A police investigation is currently underway to find the missing luggage of two United Airlines passengers who flew to Barcelona earlier this summer.
“We have been planning this trip for a long time. It was like the trip of a lifetime,” Dan Adams told NBC 4 Los Angeles about his getaway with his partner, Kurt.
To ensure the safe arrival of their luggage, Adams inserted AirTags into all four of the couple’s checked bags.
But when he and Kurt went to check in, only three of his bags appeared on the carousel. “I looked on my phone to see where it was, and it was only a few meters from where I was standing. I thought they probably forgot to put it on the belt that takes it to the carousel below. It probably just got stuck there and somebody forgot about it,” Adams told NBC 4.
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When Adams informed the baggage representative of the situation, she went to look for his missing luggage but returned empty-handed.
“She came back and said, ‘No, there’s no sign of your bag. Someone probably took it.’ I said, ‘Nobody took it. AirTag shows that right there.’ She said, ‘We don’t use AirTags, we use our own system,'” Adams recalled.
After the representative assured him that the bag would show up and be delivered to him later that night, he and his partner left the airport. “We were tired, we were losing from the flight and I said okay. And that was my fault. I trusted United when I shouldn’t have,” said Adams.
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Apple AirTag.
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However, the bag never arrived, and when Adams checked his AirTag app later that evening, he was in for another surprise — the bag had drifted 34 miles out of town in the opposite direction.
“He entered Barcelona and then he kept moving out of Barcelona,” he said. “I knew at that moment that I would never see that bag and all the things that were in it again.”
Adams eventually sued United, although the airline did not initially reimburse him. “I’ve been a really good United customer for years and years. And they know it. That’s how they treated me, though,” he told NBC 4.
In a statement to PEOPLE, United said, “We reimbursed the customer and issued travel credits for the frustrating experience. The police in Barcelona are investigating this missing bag.”
The company added: “In the coming months, United will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of our customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags. We will share more details over time.”
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Still, Adams wasn’t satisfied with how United Airlines handled the whole ordeal and has some words of advice to help other travelers avoid the situation he found himself in.
“I just want people to know what happened to me so it doesn’t happen to them,” he said. “Even if you take the precaution of putting an AirTag in your luggage to see where it is, there are elements that will make sure you don’t get your luggage, no matter what.”
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Source: HIS Education