American Airlines pilferage
January 19, 2009
For every destination wedding I shoot I require travel expenses for me plus another photographer (for this post, ‘destination wedding’ refers to a wedding in a location where I do not have access to colleagues or camera shops).
And this is why:
We just finished shooting Jennifer and Jeff’s Key West wedding. On the way to Florida, the flight from Miami to Key West was so small that American Airlines forced me to planeside check the small case I usually carry on with my backup gear. In the one hour that case was out of my sight, one of the American Airlines baggage handlers at Miami International Airport stole a camera and two lenses from my case! Worse, American is claiming that because their conditions of carriage do not cover any photographic or electronic equipment, they can’t do anything about it.
American assumes no responsibility for loss, damage or delayed delivery of transferred baggage not acceptable for transportation by American as checked baggage, items damaged as a result of items contained in checked or transferred baggage, and items accepted by American pursuant to the execution of a release form. American does not accept in or as checked baggage any of the following items: antiques, artifacts, artwork, books and documents, china, computers and other electronic equipment, computer software, fragile items (including child/infant restraint devices such as strollers and car seats), eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, non-prescription sunglasses and all other eyewear and eye/vision devices whether lenses are glass, plastic, or some other material, furs, heirlooms, items carried in the passenger compartment of the aircraft, liquids, medicines, money, orthotics, surgical supports, perishable items, photographic, video and optical equipment, precious metals, stones or jewelry, securities and negotiable papers, silverware, samples, unique or irreplaceable items or any other similar valuable items. American does not accept these items in or as checked baggage and assumes no responsibility or liability for such items, regardless of whether American knew or should have known of the presence of such items in checked or transferred baggage. If any such items are lost, damaged or delayed, you will not be entitled to any reimbursement under American’s standard baggage liability, or under any declared excess valuation. Do not attempt to check these items. Carry them with you in the passenger cabin (subject to carryon baggage limitations).
American assumes no liability for articles carried in the passenger cabin.
[ source ]
I learned of American Airline’s sweeping liability irresponsibility after spending three hours trying to reach an American Airlines employee who could answer my questions (FYI, you’ll find it in the small print in the ticket jacket they may or may not give you at the time of check-in). American then shifted the task to reporting the incident to the airport police at the airport of arrival, who were nice but would not take a police report. et cetera.
Luckily, Amy and I still had three cameras and multiple lenses between the two of us to shoot the wedding without a hitch. This is reason #43 that your photographer needs backup on location weddings.
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Here’s what I did that prevented having a camera and 2 lenses stolen en route to a wedding from becoming a disaster:
- I had contracted a professional second shooter to be with me for the wedding; she also brought 2 camera bodies and several lenses.
- I packed my carry-on backpack with my primary camera body and necessary wedding lenses (85mm and 50mm) and this did not leave my side. I made sure that all of my memory cards and the hard drive with working projects was on my person.
- I separated my camera bodies to be in two different places in my luggage.
- I happened to have the serial number of the camera that was stolen accessible, and this aided in the reporting process.
As I mentioned above, American Airlines has “conditions of carriage” they print on the inside of the little folder you put around your boarding passes that rejects any liability for camera or electronic equipment (or jewelry or fine art) that is either checked or carried on. Basically, it lets them shrug their shoulders and say “our policies do not cover this loss.”
Here’s the information I learned about reporting stolen gear, after many phone calls and frustrated explanations. Obviously you want to make sure your equipment insurance is up-to-date (mine wasn’t).
- Report luggage theft to police at the airport location at which you arrive. (This theft almost certainly happened at Miami, but I was told to report it here in Key West). Thieves stealing from luggage is known as “pilferage” to the airline, “theft in transit” to the police.
- Report the theft to the airline. They will want a police report and will likely just tell you it’s not covered by their conditions of carriage. There was a problem for me because I did not discover the loss and report it within 4 hours of the flight.
- Report the theft to your (business, personal, homeowners) insurance company.
- Write a letter to the airline “customer care” address they will provide describing the situation and providing all relevant police reports and case id numbers.
- Did you purchase any of the stolen gear within the last 90 days? If you purchased it with an American Express card or a Mastercard, it is likely liable for replacement via their “purchase assurance” — check with the insurance section of the credit card company. We had our GPS replaced the first time it was stolen out of our car in Boston, thanks to this clause.
- Insist that your gear is able to stay with you on small planes. Ask the flight attendants to keep it in an onboard closet or cupboard if necessary.
ETA 2/13/09: I received an unsatisfactory generic email from American Airlines’ Customer Relations. [ link ]
2/16/09: Looks like Miami International Airport (MIA) is kind of a guilty location. [ link1, link2 ]
2/16/09 I’ve filed a complaint with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division [ link ]
3/22/09 a theft ring of baggage handlers at the St. Louis airport was just busted by airport police. [ link ] … Another at Bradley International Airport. [ link ]
4/2/09 an ex-continental airline employee talks about how commonplace theft is… with continental employees. [ link ]
Posted in colleagues, destination, for photographers, travel schedule, wedding
January 19th, 2009 at 8:19 am
January 19th, 2009 at 11:50 am
That is soooo shady of those AA baggage folks. Even worse is that AA is claiming no responsibility. I hope your insurance will pick up the cost of replacing the equipment!
January 19th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
That sucks Rachel. I thought of one more suggestion. If you bought your ticket with your credit card, it might cover a portion of your loss.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Micah – unfortunately we don’t have insurance that covers the theft. I missed my self-imposed January 1 deadline after the move out to Lowell to get that settled, to my own downfall.
Marilee – I called the credit card company (MasterCard). I always put travel items on my credit card for that very reason – extra insurance coverage… it’s helpful with the rental car especially. That insurance does not cover any loss during the flight since the items were not physically taken from me, or from my home.
January 20th, 2009 at 10:49 am
I know this will be VERY little consolation, but the loss will be tax deductible. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p584b.pdf
Thanks for alerting everyone to this. I hadn’t realized how little protection there is for this type of thing. You’d think that if their employees stole it, that they would have to reimburse you.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Just came in through lynnmichelle to read and this is a sad story. I actually just got back from San Diego and I was forced to check my bag because of space issues on the plane. The whole time my camera was down there I was worried that it was going to get stolen. Luckily it wasn’t but I have heard horror stories and this is not so fun. I hope you retrieve your items.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:57 am
OMG thank you so much for writing this about when you destination weddings. I am all for carrying two diffeent cameras in two different locations.. Oh man Rachel.
I just used my my Amex accident insurance when I dropped my new Macbook Pro, they repaired it and paid $650 worth of damage to the laptop.. you are totally write..
Thanks again for this entry Rachel! I still can’t believe that about AA
January 27th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
[...] week, right after getting back from Phoenix/Key West and having half of my gear stolen by an American Airlines baggage handler in Miami, my good friend Tammy Swales came for a visit from Rochester NY via Mystic CT. In [...]
February 13th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Rachel,
Before I can delve into what action you may take, and offer some suggestions to prevent it from happening again, I have one question that can drastically alter my answer.
When you left you left your bags at the stairs, as you boarding the American Eagle Commuter Service’s ATR-72, was your ‘valet checked’ bag tagged with a red tag that says “Valet” on it?
The answer to this question can change the whole course of my response
Steven Frischling
Web: http://www.flyingwithfish.com
Twit: http://www.twitter.com/flyingwithfish
February 14th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Yes, it had a red valet tag.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I too have had items stolen out of MIA on mandatory gate checked bags. I watched as one man pointed to my bag (we were on the tarmac) and got the attention of the handler in the plane. My bag was the first one on, and when I arrived at my destination, was the first bag off….hmmmm I was suspicious of these guys, took down a description, the number of the truck they were driving, and the time…and kept the items that they touched in my carry on for fingerprints…did AA care…no.
This is a federal offense, and one man had on a “fanny pack”..if they can take things out of gate checked luggage and fill up their fanny packs they could put things on the plane..is anyone aware of this??
These guys must be fingerprinted, why isn’t someone concerned. Their fingerprints should not be on the INSIDE of our carry ons…
I think 60 minutes or some other news program should know what is going on. I am in the process of fighting with AA for my items. Gate checked bags should be exempt (especially when it is mandatory due to a small plane) from the rules on checked baggage….I know none of us would put these items in our checked bags for this reason…
Hopefully someone out there who has connections could make a statement to the news.
February 28th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
So funny. I’m going through the same situation with AA right now. They took my bag from me (when i was on board) in ATL and when it arrived at my final destination (TX)my camera was gone. 10.1 megapix digital. I was flying to do a national television show. Last time I fly with AA airlines. They Suck and their customer care service is the pits.
March 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
My sister just went through this….was forced to check her bag and ended up having her camera and $200 stolen. Ruined her vacation. AA wouldn’t even file a report. Maybe we can get some sort of class action going. This just isn’t right.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:01 pm
[...] those of you who do not know, I was the victim of some serious baggage pilfering by baggage handlers for American Eagle out of Mia…. They went into my bags and stole a lot of gear on the way to a wedding, and American Airlines, who [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Husband had leather jacket stolen from suitcase checked at Miami Airport this past week.
American Airlines employees could care less.
Terrible situation.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 am
Check out Article 17/ 19 of the Montreal Convention as revised on May 28, 1999. Once a carrier accepts checked baggage, whatever is contained in the checked baggage is protected, subject to the terms of the Convention. Carriers cannot refuse to cover this loss of photographic equipment and are currently being called on it.
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I’d just like to add to the chorus… my friend had several bottles of expensive perfumes (gifts for family) stolen from his suitcase going from Miami to Sao Paulo, Brazil. The airline? American. Surprise Surprise.
April 5th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
luggage was at jfk for 4 days and transferred to newark(EWR) the 5th day,(missed my original flight so ihad to fly to ewr ),connection flight was cancelled and waited in the connecting airport for 7 hours,AGAIN -AMERICAN AIRLINES,Too tired to check luggage when i got home( had spent 14 hours between airport and another 2 hours to get home),
the next day when i opened luggage perfume,apple charger and cannon camera charger ,leather jacket and other stuff missing;I cannot believe it,they just helped themselves!!!!!AMERICAN AIRLINES -THIEVES!!!!
May 6th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I had an IPod and two bracelets stolen from my bag at Miami International Airport on Saturday April 18th. At the last minute I placed my Ipod and bracelets into the inside zippered protion of a small carryon that I had to check in. I was enroute to The Cayman Islands and was flying on Cayman AIrlines. Of course I did not notice the theft until I arrived in the Caymans and opened my bag. Interestingly enough the thiefs did not take the prescription medicine that was in the same compartment. They were good drugs too that should be attractive to the low life scum that stole my things..percocet. The total value was only about fourhundred dollars but it is just the fact that these punks obviously work together and operate in an almost worry free environment that bothers me the most. They have no fear of being caught because they work together and Miami as a city is irreversibly corrupt.
Miami airport, and Miami in general, is like a third world country. It does not even feel like it is a part of the United States. 99% of the people working and living there are of recent immigration status. I do not want to sound discriminitory, but it is what it is. The people of Miami are mostly all Hispanic, Cuban, Haitian or Jamaican. I did not come across a single other ethnic type during my entire time at the airport. As far as I am concerened I will never pass through Miami again. Those animals can feed off of each other.
I recently saw a video that showed the worst airports for theft in the country and Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, JFK and Chicago airports top the list. Take a look at the people who work the baggage handling areas inthese airports and you notice a distinct charcteristic. Their race. Sorry, but it can not be denied.
There are supervisors adn cameras and other security measures in place, but it doesn’t matter becasue no one cares.
Miami is a shit hole and I will never spend another dime there.