Are airlines not liable for damages and losses to the contents of luggage?
When picking up my bag from baggage claim at SXF, I realized that it's upside down. The ID sticker was on the bottom, and inside it was a mess. At home, I found one item broken, a marmalade glass:
See the dent in the lid. This is not a damage that happens with normal treatment.
To see what happens when I complain, I contacted easyJet, and asked for reimbursement. Their response, translated by me to English:
Regrettably, easyJet is not liable for the loss of money, jewelry, silverware, samples, business documents, electrical devices, or other valuable goods, independent of circumstances. Special rules apply to fragile and perishable goods like food.
The original document is barely comprehensible, in a language that only resembles German:
Does that mean that easyJet is not liable for damages to the contents of luggage?
Best Answer
The airline is definitely liable for the contents as well but that's not what the answer you received is about. For example, you can get compensated if your luggage is lost completely and not only for the price of a new bag. But airlines do not have to accept liability for valuable items (unless you declared them as such) or improperly packed, fragile or perishable items. And apparently they are arguing that they are not responsible in this case simply because marmelade is food.
For you might be surprised by what counts as “normal treatment” for hold luggage. It all comes down to how you packed it, the mere fact the glass was broken really does not prove anything out of the ordinary happened. Next time you travel, fully expect your luggage to be thrown around, turned upside down several times, fall some distance from one conveyor belt to the next, hit other pieces of luggage, be stacked on a cart with four-five heavy bags on top of it, etc.
Beyond that, I don't know whether the details of easy jet's conditions of carriage or their application in this case would hold up in court but my personal experience with low-cost airlines is that they will keep you in a holding pattern with boilerplate answers and are even less helpful than legacy airlines (which could offer you something, not because they are liable but simply as a commercial gesture). The problem is that escalating things beyond an email (e.g. hiring a lawyer) is likely to be too costly to make sense, even if you had a strong case, which you do not.
One last option is to turn to social media. Airlines are sometimes more responsive that way, to avoid public shaming.
Incidentally, and without giving too much weight to some poorly translated boilerplate text, “unabhängig von den Umständen” presumably refers to the things listed in the first sentence, i.e. valuable items, not to everything you could have in your bag.
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Do airlines have to reimburse for lost luggage?
You should know that on flights within the U.S., airlines are legally required to reimburse you up to $3,500 if your bags are lost, damaged or delayed in getting to you.Can you claim for damaged luggage?
You have the legal right to claim compensation from the airline if your checked-in luggage is delayed, lost or damaged. You only have the right to claim for a problem with cabin baggage if it's the airline's fault.Who is responsible for baggage accountability?
The Transportation Security Administration is responsible for providing the equipment and personnel to screen passengers and baggage at every airport, and responding to increases in passenger load Airports work with local TSA officials to improve security checkpoints.What is considered damaged luggage?
Damage to luggage components including wheels, handles, straps and other glaring problems, such as holes or a cracked hardside bag, are covered. The latter is a big problem in cold weather, Ouimette said. (So are removable straps, which regularly get stuck in the bag loading systems, so take them off, she said.)Call 4 Action: How to get compensation for lost or delayed luggage
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