Me: But it’s been 5 days already! Your website says that now Norwegian Air will take over the search.
Norwegian Air Rep: Please contact World Tracer at Stockholm Arlanda Airport sir.
Me: Will I be given any compensation? My brand new camera was in that backpack as was all of my camping gear. I was planning on camping but now I’ve had to stay at a hotel. I’ve also had to buy new clothes.
Norwegian Air Rep: After 21 days, when your bag is officially declared lost, you can file a claims report.
Me: I paid 40$ to check my bag. Then you lost it. Will you at least reimburse my 40$?
Norwegian Air Rep: No, we can’t do that.
Me: Can you offer me any help? A condolence? An apology? Anything!!!???
Norwegian Air Rep: Thank you for calling Norwegian, good bye.
I have always loved Norwegian Air. Not only because I’m a proud half Norwegian but because it really is a great budget airline. They fly to all my favorite places such as New York, Oslo, Stockholm, and Bangkok, and get me there for cheap.
Unfortunately, following this phone call, I’ve had to rethink my relationship with Norwegian. I understand it’s a low cost carrier. It’s as they say, a no frills / get what you pay for kind of deal. But when you pay extra for a bag, you expect it to at least arrive. And when it doesn’t, you would expect the airline to take responsibility and offer some kind of apology. Is that asking too much?
Your Backpack Is Delayed, What Next?
You watch as the last person retrieves their bag. You look towards the black flaps in desperation, praying your bag might pop out next. But 20 minutes pass and you’re still left backpack-less in a foreign country.
It’s time to go to the baggage service counter and fill out a missing baggage report a.k.a, Property Irregularity Report. Be sure to be as detailed as possible, providing multiple contact numbers, addresses, and a description of the bag and it’s contents.
In the days following try and stay hopeful and be proactive. Most airlines use a third party baggage recovery service. Norwegian and SAS both use World Tracer. On their website you can check the status of your bag. You can also call them and send e-mails. No one will respond but keep trying.
It’s very convenient for airlines who now don’t have to deal with you or your lost bag. Check out Norwegian Air’s Awful Delayed Bag Policy for yourself.
Norwegian Air’s confusing delayed baggage policy
It’s Been 5 Days & You’re Bag Is Still Missing
If your bag hasn’t arrived after 5 days the probability that you will ever see it again diminishes significantly. On Norwegian Air’s website and many others, they claim that the search will now be transferred to their headquarters. What that actually means is very unclear.
If you’re near the airport, it doesn’t hurt to visit the baggage department and demand to search for yourself. At Stockholm, Arlanda airport this can be found at terminal 5.
How To Get Compensation For Your Travel Expenses
Most airlines offer reimbursement for expenses related to your delayed bag. These can include new clothes, toiletries, transport and possibly a hotel. However, the amount of compensation varies among airlines and is usually very low.
In order to receive financial compensation you must file the claim within 21 days of your delayed bag. And you must do this not by email but by post. Be sure to include your bank account details and original receipts. Could they make it any more slow or arduous?
It’s Been 21 Days & Your Bag Is Lost
After 21 days, your bag is officially declared lost and the search is over. You still don’t get an apology because apparently no one is responsible. All you can do now is try and salvage your budget by filling a lost baggage claim report.
How To Get Compensation For Your Bag
When you call the airline about your lost luggage most will try and convince you to seek compensation from your travel insurance company. If you don’t have any, they will reluctantly send you a form. You then have to fill it out, include receipts of all items in your bag, your ticket, and property irregularity report. Even if the contents of your bag were brand new, like my beautiful Panasonic Lumix GX7, they will only compensate you for half the value.
Conclusion
How Norwegian Air lost a bag on a direct flight from London, Gatwick to Stockholm, Arlanda is beyond me. The level of customer support is laughable and the lack of an apology fills the soul with rage and frustration.
Although I’ll still end up flying with Norwegian, I definitely won’t be paying 40$ extra to check my bag ever again.
Before I took the airplane of Norwegian, I have no idea about this company. Before I fly with the foreign airlines such as Air New Zealand and Aer Lingus, I had no idea about these companies either. However, after I used the airlines, I started to like Air New Zealand and Aer Linus and started to trust New Zealand and Ireland more. I assumed Norwegian was a respectable company, because Norway is a respectable country.
The story of Norwegian was totally different. During the first leg of the flight for LIS to CPH, the tray table is dirty; used cups are on the floor. Looks like nobody cleaned the airplane after the previous flight. During the flights, I can feel the management of the company is very bad. Both flights were delayed. During the 2nd leg from CPH to JFK, I ordered some food and paid, but one snack never arrived.
I was very glad that the airplane arrived JFK, our final destination, safely, though the touch down was not gentle. I did worry about the safety during the flights, because I never experienced any airlines that is so lousy. The flight was late, but arrived destination.
Out of the airplane, I already decided never use Norwegian and never do any business with this company again. However, I have to contact Norwegian after 10 days, because Norwegian lost my luggage.
In my opinion, Norwegian’s irresponsibility not only hurts the reputation of its own company, but also hurts the reputation of Norway and its people.
It’s really too bad when this happens. Hope everything was resolved as best as it could have been. Thanks for sharing :)
This article really helped me…. Thank you! I flew KLM from LAX to Arlanda via Amsterdam and they lost my baggage. Arlanda’s terminal 2 is a mess… Baggage everywhere! I want to go and look for my luggage… But no one that I have spoken to tells me exactly how to do it. Do I just go to terminal 2 and get customer service to help me? Will I take the train to the airport only to be denied being able to look for my luggage? How did you do it? My luggage has been missing for 2 days… So I want to work on this quickly. Please will you give me some advice?
Hey Julia, your best bet is to go back to the airport and try and get yourself into the lost baggage area. Wish I could be more help. Sorry to hear it! Good luck!
hi how lucky
my lugage was lost this summer and im still waiting for Norwegyans response. They said 14 weeks but..
How could I contact to Arlanda´s lost bags dpt directly? what can you advise me to do?
I remember that i labelled the bag with my adress. How do they manage it?
Your best bet is to show up in Arlanda in person and search for your bag. Sorry bro.
I have experienced a similiar thing, lost a bag and found it only after demanding to go through packs in the lost baggage store room myself. The big question(s), which I think you should ask aloud in your blog is this:
If the third party baggage tracing companies don’t even bother to look for your lost belongings in the place for lost belongings, what the *..* do they actually do?! And why would the airlines rather like to declare a bag officially lost (and perhaps receive claims they have to deal with) than to make a quick search for it?
Hey, totally agree. It’s a bizarre system where no one can be held accountable.
It seems worth pointing out here that, though it will probably be a pain in the ass regardless, the specifics as far as number of days and amount of compensation will differ by airline.
Also, at least for Americans, lots of credit cards offer pretty reasonable insurance for any tickets booked on the card. Always something worth checking into as well, especially if you’re still out quite a bit of money once the airline’s compensation threshold has been reached.
That being said, congrats on finding it in the end!
Hey Stephen, thanks for letting me know. I’m going to update that. Right, when I was researching options for compensation I found out that Amex cards might cover it. Cheers brother!
Yup, no problem. I think all the major issuers have cards that do (World Mastercard, Visa Signature, etc), it just depends which specific card type you paid with.
Nice, that’s good to know. Cheers!