Dear Friends,
Thanks to Capt. Gopinath, air travel is no longer the sole recourse of the rich or corporate traveller. All of us, regardless of our economic standing, have travelled by air sometime or the other.
Unlike travelling by other modes, one BIG negative when travelling by air is the fact that your baggage is separated from you owing to practical and security reasons and till you land up and actually retrieve it, you are always apprehensive as to the condition of the same and safety of it's contents.
I would like to inform all that every airline has a baggage declaration form, which you can ask for at the check in counter and fill it in with the major contents of your baggage, just in case it gets lost in transit later.
If you don't, you can file a complaint with the airport manager at the airport of arrival and they will try and relocate it over 14 days. If the baggage is not traced in that time, they'll offer you a piddly sum as compensation, which many at times, not even reimburse you the cab fare to the airport.
This information isn't put up in the public domain for the following(a) obvious reasons(b) you'll hold up the check in queue(c) they feel what you don't can't hurt them!
Whenever you travel with expensive items, preferably carry it in your hand baggage and avoid check in, but where you can't avoid eg. expensive apparel and such stuff, be sure to submit your declaration in advance so that if not the sentiment, you're at least compensated for the material value.
Be an informed traveller.
Rgds,
Vasu
