights in DFW!

BTW, I was even booted out of 60J when I got to the gate at Heathrow, my boarding card got the ping for an upgrade. It was the old first but the cabin crew were superb, the food was excellent and ironically the flight landed 30 minutes early!

Nearly a perfect day.

Have a great weekend everyone.

[MartynSinclair]

Has anyone got any recent experience of DFW in respect of immigration q’s, and times as I have a connection shortly, with checked bags, on a through ticket.

Just wondered whether a picnic is needed or even a good film to watch whilst I wait?

[Author]

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