Travelling with designer bags + insurance coverage?

You would have to check with your specific carrier for the exact amount but usually the lost luggage allowance is under $3000 total for all of the items in your suitcase. I usually carry on board my expensive shoes, bags and sweaters if I can which can limit how much you can take. I just don't think it's worth risking loosing them, and the allowance is so small. Also there is a service I saw on tv where people ship their luggage ahead of time. I don't know the name of the company, but the cost was about $150 per suitcase.

 

I usually carry on board my designer handbags as well...my luggage was lost once in africa, when the airline finally found it not only was it opened but many things went missing from the suitcase...nowadays i'm smarter with my designer items, either i don't take them or they have to come on board with me..

 

Multiple experiences with lost luggage? They almost always find the luggage, at least...

 

Just carry them on, ship them, or leave them at home. I travel a lot for work, and I've had my luggage lost over 30 times. I never check anything that I *need* to see again.

 

Yea, I usually carry on all of my expensive items with me because I will not take the chance of losing those items. That is what my carry on always consists of.

 

I have had this problem with my Fendi spy bags, the travel insurance was not enough to cover them. So my bags are each put on my household contents insurance, you are allowed to take the bags for so many days out of the country and are covered for their full value.

 

I never check a designer bag or accessory. If I feel the need to bring more than 1 designer bag, it's always in my carry on.

 

great advice! glad i saw this before my trip! thanks

 

Ok, I bring anything designer in my carry on.

Here is what you get if you travel International and they lose your luggage:

"If you are flying internationally, including on flights connecting to international flights, the airlines are liable for up to 1000 'Special Drawing Rights' for lost luggage. This is also a limit per passenger.​

A Special Drawing Right is a sort of international currency equivalent, set by the International Monetary Fund. The value of an SDR changes daily; this page shows its current conversion to US dollars (on 3 Feb 1 SDR = US$1.519, so the airlines would pay up to $1519).​

This 1000 SDR limit is expected to be reviewed every five years.​

This obligation on the airlines is part of the 1999 Montreal Convention, known more formally as the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air. It came into effect on 4 November 2003, and replaces an earlier Warsaw Convention of 1929 (albeit one which had been modified several times since then).​

This 1000 SDR limit can be exceeded if you can prove the airline and its employees was acting recklessly and had reason to expect that damage would result from its actions (a 'please handle with care' sticker for example might help establish the airline's knowledge and increased duty of care). On the other hand, the airlines won't pay for damage to fragile items that are not adequately packed (whatever that means!).​

You might still see references to the earlier international limits, which were US$9.07 per pound of baggage (US$20/kg). This new limit is usually slightly more generous and is no longer weight based."


http://www.thetravelinsider.info/travelaccessories/lostbaggagerights.htm
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air france are the only airline to have lost our luggage for any major amount of time (four days) and they certainly were no pleasure to deal with. they acted as if it was a great amount of trouble for them to try to find it, and since we were going sailing it meant we had to delay our start by four days and miss a major part of our itinerary. when some of the bags eventually arrived they denied all knowledge of them, but we found them standing unattended in a random corner of the baggage hall


having said that, i don't worry that much about checking things in, i haven't had anything stolen yet. my brother had his suitcase opened once because he left a lighter in it and there was a note saying they took it, but nothing else was missing. i just flew from heathrow t5 so i packed pretty much everything into my carry-on, and then checked in a suitcase for less urgent things, but to my surprise it arrived fine, and it came back fine too. in general luggage does arrive at the same time as you.

everything i own is covered under my home contents insurance anywhere in the world, which is always reassuring.

 

everything designer will be in the carryon, i've already lost count on how many times luggage went missing *sigh*