Ryanair, EasyJet, BA and Wizz Air among airlines ranked on luggage complaints

08 August 2023 , 15:47

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A survey found 28% of UK passengers have experienced problems with airlines mishandling hold luggage (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Ryanair customers' bags were lose more than any other airline in the UK over the past five years, new figures show.

The budget airline received close to 1,000 luggage related complaints between 2018 and the third quarter of 2022, according to figures obtained by Forbes Advisor. Complaints related to lost, damaged or delayed luggage.

British Airways - which is the largest UK airline - second worst when it came to luggage complaints, with 844 in the past five years. EasyJet was in third place with 565 complaints. The figures do not take into account an airline's total passengers numbers, meaning you may not be more likely to lose or have your bag damaged on Ryanair than, for example, Iberia.

A survey recently found that 28% of UK passengers have experienced problems with airlines mishandling hold luggage while travelling in the last five years, with 2% of those asked having lost a bag and never had it recovered again.

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The complaints also covered those relating to damaged bags (Getty Images)

The cost of losing or having your luggage damaged can be significant. Unrecovered items or money usually add up to an average of £308 in losses for the average UK passenger, according to the Opinium survey.

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Passengers from Liverpool are usually the worst off when their bags go missing, losing an average of £814. Travellers from Wales are the next most likely to lose their bags, according to the survey.

Brits also opened up about how much protection they take out before travelling by plane. A total of 87% of those surveyed take out travel insurance, while more than one in three purchase their policy when they book their flight, and one in four a few weeks before they travel.

Out of those who tend not to buy travel insurance, 30% of those couldn't it unnecessary, 28% thought it too expensive and 17% expect nothing to happen to them or their possessions while travelling.

If you are worried about losing your bag or having it damaged, then there are things you can do to minimise the risks. Only put luggage in hold if you need to is a great way to reduce the chances that your items will go missing.

Make sure you check your airline's bag rules, as they may be generous enough for you to take everything in a cabin bag.

Remember to remove old airline tags from previous trips that may still be attached to your luggage, as these can cause confusion among baggage handlers. Take a picture of the contents of your luggage, in case you need to file a claim if it does go missing.

When you have taken your bag to be checked in, make sure that the tag attached is correct. If it isn't, your bag may be about to be sent off to the wrong destination. If you are going to get travel insurance, it is important that it covers everything you're going to take with you. Some policies don't cover all tech items for example.

An easyJet spokesperson said: "“Between 2018 – 2022, the period covered by the study, easyJet transported around 322 million customers and their baggage across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. As the figures confirm, incidents of delayed baggage are extremely low and reports by World Tracer, the independent system used by the industry for luggage tracking, show that easyJet has one of the best performances in the industry.

"On the rare and unfortunate occasion a bag is delayed, we work with our airport teams to reunite customers with their bags as soon as possible and we advise customers to submit a claim quickly and easily online for their missing items to be reimbursed and receive compensation.”

A BA spokesperson added: "Every day we take great pride in carrying thousands of bags safely and speedily to their final destination where the vast majority arrive on time. When bags are delayed our teams do everything they can to reunite customers with their belongings and look at various methods of transportation to achieve this as quickly as possible. We also help with essentials while customers wait for their bags to arrive."

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A Ryanair spokesperson said: "Ryanair operates over 3,200 daily flights across more than 230 destinations and leads the industry with fewest lost bags – 1 bag mishandled per almost 10,000 passengers. Any claims to the contrary are false, including this Forbes study which does not take into account the volume of passengers each airline carries.”