Monday, July 26th, 2010

As much as travelers almost universally value cheap fares, whether they are cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages, one passenger has had it with baggage fees and is not going to take it anymore. Danielle Covarrubias is suing American Airlines for $5 million because this airline “has breached its agreements with its passengers every time they have lost or delayed luggage and failed to refund the passengers their baggage fee.”

She filed a class action case in federal court earlier this month. It certainly adds salt to the wound when passengers discover that most airlines’ baggage fee policies do not include refunding the baggage fee if a bag is lost or delayed for an extended period of time. Mind you, most passengers who complain about not getting a refund in such circumstances ultimately are able to get one if they are persistent.

In May Covarrubias paid $25 to check her bag with American Airlines for a flight from Seattle to Grand Rapids. Unfortunately her bag could not be found when the plane landed. Over the next 24 hours Covarrubias called American Airlines repeatedly to find out when her bag would arrive. According to her, each time she called American said that it did not know where her bag was, whether it was lost, or even if it would ever be returned.

During her final conversation with American Airlines Covarrubias asked what American would do and was told that “nothing could be done.”

American claims that it has not been able to find any record that Covarrubias ever contacted or spoke to American about her delayed bag, a potential claim, or checked bag charges. American noted that customers are “welcome to include a request for a checked bag fee refund” as part of a claim for lost baggage.

Too bad common sense on the airlines’ part does not dictate that part of good customer service is the immediate and full refund of baggage fees for lost luggage.
www.cheapfares.com