Checked luggage disasters in the news

[WillTravel]

Just a few recent articles.

BA admits to discarding bags:
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2007/08/04/et-BA-lost-luggage-104.xml

Up to 10 passengers per BA flight lose their bags:
www.smh.com.au/news/travel/british-airways-named-europes-worst/2007/08/02/1185648100051.html

Thousands of bags went missing in Rome this weekend, and Italian police are probing:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6932570.stm

I don't really have a good suggestion, because carry-on only is not that easy either. But make sure you have survival supplies and one change of clothes in your carry-on.

[pointofnoreturn]

Since I'm planning another trip to Scotland/Wales/parts of England, I'm going to do my best to avoid Heathrow at all costs or BA even!

It's terrible that bags are continuously getting lost. They really need to do something about that. I always bring a change of clothes and travel toiletries in my carry-on in case something happened to my checked luggage.

[Eagle]

WT, this is certainly not good news for travellers, either going to the U.K. or Rome! It seems that in this "new era" of low cost airlines, higher fuel costs and increased competition, the airlines & airports are becoming worse at handling luggage. I have the perception that airlines in North America are performing better in this regard, and hopefully this is true (although I normally only use carry-on when I'm flying locally). One solution for this might be to levy fines against those responsible - if their poor baggage handling performance starts to cost them, they'll get the message and make improvements!

It would be nice if I could travel with only carry-on luggage but I'm not sure this is possible, as even at the bare minimum my Camera gear and clothing would probably be above the weight limits. My EC Continental Journey Pack is advertised as being "carry-on size" with the Daypack removed, but I've found that airlines always insist this is checked, either due to size or weight. In addition, many of the airlines have lately been tightening up luggage limits due to higher fuel costs, so the size & weight requirements for carry-on luggage have been "shrinking" somewhat lately.

I use the same packing method as PONR, and always travel with some toiletries and a bit of spare clothing in my carry-on ("just in case").

Cheers!!!