My Suitcase Was Left Behind – Here’s How I Knew Before Everybody Else – and Got It Back

I spent a wonderful week’s cruise around Venice and the Venetian Lagoon onboard the luxury Uniworld river ship SS La Venezia.

Normally, I wouldn’t book a luxury ship like this, but I got a half-price deal in the Christmas sales. I decided to take my Dad along, as he was celebrating a “Big” birthday.

Venice was very hot and crowded as we visited in peak season – but we had a wonderful time. The ship itself was luxurious – and quirky. I have never seen decor quite like it…

Everything was going wonderfully – until I had to face the stress of my suitcase going missing on the journey home…

Checking In Bags At Venice Airport

When the cruise was over, I was looking forward to getting back home, where the summer temperatures would be cooler.

My suitcase was full of dirty, sweaty clothes, as we had to change multiple times a day to stay cool and fresh.

At the airport, everything seemed to go without a hitch. I checked in my Dad’s bag and my bag together at the counter and set off through the airport as normal.

I never gave the suitcases another thought…

I Arrived In London, Gatwick

I arrived at the baggage carousel, along with others who were on the Uniworld trip with us.

My Dad’s bag, which had been checked in with mine appeared, but there was no sign of my suitcase.

We waited and waited, but there was no sign of my suitcase – and no sign of the suitcases belonging to the other passengers from my cruise.

Airtags to the Rescue!

Unlike others on my cruise, I had put an Apple AirTag in my suitcase.

The AirTag shows the location of my bags in an App on my phone – and my suitcase certainly wasn’t anywhere in Gatwick Airport. My suitcase was still in Venice.

I suspected that at least fifty bags were left behind in Venice airport, but I was unsure how my bag and my Dad’s bag could have been separated when they were checked in together.

This is what Apple AirTags do:

AirTag is a super-easy way to keep track of your stuff. Attach one to your keys, slip another in your backpack. And just like that, they’re on your radar in the Find My app.
Your AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network. These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy. And itʼs efficient, so thereʼs no need to worry about battery life or data usage.

Apple

I was very grateful that I knew exactly where my bag was. There was no airline staff around to assist us, and others had no clue where their bags were.

Chaos at the Airport

I met one other lady at the baggage carousel with an AirTag in her luggage, and that was also showing that her bag was in Venice.

I knew for a fact that the bags hadn’t made the flight, but I had no clue why my Dad’s bag had been separated from everyone else’s and had arrived safely!

If it wasn’t for the AirTags, we might have waited and waited at the baggage carousel – possibly forever! No one from Easyjet told us what was going on…

There was no one around from the airline, Easyjet, to help with the situation.

Passengers were angry, frustrated and tired. The lack of support shown by the airline wasn’t helping matters.

We found an Easyjet desk and had to fill in a paper customs form and an online form.

It was easy for me to report my bag missing via the online form, but I am used to doing everything on my phone.

Older and less tech-savvy customers struggled. I was able to help them report their bags missing via the online Easyjet form.

Two Days Later…

Two days later, my suitcase was delivered back to my house by DPD.

I was very relieved to see it back, I had most of my valuables in my hand luggage (apart from my Insta 360 camera and Captain Hudson) but everything was still there, nothing was missing.

I wasn’t so keen to unpack all my smelly clothes and face all the dirty laundry, though…

No Compensation

Compensation for delayed luggage varies from airline to airline. As Easyjet is a budget airline, the compensation they offer is very limited.

As I had returned home, I was due no compensation for delayed baggage at all.

If you’re away from home and your bag hasn’t been returned to you within 24 hours, we understand that you’ll need to buy essential toiletries and basic clothing. For this we’ll reimburse up to £25 per person per day, for up to three days (that’s a maximum of £75 per person in total). To claim the money back, please keep all receipts and submit them online within 21 days of your flight.

Easyjet

Some travel insurance does cover delayed bags, so it is worth checking your individual policy.

Find out more about travel insurance and why you shouldn’t leave home without it here:

Cruise Travel Insurance – Why You Need it and How to Get It: (Step by Step Illustrated Guide)

I think that having an Apple AirTag in my suitcase made the situation less stressful for me.

Also, I was grateful that the case went missing on the way home, not on my way out to the cruise.

Being stuck in the heat of the Venetian summer with no clean clothes or toiletries doesn’t bear thinking about!

My top tip for packing if you are travelling as a family is to mix everyone’s clothes up a bit – don’t have one suitcase for one person. If a case disappears, the owner will not be stuck without access to clean clothes at all.

Before You Go

Find out about the top 8 packing mistakes to avoid in the article below:

Top 8 Cruise Packing Mistakes You Need to Avoid

Find out about the annoying mistakes I have made when cruising below:

8 Annoying Mistakes I’ve Made on Cruises (Some Expensive and Some Just Frustrating)