Losing an item in the course of your travel can indeed be a stressful affair. It could come in the way of an otherwise convenient and seamless journey. To help you deal with the ordeal of losing your stuff, United Airlines has a dedicated Lost and Found team. They will do their utmost to ensure you have retrieved your lost baggage or item.
How to Go About Finding Your Missing Item?
All of it actually depends upon where you have lost your item – onboard, at the security checkpoint, or are not sure. You may have not lost any item, but your baggage might have been delayed or missing. There is a way out for that as well.
1. Left Your Item On the United Airlines Flight
If you’ve left your item onboard, you have to act at the soonest for early retrieval. Download the lost item form and fill it out. You have to describe your lost item in details to help the United staff find the same as soon as possible. Describe in details the brand of the item, its size, its color, alongside any other unique feature which identifies it better. The more details you provide the easier it is to trace the item.
2. What If You Left the Item At The Security Checkpoint?
If you left it at the security checkpoint then the procedure for retrieving it is up to the TSA. You may visit their official website or even contact them via phone at 1-866-289-9673.
3. Issues For Delayed Or Missing Bags
If you have not received one or all of your bags at the destination, then there are some steps to follow, and one of them is to submit a claim. You can do it online or via United’s app. You may even report about the same through chat or send an SMS by typing BAGS to 32050. You can even report an issue of delayed baggage by dialling the Baggage recovery centre’s number at 1-800-335-2247.
Upon reporting the issue, you’ll obtain a file reference number ending in M. You may schedule your pick up or even set up a free bag delivery option. Under circumstances where there is a baggage delay for more than 12 hours, passengers will get the baggage fee refund automatically. If you have to report your bag instantly within 24 hours from when you have landed. This is for passengers who have travelled in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, or Virgin Islands. For international travel, delayed bags must be reported in 21 days
After obtaining the file reference number, passengers can send a request to reimburse the cost of toiletries, and clothes, alongside other expenses you may have incurred because of your baggage delay. Claim submission should be in 21 days for domestic, and 45 days for international flights.
4. Unsure About Your Lost Baggage
If you aren’t sure about the location where your belongings have been misplaced or lost, then you should fill out the lost item form
What If United Airlines Lost Your Item?
If you find out that some of your belongings are missing from your checked bags, in such cases you must report the item and file a claim.
- Report your lost item and give as much details as possible about the object that you have misplaced or lost. You’ll receive an email alongside a tracking number.
- You get email updates one after the other in two, three, fifteen, and thirty days after reporting the item.
- Do not provide multiple emails about the same item which you have lost as that could create confusion.
To let you know that your item has been found United Airlines will send you an email that will even contain simple instructions regarding getting back your item. United might also need some more details to confirm that the item they have retrieved belongs to you. In such cases, they’ll email or even call you.
If an item has been left behind on the flight or at the airport by you, then a shipping fee must be paid to get it back. Once that is done you’ll get your item at the earliest.
Also Read: United Airlines Baggage Policy
In case you haven’t provided your email United Airlines will give you a call. However, keeping in mind the huge number of lost items they handle daily they won’t be able to update you regularly via calls.
If you have lost cash and that is found onboard, then United Airlines will convert the same into a single or multiple prepaid cards. This way they’ll be able to return the money promptly and quickly to the one who owns it.
Conclusion
If your baggage is lost, or delayed, the first thing that you must do is to notify United Airlines at the earliest. The sooner you intimate United Airlines the faster they will act and help you resolve the matter. For flights within the United States, United Airlines has a liability of delayed, lost or damaged baggage to as much as $4,700 for each ticketed passenger having a checked bag. In case of international travel the liability for loss, damaged, or delayed baggage is $20 per kg that amounts to as much as $640 and $400 for checked and unchecked baggage.
FAQs
United Airlines works with Chargerback to facilitate in processing the lost item forms submitted by customers. However, searching the lost items is conducted by United Airlines authorities themselves.
If you haven’t yet got any email you can check your spam or junk mails. You also have to confirm that the email address has been correctly entered. If it is a business email address, United’s email may be blocked by your company’s firewall. In such cases, the form must be re-submitted using your personal email id.
You will get such an email when your lost item form doesn’t have sufficient details, and United Airlines requires more information for identifying your object. Alongside an email you may even receive a link where you will have to input extra details about your item.
When you file a report for your item within five days of losing it, there are chances of finding your item soon. Describe your lost item in details. For instance, if you have lost your coat, explain its color, size, whether it had pockets or not, and so on. This way it will help expedite the search.
Either the bags will be delivered or held for pick up. For locations within the United States, it may take as much as eight hours for delivery, while in the case of international locations it could take a little longer. For residential deliveries, the cut off time is 11 pm. The bags will be held for no more than five days for pick up. You can track the bags in United’s app or their official website for more details.
In this regard, you have to contact the last airline with whom you traveled for reporting your delayed or lost bag.
It will be done in your local currency, based on the address which you have provided on your claim. If you reside in the United States and the receipts you provide are of expenses from Brazil, then your reimbursement will happen in USD.
Once you have filed the claim the search will go on for an average of 21 days. Upon finding your bag, they will get in touch with you and make all arrangements to return your bag. If they aren’t able to search for your bag they’ll send you an email to discuss the following steps.
Leave a Reply