Lost Bag Bailout: How Travel Insurance and Credit Cards Can Save You Thousands

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We've talked a lot about airline complaints, but Megan, you actually got an airline to pay you for something going wrong.

Oh yes, Sally, I have a story for you.

A story, you say.

And it's juicy.

Let me tell you about a recent flight I took where the airline lost my my luggage and how I got it back and how I got paid for it.

Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars.

I'm Megan Coyle.

And I'm Sally French.

And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.

Megan, I'm assuming you will tell listeners who might also have lost luggage how they can get money back too.

I can tell you what I did that worked, and I hope it works for listeners too, although I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

No way, but first, our disclaimer: and that's that we will talk about a few credit card companies that are NerdWallet Partners in this show, but that does not influence how we discuss them.

Benefits, terms, and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting.

Things can change, though.

Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening.

So, for the latest details, follow the link in the show description.

Let's start with a polls check on travel demand.

And there's a shift happening.

Yes, for the first time in over four years, the U.S.

Travel Association says travel spending actually declined year over year.

That's for the month of June.

Now, it was just a small dip, just 0.4%,

but it's interesting because it breaks a long-running streak of growth, which started back in early 2021.

And we're seeing those slight drops across the board, domestic and international air travel, hotel demand, even national park visits.

Yeah, let's talk about airlines where we have some really interesting numbers.

The International Air Transport Association just put out a fresh report on passenger numbers.

Again, this is based on the most recent data, which is from the month of June, but IATA is reporting that June marked the slowest growth month for global air traffic so far in 2025.

North America saw a flat lining in the volume of air passengers.

So in June, the U.S.

domestic market barely eked out a 0.1% year-over-year increase.

Yeah, not a big increase, if not one at all.

I will say other regions are still growing, but again, at a slower pace.

So Asia Pacific grew 5%, Europe was up 2.2%.

All this matters because demand softening often leads to, you guessed it, deals.

Yay!

And we're starting to see exactly what those are as we move into the second half of the summer.

Okay, not the worst news then for people looking for a cheap vacation.

Right.

So if you've been putting off that summer getaway, you still have time.

This might be your moment to grab some summer travel deals.

Let's start by talking about a deal that's tailor-made for travelers who want some nature without sacrificing the comfort and style.

And I'm talking about glamping with World of Hyatt.

So from August 8th through December 1st, 1st, if you use Hyatt points to book a stay at Under Canvas or Eloom locations, these are Hyatt's glamping brands, you get 15% of your points back.

You do have to register for this on Hyatt's website by November 28th.

We just sent two of our reporters to check out Under Canvas properties.

Oh, that's right.

We sent Craig and Caitlin there.

And then you know what?

I actually went to an Under Canvas myself with my family in Yellowstone a few years ago.

Yeah, it's so cool.

It's like these little safari tents and they're often in these really nice outdoor destinations.

what was your experience like sally oh gosh okay i have to say i loved it because they give you little s'mores and all the nice amenities that you could want when you're camping but they do it for you fresh coffee in the morning and then you actually get a real full bed and in our tent they even had a full wood burning stove Whoa, okay, I like that.

That seems like glamping and especially great for families when you don't want to have to take all that stuff.

Just multiplies when you're camping with a lot of people.

Right.

And then then you don't need to actually set it up because i'm like i i'm even i'm too short to set up the camping tent i'm like i cannot stick these poles in there so you arrive and the tent is all set up for you perfect okay and then let's talk about disney All right.

So there's still time for a Disney trip before the end of the summer.

You can still snag Disneyland's 70th anniversary ticket offer through August 14th.

So that's the offer that you can buy park tickets for as low as $100 per day with a four-day one park per day ticket.

I really enjoyed their 70th celebration.

They've got a new nighttime parade, which I love.

It's called Paint the Night, and it's kind of like if Burning Man Met Disney, which is kind of awesome.

And, you know, I actually really feel like under $100 is really impressive.

When I think about what the cost of movie tickets are, what the cost of show tickets are, $100 for a full day at Disney is not a bad deal.

Right.

And you wrote all about the Disneyland 70th celebration.

So we can link to that in the show notes so people can learn more about it.

Yes.

Speaking of things we wrote about, I also wanted to highlight our colleague Ben covered the opening of the new United Club at the Denver airport last week.

Shout out Ben.

He loves the clubs.

We basically shout out our entire team in this news

segment.

We're a small team.

We've named them all.

Let's just add Claire in.

She holds down the Ford.

Claire's our editor.

Okay, so the Denver United Club looks super modern, and it's another one that's two stories, very similar to the Seattle Delta Club that I wrote about a few weeks ago.

Oh, yes, the Seattle Club that we actually both went to within like two weeks of each other.

Wait, didn't you end up in the wrong Seattle Delta Club?

That's the wrong one, but both Seattle Delta clubs are two stories.

I'm in the middle of the day.

Travel nerds make mistakes too, everyone.

Okay, on air travel, if you haven't booked flights yet for Labor Day weekend, now this is the time we analyze TSA data and airfare trends to find the best and worst days to fly.

Let's talk about the worst days to fly for Labor Day.

And the worst day is Friday, August 29th.

Everyone's jetting out for that long weekend.

And then the worst day to fly back, as I said, everyone jetting out for the long weekend is Monday, September 1st, which is Labor Day itself.

If you want to avoid the crowds and save money, do not fly out on any of those days.

Right.

So Tuesdays are generally a less busy and less pricey day to fly.

So you could save some money by flying out early for the weekend, maybe Tuesday, August 26th.

Just make it a whole week.

I'm also a fan of flying during a long weekend like that.

Like if you fly on the Saturday or Sunday of Labor Day weekend, it doesn't maximize your time at the destination, but I find it to be way less stressful.

And it maximizes your time Friday night.

You get a nice calm night to pack before you leave on Saturday.

Yeah, you need time to do chores before you go.

We'll link to those dates in the episode description so you can find more on the best and worst days to fly for Labor Day.

Sally, we travel so much.

I'm honestly surprised that more stuff doesn't go wrong.

I mean, TBT to my two back-to-back flight cancellations.

That was super unlucky, but like, it's been a while, right?

It's been a while, but you also had some bad luck recently.

Your lost luggage on your Italy trip.

Oh, yeah.

It's a huge saga.

And that's what we're going to hear about today.

So listeners, buckle up.

The seatbelt sign is on.

Okay, let me start this off by saying that your baggage getting delayed or lost is actually a bit rare.

Do you want to guess how often it happens, Sally?

I actually think the number is, it's like really low.

Like it's definitely below 10%.

I'm like willing to put money on that.

Okay.

Oh my gosh, your eyes just got so big.

I'm nervous.

I'm willing to say it's, it's below five.

I'm going to say that.

Pretty good guess.

According to the airline IT and communications company called CETA, S-I-T-A, the baggage mishandling rate is just 6.3 bags per 1,000 passengers.

So I'll do the math for you guys.

That's a bit more than half of 1%.

Okay, under 10%.

I knew I was right.

Yeah, not just under 10%, under 1%.

Under 10, under 5, under 1.

Amazing.

Yeah, I do want to note, though, that a lot of people are flying now.

So 33.4 million bags were mishandled in 2024.

That's millions of bags.

Yeah.

And I also think you hear about checked bags so often because when it does happen to you, it's so traumatizing.

It absolutely is.

I really hate also just like checking bags in general just because I don't like waiting for my luggage at the carousel.

I just want to get to my vacation.

You know what I mean?

Okay, well then, Megan, why did you check a bag when you were going to Italy?

Okay, so as our regular smart travel listeners know, I had two weddings to go to in Italy this year and I was a bridesmaid in one so i brought four different semi-formal or formal dresses for the welcome parties and the ceremonies for all these weddings my boyfriend also had a suit and dress shoes and a couple other nice button-up type of outfits so that was all on top of our normal travel gear like hiking shoes, casual clothes for the city, beach clothes.

It was really tight to say the least.

And we were like, okay, let's just share a checked bag and just give ourselves some more room because I I know I want to buy some souvenirs and clothes in Italy anyways.

Yes.

Too late for my hot take, but that's way too many bridesmaid dresses.

I mean, I didn't get to choose, right?

I was a bride.

No, I had to.

This is rough.

This is rough.

All right.

But I do want to point out that even before I left, I did do a couple of things.

So first, even though I've never lost a piece of luggage before, I told my boyfriend, we should pack the carry-ons as if the checked bag will get lost and put the essentials in your carry-on.

Oh my gosh.

gosh, don't tell me you manifested this happening.

I really did because the one thing I would take away from this episode is you have to remember that you're taking a risk every time you check a bag.

The only way to make sure that you have something during your travels is to keep it with you and not just in your carry-on luggage because that could get gate checked as well, but like in your literal personal item, like your backpack or your purse or something like that.

It's actually a lot of stuff when you think about it.

So if someone's going to gate check your bag, you have to make sure you have everything you absolutely need with you.

Yes.

I mean, even they could move your bag to the front of the plane.

If you're in the back of the plane, if you have like your EpiPen, something that you absolutely cannot afford to be separated from, you need to have that in your personal item.

That means like under the seat, wearing as a fanny pack.

So that way it does not get taken from you.

Also your passports, like there are all sorts of valuable things.

I grew up figure skating and I have a friend who flew to an international competition and the airline lost the bag with her skate commit.

It's total waste.

Like you go all the way there, she couldn't compete.

Well, you know, I compete in weightlifting.

If they need to check it, that's fine.

But like I am carrying my shoes in my personal item because I cannot lose my shoes.

Absolutely.

I always carry on my skates, even though I don't compete anymore.

But just for me, those are worth so much.

They're worth more than $1,500.

Like if I were to buy them new, but honestly, like getting them replaced is so difficult.

It's really time consuming.

I'm going to fly with them.

Okay, Tangent, you can bring skates through TSA?

Yes, it's actually specifically allowed, but sometimes I have to educate the TSA agents and pull it up on my phone because sometimes they ask questions.

I like what you said about why you fly with your skates.

Good advice for travelers.

If it's expensive, if it would be difficult to replace, if it's so sentimental that you would be heartbroken, if it got lost, those are all things you need to pack in your personal item.

So that was the mindset I was using when I packed my carry-on.

And for me, I was like, okay, I'm a bridesmaid.

I cannot lose my bridesmaid dress.

So I put that in the carry-on.

And then I actually just put all my wedding stuff together because I was like, I will need this.

So I put in all of my wedding clothes, my heels, my makeup, because all of those things felt like they would be hard to replace on short notice.

And then I also had some toiletries in there, like underwear, socks.

And I put just like an extra set of casual clothes in my carry-on just in case it gets lost.

So it seems like you at least did the right thing of like the true essentials you had with you.

I did, but my boyfriend kind of of took the pack your checked bag as if you'll lose it a little bit differently.

So

he actually put his suit in the checked bag because that would make it less squished.

And then he had all of his casual clothes because he was like, if I have to be in Italy for two weeks, I need my casual clothes.

If Eddie had no wedding to go to, he totally would have been fine with that Europe trip.

But unfortunately, you know, we had a wedding and very soon after we landed.

And then also the thing to note is I'm assuming that you had a layover, which is probably where these bags got lost.

Yeah.

So Eddie and I were flying from LA to Florence and I found a great deal on points.

It was 11,000 flying blue points per person.

So we flew Air France and there was a layover in Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

New hot take off.

Charles de Gaulle is the worst airport.

Oh, I 100% agree.

I'm avoiding that airport like the plague now.

I mean, avoid Charles de Gaulle, hot take, but really avoid any airport.

In fact, more than 40% of bags are delayed because of a transfer mishandling.

That's according to SITA data.

And so basically, if you have that layover, you increase your risk of luggage delays.

And you can also increase the risk if you have a really short layover.

So that I did avoid.

My layover was six hours.

So it felt like there was plenty of time for the bag to make it.

Ugh, six hours in Charles de Gaulle.

That's terrible.

Yeah.

Anyways, we do this layover.

We get on the plane to Florence and then we go to the baggage carousel and the bags are starting to come out.

And we actually had another friend with us who was going to the same wedding and her checked bag came out and mine was nowhere nowhere to be seen.

Uh-oh, the universe knew that you needed a podcast episode, so they gave their friend the bag and made you lose yours.

I know it was so sad.

Okay, so what'd you do?

Well, the first thing I did was check my Find My app on my iPhone because I put an AirTag inside of my checked bag.

And lo and behold, the tag said it was still in Paris.

So I didn't even wait for all the bags to come out.

I just like beelined straight over to the luggage lost and found office.

So I was like the first person at the desk and I didn't have to wait at all to file a claim.

And AirTags are great because Apple has a partnership with many airlines where you can actually share the location of the AirTag with the airline, which is exactly what I did with Air France.

Oh, you just share it with, how does that work?

They tell you this email that you can share it to and you put it in loss mode and it will beep, it like pings every 20 minutes.

When you book the flight, you can register for this?

No, no, no.

It's like once you already are missing your bag.

It'll give you the email to share it with.

Wow.

I've never heard of that.

Smart travel here with the tips.

Yep.

So some other tips about losing your bag, make sure you keep that little slip from the bag tag that the airline prints out when you check your bag.

You know what I'm talking about?

Yes, yes.

Yeah.

Some people like put it on the back of your ticket or whatever, but I needed that to be able to file the claim.

And basically what they told me was that the airline could deliver it, but I was just not confident that the airline could get it back to me in any way because Eddie and I had to leave for this wedding, the first one, at 2 p.m.

the day day after this flight.

And it was already 7 p.m.

by the time we landed.

So we didn't even have like 24 hours to get this bag back.

No way.

Yeah.

Because you were moving to different cities throughout this trip.

Totally.

Yeah.

But I wasn't freaking out because I was pretty optimistic that, like, oh, they have the AirTag location.

Like, they'll find it right away and put it on the next flight to Florence.

Okay, but it seems like it wasn't that simple.

No, so the next morning I call Air France and they are like, we have the AirTag, but we haven't quote unquote found it like we haven't matched you to your bag yet yeah and we were going to the wedding that day so we decided all right Eddie needs a suit so we literally went all over the city of Florence looking for an emergency suit you bought a suit in Florence that's kind of bougie and yeah Eddie's a bougie guy I think he probably enjoyed that There are worse ways to get an Italian suit, but honestly, it was such a rush.

Like we're just going all over and we had to get like more than just a suit.

It's like the shirt, the shoes, the tie.

And like a suit has to be fitted.

That is kind of savage yeah we actually even got a local tailor to hem the pants in just an hour so that we could get on this train so yo i would trust an italian tailor to hem my pants in an hour that that sounds so nice and then i also just grabbed some other things because you remember i only had one pair of casual clothes yes and the airport clothes so i went to zara got a couple of other things but just very quickly just so i could make it through like the next couple of days because I was so sure like my bag is coming like in just a day or two.

Yeah.

Okay.

You know, I was browsing your Instagram photos, Miles with Nake and Co., and I was like, Your Cinque Cherra outfit was so cute.

Did you buy that in Italy?

That's all the Zara in Florence.

Oh my gosh, it was so cute.

This is like a happy ending.

You got cute clothes out of it.

Yeah, yeah.

And I want to give everyone a tip.

So, if this happens to you and you have to buy some replacement stuff, keep all the receipts.

Eddie was taking pictures of his on his phone so he didn't lose them.

I was keeping mine like all together in my backpack.

I wasn't trying to go crazy with buying a ton of stuff that first day because I had read on the IATA website that the vast majority of mishandled luggage is returned to the passenger within 48 hours.

Yo, they are way too optimistic.

I guess we'll finish this after the mid-roll.

Okay, because we do have a cliffhanger.

You are not reunited with your clothes yet.

So stay with us for the rest of the story in a moment.

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All right, you have your luggage still missing, but you must press on.

What happened next, Megan?

So, I'm pretty preoccupied with the wedding for the next few days, and Eddie and I check the claim online.

It doesn't show any updates.

So, after the wedding, I move cities going to Chincoter, and we call the airline again, and they say they still can't find it.

And so days and days go on and now it's like I'm really starting to miss the things that are in that checked bag.

Things like my raincoat, like a sweater, my running shoes.

I didn't want to go all the way to Chincoter and not do the hiking.

No way I told you to do the hike.

Absolutely.

I was like, Sally says I should, so I have to do it.

And so I had to buy like a touristy sweater and I actually had to buy like a whole new pair of running shoes.

Okay.

How much money have you spent at this point?

Oh, man.

Okay.

Probably at that point, maybe 200 euros or something like that.

Oh, that's not bad.

There are limits.

So I looked up some of the limits.

Air France says on its website that it'll reimburse up to 1,880 euros.

Kind of random number.

But I knew I hadn't hit that yet.

So I also figured that my credit card would reimburse me because a lot of travel cards offer reimbursement for delayed or lost luggage.

Yes.

And that is the most underrated benefit on these travel credit cards.

I think a lot of people only think about travel credit cards for big spending on travel or the random perks like the lounge access, but many of these credit cards offer travel protection for trips paid for on those cards.

This includes delayed or lost baggage protection.

And we will post a link to some of our favorite cards that offer this in the episode description.

Now you have to be really thoughtful about which card you're using.

So some are better than others.

Yeah.

Like when I booked this particular flight, I was working on the signup bonus for the Amex Platinum.

So that's what I used to pay the taxes and fees because because this was an Air France flight that I bought with flying blue points.

Okay, so now that I've had this experience, I'd really encourage listeners to familiarize yourself with the travel protections on the cards you have.

Had I known that this would have happened, I would have booked with a different card.

Yes, because the Amex Platinum does not cover baggage for flights that were booked with the loyalty program's points, Megan.

Yeah, I know.

Did you know that though, like off the top of your head?

I did only because I know that like Chase Sapphire Reserve is the premium and Amex has like all these little fine print things.

Yeah, it was so silly.

So, and then also, Megan, this is wacky.

If you had booked with Amex points through Amex Travel, that would have been covered, but you booked with Flying Blue, so no go.

Well, also, I got a much better deal with the Flying Blue points, so there's no way I would have booked through Amex Travel points, anyways.

Yes, I know.

And then Amex is also double stingy because if you had paid in cash, you would have not covered it because Amex baggage protection only kicks in if your luggage is damaged or declared lost.

But I don't think that's where the story is going.

Yeah, so Air France told me they would declare my bag lost after 21 days.

And at this point in the story, it's only been about seven days since I'd lost my bag.

Yeah, and it's important to note, 21 days is a long time.

I mean, you were probably already back home in the U.S.

after 21 days.

Yeah, I definitely would have been back in the U.S.

I also didn't want to like lose everything in there.

You know, I didn't want them to declare it lost and then be like, oh, so that suit that was in that bag is just gone.

But you could get the insurance from it.

Right, but I would have preferred the suit.

Okay, well, so this is where I'm going to give shout out to Chase Sapphire cards because Chase Sapphire cards do cover baggage delay.

The maximum benefit is $100 per day, and then they max this out to up to five days.

So you could have gotten $500 out of that.

Right.

Now that I know that I'm booking all of my flights on my Chase Sapphire card from now on, just to make sure I have that baggage delay protection.

Yeah.

Our recent show, we totally dunked on the Chase Sapphire Reserve changes, but I got to say their travel insurance is like top tier.

Absolutely.

Another thing that you could do if you don't want to have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, because we did dunk on it, is you could resort to a standalone travel insurance policy.

That could have helped because typically those also offer baggage protection.

We also have a bunch of resources on travel insurance on nerdwallet.com and we'll link to that in the show description as well.

I also want to give a quick shout out to one more resource that I learned about from one of our freelance writers.

So there's this company called Blue Ribbon Bags and they offer just standalone baggage insurance.

They don't do anything else.

No trip cancellation, nothing else.

And what got me interested is it's only $5 per bag.

Interesting.

Flat fee per bag?

Yeah, flat fee.

And they'll handle all of the hassle with calling the airline and they'll give you $1,000 if they don't get it back within five days.

Yeah.

And I would say that is the benefit of using a dedicated travel insurance company or maybe even a travel agent.

They do a lot of the back and forth that's really the most valuable in spending all the time on the phone trees talking to the airline, saving the time and headache, not needing to do that could be worth just having a separate travel insurance policy.

Yeah.

And it costs money too.

Like I literally racked up hundreds of dollars in international calling fees, like being on hold, waiting for Air France to pick up.

And then they say, oh, we still haven't found your bag.

So you still don't have your bag yet.

Yeah.

So after a week, they asked for some pictures of the bag, which I didn't have.

So I was like scouring the internet trying to find a picture of a bag that, you know, hasn't been on sale for like 10 years.

You're also like, it's a black ruler bag, like literally all black ruler bags.

No, actually mine was really special.

So I was really surprised when they were like, oh, we need a better description.

Mine was a duffel rolling bag.

So it's already kind of a different shape.

It's gray and it has bright yellow zippers.

Every bag is gray.

Come on.

It looks different though.

It's a duffel bag.

Yeah, I will say, so I do own one rolling suitcase to my name and it is designed to look like Donald Duck.

So I'm like, I got the missing Donald Duck bag.

You know, honestly, I think like based on my calls with Air France, it didn't matter what your bag looked like.

They were going to take their time with it.

Okay.

So did we get the bag bag?

Yes or no?

So yes, we finally did.

It was really annoying because it was day 12 of the vacation.

So we've been without our bag for almost two weeks at this point.

But not 21 days.

Right.

And again, the day before we're supposed to go to the next wedding, we get a call from Air France at like 5.30 at night.

And they're like, hey, we got your bag back.

We sent it to the Florence airport.

And we're like, wait, what?

We just left Florence.

We left.

We're in Rome now.

We have your whole itinerary.

Like, why are you sending it to Florence?

And so, of course, that got messed up.

And they were giving me some options.

They were like, we can deliver it in the Florence area, but we can't deliver it to Rome.

We can't deliver it to where your next wedding is.

So they were basically just like, we could ship it back to the U.S.

But at this point, I lost like all trust in the airline, right?

I'm just like, no way.

Like,

oh, I would have said ship it back to the U.S.

No, you know, actually, since we had bought a new suit and all this other stuff, it wouldn't have fit in our carry-on.

It felt like we would have had to buy.

Oh, so you don't want to buy another suitcase?

Right.

So I was like, you know what, Eddie?

Let's just go to Florence right now.

We were in Rome.

Oh, so you bytrack to Florence.

Yeah, the high-speed train takes like less than two hours.

Shout out to trains.

And so I was like, all right,

we can catch the next train at 7.30 p.m.

We'll get to Florence at 9.

And then we can take the tram to the airport.

And then we basically have about half an hour there that we need to get the bag back.

And then we need to hightail it back to the train station to catch the last train back to Rome.

Wow.

It's like the amazing race.

Yeah.

So we literally had to be very focused, just beeline to the luggage lost and found office.

And we get there and they're closed.

Like, oh, no.

The blinds are down.

And I'm like, oh, no, I think I'm going to cry.

Not even fake crying, real tears.

Real cry.

I'm just like, no way.

I knock on the window because there's still people there.

And I'm like, hey, I just came all the way from Florence.

Like, can I please just have my bag back?

It's right there.

And they're like, no, we're closed.

And they shut the blinds.

Like, they literally.

Oh, my gosh, that's so mean.

I thought Italians were nice.

I think they all are generally, but yeah, this was tough.

I did get some misinformation before we had left Rome that the office would be open, but it really wasn't open.

This sounds like an episode of The Amazing Race.

We should call Phil right now.

Get you.

I'm ready.

I'm down.

I would win this thing because I told Eddie, I was like, I'm not leaving this airport without my bag right now.

We're going to be back in our hotel in Rome tonight.

So I walk around and I try and find someone else who will like actually listen to this whole saga.

I don't tell him this whole thing, but I basically say, we've not had our bag for two weeks.

It would just be easier if you gave it to me now.

It's right there.

I know that the customs people are still working.

There's still flights coming in.

Yeah.

Can you please just hand it over?

And so this customer service person at the airport was like, he did some calls and then he was like, okay, yeah, I can go pick it up.

So

go back, get the bag.

And I'm like, pro tip is like, if you get told no once, just keep, keep asking until you get told yes.

Absolutely.

Whether you're on the phone or even at the airport, just keep asking until someone will pull some strings for you.

This is just like a free life tip for anything.

Yeah.

And so we got our bag back and we got this suit and we made it to the second wedding and all's well that ends well.

Yay, that's good news.

Okay, so final question.

Did you get reimbursed?

Yes.

I filed another claim once I got my bag back and I returned to the U.S.

and we put together all of the receipts, me and Eddie.

So They gave us back almost $2,000.

It was literally everything I submitted a receipt for.

It took about a month from the time I filed filed the claim to get the confirmation that I was getting reimbursed, but it's sitting in my bank account right now.

And I asked Air France for comment on my whole saga with the lost luggage, and they gave me this response.

They said...

Air France carries 62 million bags a year on board its aircraft, and they have a 99% overall success rate for those bags.

That's a figure comparable to that of European Airlines.

They also had some really interesting stats about their delayed baggage reclaim rates.

So for every 100 delayed bags, 90 will be reclaimed the next day.

And in most cases, the remainder will be reclaimed within five days.

In very exceptional cases, some baggage cannot be returned.

And that is after 21 days that they declare the baggage lost.

But at Air France, they say they continue searching for bags even 90 days after your bag was lost.

So I understand that everything that happened with my luggage was an exception to most of their baggage handling practices.

Interesting.

So they covered the cost of that cute Zara top?

They did.

And also the trains to go pick up.

Oh, even the trains.

The trains to go pick up the luggage.

So happy ending.

Eddie got a free Italian suit out of this.

Yes.

Whoa.

Okay.

So this is not the worst, even though you had anxiety.

I had anxiety listening to this.

The listeners probably also have anxiety.

So let's wrap this thing up with like some quick tips of what people should do if they are in a similar situation.

So number one, rethink how badly you need the checked bag.

I'm going to another destination wedding in Australia this year and I'm going to go carry on only for that.

Backpack only.

I don't want to deal with that.

Yeah.

Number two, book a non-stop flight.

That'll avoid any issues with transferring the luggage on a layover.

Number three, make sure you have a luggage tag, a photo of your bag from the outside, a photo of your bag from the inside, and an air tag or some type of electronic tracker.

And get a crazy Donald Duck bag bag so it's easy to spot anyway.

I really don't know if that would help.

But if your bag quacks, maybe that would.

Okay, okay, next one.

Know your insurance policy.

Will you be covered by your credit card or your travel insurance?

And use the right credit card, follow NerdWallet for the right credit card tips.

Right.

Consider checking a bag just on the way back.

So that might mean, you know, rolling up a little duffel bag and putting it in your suitcase and only checking it on the way back because once you're back, then you have all your stuff.

So it's not as onerous if you have to go through this process.

And then my number one tip pack your carry-on bag like you'll lose your checked bag i agree do not put anything special the like stuffies from you when you were five do not put that in your carry-on bag right or in your checked bag in your check bag keep it with you that's a valuable okay and last one save your receipts you'll need them actually one of eddie's photos of his receipts had his finger over the date And they actually made us resend that one.

So

I think just having all of them and taking the photos as a backup is a good idea.

They're like, this guy is trying to get his suit from five years ago reimbursed.

Okay.

I think it's time for hot takeoffs.

Okay, Megan, I wouldn't make you so mad.

All right.

My hot take, it is impossible to underpack.

What?

Okay, wait.

Let me think about this.

It's impossible to underpack.

But like,

what about if you forget your ski jacket?

You have to buy a $250 ski jacket while you're there.

And then you buy a ski jacket when you're there.

You gave me so much anxiety this whole episode about like all your stuff and then having to like get on the train, amazing race style, having to buy all these new clothes, having to like get a suit for the wedding.

And I was just like, you know what?

Just like don't pack this stuff to begin with because then you can't lose it.

Okay, I think people will survive on less.

That's true.

People will survive on less.

Amen.

Thank you.

But do pack your suit if you're going to a wedding.

I think those expensive things, it is worth packing them.

Right.

So like if you are going to a wedding, you need to pack the bridesmaid dress that you are forced to wear.

And then like you can pack a couple other outfits, but like just pack what you're absolutely sure you need.

If you might need something, just buy it there because you risk losing it.

And then you are also just carrying around so much stuff.

Bags are heavy.

That's true.

I had to carry that bag around, like the checked bag once we got it back.

I was like, you know what?

Maybe it's a good thing we didn't have this all over Europe.

It seemed like too much.

All right.

Well, I do have a whole other packing philosophy.

It's called the $10, $10 rule.

And we're going to do an entire episode on packing better.

We're going to feature that.

I know, Megan, you also have a really good bag tip.

So stay tuned for a future episode to hear that.

And if you've got packing tips, email us at travel at nerdwallet.com, or you can even leave us a voice memo.

We might play your voice on the show.

Also, please follow rate and review the show on your favorite podcast app that includes Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio.

And share this episode with your favorite travel buddies so they pack what they're supposed to.

Yes.

This episode is produced by Tess Viglund, whose luggage was lost for 48 hours on the way back from Paris.

I'm telling you, Paris is dangerous.

But in the end, British Airways refunded the extra baggage fee.

They charged her because of it, so she's not mad.

Okay, that was our fun test tangent.

Also, Hilary Georgie and Claire Soci helped with fact-checking.

I don't think they've ever lost bags.

And Nick Charissime mixed our audio.

And here's our brief disclaimer.

We're not financial or investment advisors.

This info is provided for general, educational, and entertainment purposes.

Hopefully, you were really entertained by this whole bag story and

may not apply to your specific circumstances.

Thank you for listening, sticking with us.

My anxiety levels are so high, Megan.

We hope you're inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even fuller.

See you next episode.