By Christopher Elliott | Journey Troubleshooter
Q: JetBlue misplaced my all-important bag for 43 days as I left on my fiftieth anniversary journey to Greece with my kids and grandchildren. The bag contained obligatory medicines for our 30-day keep together with my listening to aids, garments, marriage ceremony gown for my vow renewal and heirloom objects for the ceremony.
JetBlue has supplied $181, and that doesn’t even cowl the garments and medicines (not all had been in a position to be crammed) we needed to scramble to seek out earlier than our cruise. Are you able to please assist? — Jean Michielli-Pendl, Dunkirk, N.Y.
A: JetBlue ought to have discovered your misplaced baggage rapidly and returned it. Why didn’t it? I can see that you simply had a busy itinerary in Greece. Based mostly in your correspondence with JetBlue, it seems just like the airline had a tough time coordinating a supply.
Nonetheless, JetBlue supplied you solely $181, which didn’t even cowl the prices of the garments and medicines that you simply needed to buy when you had been in Greece. It ought to have achieved higher.
Your proper to a refund is printed within the Montreal Conference, a global treaty that established guidelines and limits relating to airline legal responsibility for luggage. When coping with a loss on a global flight, you’ll wish to refer on to the conference textual content if you happen to assume your airline isn’t compensating you appropriately.
Article 22 of the conference units the legal responsibility restrict for damages related to delayed passenger baggage at about $1,700. JetBlue’s supply was effectively under that.
You say that the lack of the bag brought on excessive stress and ruined your journey, and that you’re looking for reimbursement for the $2,445 you spent attempting to outlive in Greece for a month. You supplied an in depth timeline of your communications with JetBlue, which included requests for the bag to be delivered to your lodge in Athens after which later to your private home.
JetBlue requested you to submit receipts to your out-of-pocket bills and also you additionally supplied an inventory of the contents of the bag. So what went fallacious?
You’ve repeatedly talked about that dropping the bag brought on you misery. Sadly, there’s no provision within the Montreal Conference for ache and struggling. You additionally talked about that you simply misplaced an heirloom — your marriage ceremony gown. Airways typically exclude objects like heirlooms from their legal responsibility, which can have brought on some confusion throughout your claims course of. And by no means, ever verify important medicines or listening to aids. At all times put these in your carry-on baggage. I’ve extra on baggage reimbursement in my free information to discovering your misplaced baggage.
I contacted JetBlue in your behalf. The airline agreed to assessment your declare and revised its supply. It supplied you a further $900 with a $400 JetBlue credit score.
Initially Revealed: July 30, 2025 at 9:23 PM PDT
