Has anyone ever had this happen? Is there a process to take or are we SOL? Me and the wife just went on our honeymoon to Grenada. Whenever we got to our hotel room at Sandals, her bag was not zipped shut anymore and her things were obviously gone through. However, there wasn't a tag on the bag labeled as being gone through at airport screening. Anyway she looked through it and didn't initially realize anything as missing.

A few days later, we had a photography session scheduled and that's when she noticed her makeup bag was gone. So either TSA opened the suitcase and removed the bag without notification, or someone at sandals opened her bag and took a very specific bag (she took about 4 bags that look identical with other cosmetic stuff).

She is understandably pissed since it was essentially her entire makeup collection, but looking through the internet, it seems we are SOL. People with similar experiences seem to say TSA is impossible to reach, AA specifically states this type of scenario is no fault of theirs, and my credit cards insurance (amex gold) states that they need proof of loss in form of a statement from the airline of the item truly being lost. So I guess this is my last hail Mary to see if anyone here has had a similar experience.

I know to never pack things you can't lose in checked baggage, but I feel like makeup is an extremely weird item to steal lol.

You're SOL.

Do you purchase trip insurance? I'm not sure if this is something that would be covered or not (guessing not).

Makeup is EXPENSIVE and not readily available in most countries. It's also shockingly easy for them to sell.

When we travel to central South America and the Caribbean, we put a cheap lock on the bag that we don't mind if TSA cuts off.

So sorry. Being stolen from is hella violating.

Maybe raise hell with the hotel and see if you can't get them to pay you back by filing a theft claim on their insurance.

This is actually what I told her. Figured it was the people that took our baggage to our room after we found out what import taxes are there. We did end up filing an "incident report" with the resort on site. Haven't heard back from them and don't really expect to.

Oh well.

Did you pay by credit card? Maybe dispute the transaction with the CC company and provide the incident report and let them know what happened. Maybe make up that theres been an on going theft ring at the hotel. No pun intended.

I'd ask the hotel for the video from the time the bags were placed in their control to the time they reached the rooms. If they said they didn't have it, I'd just keep pushing until they finally give up and break. I'd ask for the hotel policy on bags and I'd just hammer them over and over and and over until your level of PITA isn't worth it. Id also let them know you will be posting about the experience in social media and any other available avenue to broadcast the event and discourage future travelers from booking. They don't really like bad press usually especially when it's theft related.

We've had this happen several times.

And I'd blow up the corporate number and tweet at them with the details or insta thread about it w the main corporate account tagged. Try to take it from a 3rd world country to the US corporate office.

Push comes to shove they issue you a company wide credit to use on a future stay. That's usually easier for them to provide than cash. Just trying to think…

If you can tweet them or DM them on social media, you will have the best results. That seems to be a trend. I had an issue on Korean Air a few weeks ago and got a near immediate response and credit within hours on Twitter. I was shocked quite honestly.

although it doesn't stop them completely, always use a luggage lock

all great advice. Thank yall

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AA specifically states this type of scenario is no fault of theirs, a

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Are you sure?


This just happened to us back in Jan with United. Coming back from Mexico, get home, large suitcase obviously had been shuffled through (wife's bathroom bag all open and items everywhere). We left with our boys sunglassess, each pair in a hard case; one was open with glasses loose in suitcase, the other case was present but sunglasses were totally gone. No inspection tag.

Short story - United reimbursed us fully after I filed a claim with pic of receipt and bag tags (the stickers they put on the bags). We had just bought the sunglasses a few months prior for Christmas and luckily took a pic of receipt.
Our bags were kept by the hotel from check out time for a few hours until we left for airport, so possibility it was done there. But, it was a Westin, I just see marriott holding their employees, even international, to a higher standard. The random mexican in the airport however, who is a mexican federal employer (or maybe not even that?) I don't have any faith that they have integrity. It's Mexico.




Longer story - Our fear was, when we bought them, sunglass hut in cabelas was doing buy 1 pair get a second pair 'free' (up to $60 off). So we got 2 pairs of $160 sunglasses for $260.

But to buy another single pair, we obviously have to pay full price. So we just submitted receipt to United showing 2 pairs @ $160ea, with a discount at bottom, but they still cut a check for $160.

So when we went back to replace the same stolen pair for my boy with the $160, I used the offer that was still running and got a free pair of $60 sunglasses for me.

I completed my doctorate and graduated this summer. On the flight home, my cap and tassel were packed in my checked luggage. They didn't make it home. Some jerk opened my bag and took it. What am I gonna do about it?

Wow. Didn't know this was that wide spread of an issue. I'll try to do a claim through AA but looking through r their policy it explicitly says they aren't responsible for items missing from a checked bag.

I recently had my checked in suitcase opened and two pair of sunglasses and a watch stolen coming back from the Cancun airport on an AA flight. I even had a lock on it and it was torn off when I picked up my luggage in DFW. They took a few other items including my prescription of ibuprofen. I have a Tumi suitcase which is very nice, but I'm thinking of getting an average suitcase so it's not so "enticing" to thieves for my next trip to Mexico, and I'll also put any valuable items in my carry-on.

i had a pelican kit full of equipment raided after it missed my connection from PHL to BGR. it got delivered by the lost luggage team at AS to my hotel almost completely empty

sincereag said:

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I have a Tumi suitcase which is very nice, but I'm thinking of getting an average suitcase so it's not so "enticing" to thieves for my next trip to Mexico.

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This has nothing to do with it. We have cheap Amazon special suitcases.

I had a TSA lock on my dive bag cut in Grenada. Nothing was missing, but they do hand searches down there.

I would bet someone at the airport in either Miami (assuming you're connected there) or Grenada stole it.

MIA is a terrible airport and it notoriously bad for workers stealing your stuff. I wore my dive computer on my wrist, knowing it would be stolen if checked.

All our snorkeling gear was stolen from our luggage on a return trip from Hawaii.