Comment by jrockway | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jrockway | Hacker News Reader

The baggage policy you agree to and pay for is basically, "if we lose your bag or smash it into very small pieces, we will pay you $20." Then when they lose your bag or smash it into small pieces, people want more than $20, and write angry blog posts when they don't get more than $20. I don't get it. Have these people never heard of FedEx or UPS? They will transport your bag on an aircraft and sell you insurance against loss or damage. Why choose the inferior product if you don't want inferior results? (I do know why: cost. Everyone wants a free lunch.)

Ultimately, I have to say that I'm a fan of the brave new world of air travel. I used to hate all the nickle-and-diming, but while doing all that hating, I didn't realize how cheaply one can move around the country. JFK-SFO is like $300 round-trip now. 5000 miles in a FLYING MACHINE for $300! But instead, people complain that their bags are not insured for $10,000 each, or that they have to pay $100 for more leg room. Well, yeah. If it was "free", then someone else would book their ticket earlier than you and you wouldn't even have the option of getting more leg room.

(Also, am I the only person that likes American Airlines? 400,000 miles, and I only have one experience that really made me mad.)

> The baggage policy you agree to and pay for is basically, "if we lose your bag or smash it into very small pieces, we will pay you $20."

Are there no customer protection laws in the US? I'm pretty sure that in most of Europe, it doesn't work that way, and for a good reason.

And if it really is like that, is that prominently advertised, or is that in fine print written in 8pt in light grey font on white background? From the customer's perspective, that makes a huge difference.

I for one (though mostly travelling from and to Germany, not the US) have never been told "we might lose your bag, and you'll get $20 in that case).

There are consumer protection laws in the US. That's why it's illegal to buy a bicycle without a bunch of useless reflectors stuck to it, for example, and why you have to file the "lawyer lips" off the front fork to have a working quick release mechanism.

The OP was flying to/from Europe, so European law applies

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/consumer_topics/air_travel...

> If your registered luggage is lost, damaged or delayed, you may be entitled to compensation from the airline, up to about €1,220

Far higher than $20.

1.2 million miles (hey hey lifetime gold!) and I have issues with them all the time. Some are hilarious: the flight attendant that threw the peanut packs from the galley to everyone in first class on a LAX-LAS seg; not packing enough main course meals so that flagship first class passengers between Japan and the continental US have a choice of meals.

others not even close: moving departure times by two hours (forward) and not bothering to call, email or text to inform. closing the door then sitting at the gate for 3 hours so that you can say we departed "on time". Twice. fun and games around rescheduling people on delayed flights: no, it's not acceptable to wait 39 hours for a flight between a major focus city and your home hub because you have mechanical issues with your aircraft.

There's the good and the bad. I've gotten more free upgrades than I can count, and flying first class domestically is at least affordable. (JFK-SFO is half the cost of Virgin, but with a fully-flat bed, for example.) I also miss flights with frightening regularity, it's never cost me anything but time.

The incident I refer above was a ridiculous delay. The 762 they had for my SFO-JFK flight was broken in some way that made the plane flyable, but only fixable in LAX. They didn't tell us this, and loaded us on and taxied us out to the runway. There they told us we would be going to LAX, where there may be a new plane. Two hours later, we're in LAX, and waiting for a new plane. 6 hours after the scheduled arrival time, we're finally in JFK. Just fucking incompetent. Fly the good plane to SFO and board us there.

(Incidentally, I flew this route today, and sure enough, mechanical problem! We had to downgrade from a 763 to a 762, which was not appreciated, but at least we didn't have to fly all over the country looking for a better plane. And since I hadn't actually flown first class on a 762 before, it was nice to check it off my list. The seat was fine. Looking forward to the A321 on this route, though.)

As for flying to Japan, AA is a lot cheaper than JAL or Cathay. You get what you pay for. (AA is about $3000-$5000, Cathay is always $10,000+. JAL floats between the two extremes.)

Shipping luggage via FedEx or UPS is a good idea, but the costs can be prohibitive. I haven't looked recently, but the last time a coworker checked FedEx, it would have cost her more than her ticket price to ship her bag to her destination.

Plus I think you're missing the larger issue. The airline is charging for this service, and they didn't deliver. Just because their terms of service are crappy doesn't mean that the OP should have to endure bad service like this.

Is it possible to ship stuff (laptops, cellphone maybe) via FedEX or UPS, internationally, and have it arrive at or near the same time/place as your destination w/o having to wait for it to clear customs?

I had considered this but eliminated it as a dependable method because I assume that most countries have their own customs procedures for items shipped via FedEx/UPS and in some cases items might be tied up for days or weeks.

You're correct; to take advantage of the personal customs exemption for travelers you must carry the items in your luggage with you, not ship them separately. If you ship them, you might be deemed to be importing them, depending on the country's customs procedures (and even if you qualify for another exemption, they may be held in customs until you go fill out some paperwork to claim them).

I have been considering giving LuggageForward[1] a try. They seem to handle the customs aspect in a way that works the same as if you carried the bag with you. Their rates are quite attractive as well.

[1] http://www.luggageforward.com/

Disclaimer: no affiliation at all with them. In the end I never tried them because I now travel with carry-on only.

No. If it enters the country by post, you'll have way more headaches than just using the airline.

Taxes - personal items? They DGAF, you'll probably pay more in taxes than your items cost;

Proof of local address - y'see, they can't release your items without you having proof of your local address where you reside, WTF.

AND if they lose your stuff you're just as f'ed (yeah, waiting 3 months to get your insurance is fun)...

So, no, shipping your stuff separately via international post is not a good option.

EDIT: My bad, no not internationally. Customs is always a massive risk that could delay your package by a month.

Yes, Ground is now guaranteed time-in-transit for both FedEx and UPS and they both have 1, 2, 3 day options.

Shipping an actual suitcase, however, is not financially viable.

Getting an account or using an association like USAA can cut your costs substantially for expedited but ground rates don't move as much.

Well for Domestic flights, at American, it is actually $3300. Unfortunately it looks like international is about half that. And the main reason people don't ship is convenience (cost is also a factor) Of course the blog post really wasn't complaining about the lost bag or the cost of the log bag. It was complaining about how customer service handled the situation.

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