What exactly is standard procedure for lost luggage?

Question

If you have lost luggage at an airport, what exactly are you supposed to do? If possible, more specifically I'd like to know what is done at Heathrow Airport, but just in general will be fine.

Answer 1

Well, you go first to a Lost & Found Office in the airport of arrival and declare the fact that your luggage did not reach your final destination. You will need to show your travel documents (ticket and the copy of the bagtag sticked to your ticket, not to your boarding card or passport, as previously mentioned). They will fill in a PIR (Preperty Irregularity Report) with your help, that contains your name, the bagtag number, the colour and type of your bag (a code composed of those two details and other details as wheels, handle and pockets if existent), the route and date you traveled, the brand name of your bag, if you remember it, your adress and phone number, some companies requier you declare the containts of the bag. After filling in this PIR, depending on the programm they use to trace your luggage online, they will introduce all these information online, get a number for the file and may know immediatly where your bag is.

In Heathrow Airport, left luggage fascilities can be found at each terminal. Their openings are:

Lost Property/Lost and Found
Monday - Friday 08.00-17.00;
Saturday/Sunday 08.00-16.00
Tel: (+44) (0)208 745 7727/7730.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Around the baggage claim area there should be a lost luggage / Lost & Found counter. There you have to report what exactly is missing, description of the missing item, tag-number (you get a little slip for each piece of luggage at check-in - usually they stick it in your passport or on your boarding pass - that indicates the tag-number). Then a PIR (Property Irregularity Report) is filled out with all the details. The Airline will contact you as soon as they could trace your luggage down, with some airlines (lufthansa for example) you can check the status of the search with the PIR-Number on the Internet.

Answer 3

go to luggage claim. usually they can tell you where it ended up, and get your contact information. they will either send it to you or you can come back tot he airport when it arrives. either that or...its just lost forever.