While this appears to be a turn for the better, I have my serious doubts.
In December my wife and I traveled with another couple from Spokane to Las Vegas and one of our checked bags was lost. We immediately went to report it to an agent. We were in Las Vegas for five days without most of our clothes (luckily we had put some clothes for each of us into both bags) and only the underwear we wore (my wife got the task of washing them each day in the hotel sink as we had not done the same thing with these as we did our clothes, lesson learned). We repeatedly called SW to check on the status since they did not bother reporting in with us. (The plane's only other stop was in Phoenix after Las Vegas, so there shouldn't have been many options for our bag to have wound up at.)
After reurning home we filed the claim and a couple of weeks later we were told that we would have to show proof of ownership for at least $300 worth of our $900 claim. I realize that this sounds like ALOT of money for a claim but do the quick math for replacing several outfits a couple of jackets, unmentionables, and a replacement piece of luggage...it adds up fast doesn't it? We for one (or should that be two?) don't keep receipts for clothes that fit...or underwear and socks...or luggage that, while may be several years old, still needed to be replaced.
I realize that there are some people that are looking for new ways to scam businesses and corporations everyday, but there has got to be some accountability on the airline industries part to ensure it customers that the luggage that they are paid (quite handsomely I might add) to put on the correct plane and take off at the correct destination airport. We have seen news pieces documenting instances where luggage has been reported as missing and it is stored in warehouses for eternity. I understand that some if these may not have any identification on them to return them to the rightful owners but some, such as ours does have the ID tag attached with our address and phone number.
If anyone from Southwest airlines would care to contact me with an update on our claim please feel free to do so. Until then I will follow the lead that I have seen countless other passengers do (and which I have detested up to this point) which is to use carry-on luggage (which pushes the envelope on appropriate size for overhead storage) which in turn delays flights.
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