Disaster trip to Singapore - baggage saga On Monday the 3rd August while flying from Corfu (Greece) to Singapore via Istanbul all my luggage was lost.

Disaster trip to Singapore - baggage saga

On Monday the 3rd August while flying from Corfu (Greece) to Singapore via Istanbul all my luggage was lost. Details below edited for privacy. I have already called Singapore PPS club and have reported the baggage missing at Changi when we arrived, the baggage is listed on https://wtrweb.worldtracer.aero/ but is showing nothing. We know the luggage got as far as the Turkish Airlines check in desk in Athens. Does anyone have any clever ideas as to how else we might trace this luggage?

Passenger Name:

Mad Wombat

To: Singapore

Airline: Turkish Airlines

Flight: TK 1846

Airline: Singapore

Flight: SQ 391

Has Singapore Krisflyer gold tag on the handle in the name of my partner with his Singapore frequent flyer number. Suitcase contains items belonging to both me and my partne, including medical equipment that we were unable to take on board as Aegean are enforcing one piece of cabin baggage, as well as medication needed for our stay in Singapore.

Aegean booking reference 69Uxxx from Corfu to Istanbul via Athens, followed by Singapore Airlines booking reference 69Txxx, Istanbul to Singapore.

Flight originated in Corfu to Istanbul via Athens. Suitcase was checked to Athens only as the agent in Corfu was convinced that Aegean and Turkish didn't cooperate even though the ticket was booked via Aegean and the flight was code-share with Turkish. The bag was collected from the arrivals hall at Athens airport and checked into the Istanbul flight on Turkish Airlines (TK 1846) possibly with the baggage tag TK4618091. Again the agent at the Turkish Airlines desk was unable to check the bag through to the final destination, Singapore, but assured us that there was plenty of time to collect the bag and recheck it at Istanbul. On arrival in Istanbul due to flight delays there was no time to collect the bag and recheck it to Singapore so we went to the Singapore transfer desk where the agent at the priority/business class desk took the baggage claim tag and sent someone to collect the bag and put it on the Singapore flight, with a new baggage tag numbered 0235 TK 063459 and issued us both with boarding passes for flight SQ391. The bag hasn't been seen since, possibly it is in the arrivals hall in Istanbul and maybe never left Athens.

After checking in the suitcase in Athens, I have contacted the PPS phone line in Istanbul to advise them of the inability to check the baggage through to Singapore. The agent I spoke to assured me that the bag ought to have been checked through. However, as I was passed security and passport control at Athens it was not possible to go back to the check-in desk of Turkish airlines.

I don't have any clever ideas, but when my bag went on its own holiday, it took a week for it to be found. It was then delivered from Europe and was waiting for me when I rocked up at CBR.

Whilst I understand its hard to do nothing, there's really nothing you can do.  

Luggage not turining up isn't good.  Our luggage went missing last year going from GLA to AKL and on top of missed flights it was effectively 5 days before we got on our own new/clean clothes again!

If you havent, lodge your travel insurance claim asap.

You would be suprised where luggage turns up. My luggage was lost on iberia from rio to LHR via madrid, it turned up in san paulo.. Long story short, even though it is a pain, most of the time your luggage will end up finding its way back to you in about a weeks time. 

Even so, get on the travel insurance claim asap

madwombat,

Did SQ give you baggage tag for the IST/SIN sector? Seems your bag was only tagged by TK to IST.

So did SQ in IST tagged your bags to SIN after retrieving it from the TK flight?

It would have gone around the baggage carousel in IST waiting to be collected. Have you called TK and ask them if they've got it, quoting the TK baggage tag number?

SQ did give me a tag for the IST/SIN sector but this had a rather non-standard number.

SQ did give me the IST-SIN tag before retrieving the bag from the carousel...as there was no time to do that due to delays.

In the end, having filed the delayed baggage report at SIN, contacting PPS in Istanbul, after 2 days contacted the lost and found office at Istanbul directly by e-mail.  within 30 minutes had a reply from them advising that bag would be on the next TK flight to SIN.  It got here fine, albeit with a 3 day delay.  Have provided both tags to them, as well as the details of the Krisflyer tag that was attached to the suitcase.

My wifes suitcase went missing on flight to Bali turned up 2 weeks later from Japan!.

TK lost our bags at IST (they said they would collect them and recheck them for our next flight but they never did). It taught me not to rely on other people - if you want something done properly you have to do it yourself. TK showed absolutely zero interest in finding it - it eventually turned up after a week. Status and class of service seems to make no difference for lost luggage. Its a stresfull situation but there's very little you can do. Once its found they will get it to you ASAP, until its found you just have to wait.

^^ madwombat, I've just read your opening post more carefully - it sounds like what happened to you is exactly what happened to me. Call the worldtracer number each day asking for an update - there's not much else you can do.

In the end I contacted the lost and found office at Istanbul with full details and they found the bag.  Apparently the SQ transfer desk people had tagged the bag properly with the IST-SIN tag.

I agree with Hayden make sure you lodge your insurance claim ASAP - this way you can at least make sure the rest of your trip is as comfortable as possible. I have found in the past if you can get something in writting from the airline to support your situation this does speed up the process. Keep reciepts for eveything as you will need this for your final claim.

In the end it was needed as the bag finally reached its destination.  As per the insurance claim, being a corporate one I was advised to wait a bit longer, in case the bag turned up.

World tracer seem to be very disorganised and ineffective. My bags were lost for a week after arriving in Sydney with a connection between royal air Maroc and Emirates. World Tracer and Toll/Dnata (the local Sydney baggage handling contractors) were useless. World tracer actually  sent me an email saying my bags were still missing AFTER they had been delivered to my door one week after I got home. The new baggage tags indicated they had actually arrived in Sydney on the next Emirates flight (and presumably had spent a week clearing customs at Sydney airport).