After United Airlines damaged a checked bag on an international flight, one traveler navigated a confusing claims process, multiple replacement offers, and airline liability rules before finally receiving reimbursement.
I’ll admit it freely: I have a healthy obsession with fine-ass luggage.
I took 181 flights last year, and I estimate I checked a bag on probably 150 of those flights. I’m partial to a hard side bag with clasps (I have an aesthetic repugnance for zippers). I like the look of a corrugated aluminum, which to me evokes the early prop-liners of the 1920s, but I find polycarbonate more durable.
Until recently, the check-in bag for me was my beloved Arlo Skye Check-In. But coming off a flight from Vancouver, I pulled the bag off the carousel and noticed that somewhere en route, the polycarbonate shell had cracked in two places. There was a crack on top of the bag, about three inches long, and another on the side of the bag, around a rounded corner, but away from a seam (the bag had these gorgeous aluminum corner caps).
The bag was actually a replacement for one that Delta had damaged beyond repair in 2023. I was impressed with Delta’s handling of my damage complaint. Within 48 hours, I had an ACH transfer for the original purchase price of the bag, and the cost of an item that had broken inside it (bear in mind airlines typically won’t reimburse for items damaged inside bags, but they usually make an exception when the bag itself is damaged).
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United, it turned out, would be a bit different.
The Damaged Bag Process Proved Cumbersome
When an airline agent accepts your bag and tags it at check-in, they’re doing more than just attaching a tag showing where it needs to be sent. They’re also inspecting that the bag doesn’t have any existing damage, and that it’s sturdy enough to withstand normal handling.
If a bag doesn’t meet these criteria, airlines request that passengers sign what’s called a limited or conditional release. This acknowledges that the airline has identified existing damage, or has determined the bag is likely to become damaged during normal handling, and the passenger surrenders the bag with the understanding that the airline won’t be liable for damage (like they normally are). Without this, the airline promises to return the bag in the same condition it was checked (with an allowance for scuffs, scratches, soil, or anything considered “normal wear and tear”).
My bag was checked intact in Vancouver and delivered damaged in Dallas, so I knew I needed to complete a damage report before leaving the airport. The agent in Dallas handed me a QR code to scan, said I should provide the record locator from my bag tag as the file number or claim number, and a third-party company, Rynn’s, would handle my claim on behalf of United.
I pushed back, saying I’d prefer to have a file number. He said that was the process. I wasn’t happy about this, because the rule in airline baggage service is they have to take a report of delay or damage if you insist—even if they’re certain they’re not liable and the claim will be denied. Timing is important because a record that you reported the damage to the airline before leaving the airport strengthens your assertions that the bag was damaged while it was in the airline’s care (and not, for example, on the ride home).
I got home and went to the Rynn’s website to file my claim. I completed all the fields, but the record locator the agent said I should use as the file number didn’t match the format on the form. I called United’s baggage line, and they completed a damaged bag report and gave me a correct file number. Satisfied that I at least had a damage report, I put in the record locator as I was instructed and waited for a response from Rynn’s.
They emailed back in two days and said they needed the baggage report number, confirming that the baggage office agent’s instructions had been bogus. I emailed them the damage report and photos, and they emailed back, saying it looked like my bag couldn’t be repaired, but provided a link to a selection of bags I could pick from and have delivered for free as a replacement.
There were a variety of bags in several colors and styles, but there were several problems with the selections. There were no hard-side bags; they all had zippers and were largely in the $100-$200 range in retail value (my Arlo Skye cost $472.50 after a 10% promotional discount they were running when I bought it).
I’ve previously worked in baggage service for a number of airlines, so I know the game here. Third-party bag repair services contracted by the airlines buy the bags in bulk (some airlines also do this on their own without contracting a third party), receiving substantial volume discounts. At one airline I worked for, the standard replacement bag cost around $20, making it by far the cheapest way to settle a damaged bag claim. For people who aren’t picky about their bags, it’s a perfectly reasonable solution.
But I knew that wasn’t my only option. I emailed Rynn back, saying none of the bags they offered were suitable, reminding them I had provided a receipt for the purchase price of the damaged bag. They sent another link, with a wider selection of bags, many of them with retail values approaching—but not yet meeting—the value of my ruined bag. Some of them were hard-sided, and one even had clasps—but in a color I couldn’t abide.
I emailed Rynn’s again, saying the replacements on offer were unsuitable. They emailed back, instructing me to file my claim directly with United at a different website, referencing my existing damage claim and providing photos and receipts. Also starting to get annoyed with the back-and-forth, I sent a note to United’s customer relations. By then, it had been over a week.
I got an email back from United’s baggage service department, instructing me to file the report, saying they could reimburse up to $400 for a replacement bag, and that the claim would likely be settled within the next four weeks.
Here’s where I got angry. On flights between Canada and the United States (and most other international flights), airlines have agreed to a liability framework called the Montreal Convention. For checked baggage, it caps an airline’s liability for loss, damage, or delay at around $2,000 per passenger. None of United’s published policies or its Contract of Carriage made mention of an arbitrary $400 limit on reimbursement.
I emailed United back, asking if they could consider reimbursing the full amount. United’s response basically said “just let them work the file,” also noting that as a Mileage Plus Premier member, my claim would receive priority.
The next day, United emailed me arrangements to reimburse me for the $472.50 I had paid for my bag, taking a total of nine days, two bag replacement offers, and several emails to settle my claim. It’s worth noting that Delta resolved my claim within 48 hours, but that was nearly three years ago, so it’s possible their service in handling baggage claims could similarly have deteriorated since. Bag damage is thankfully rare (by my calculation, I checked my Arlo Skye on around 300 flights before it met its end), so it’s not something most travelers deal with frequently.
All told, nine days to resolve a damage bag claim isn’t terrible, but it’s frustrating when you have a benchmark and know what’s actually possible.
The Hunt for a Replacement Bag
With my reimbursement from United in hand, it was time to go shopping for a new bag.
Arlo Skye has largely transitioned to Team Zipper, and they’re not making check-in-sized bags with clasps anymore. I just can’t get on board with a zipper. In addition to being supremely un-sexy, I don’t like the “accordion wiggle” the bag makes when the two hard side shells get squishy around the cloth fittings around the zipper. Zippers are also a high-mortality item, and airlines won’t cover them if they’re damaged. They’re also less forgiving of overpacking, which will warp and pull a zipper right apart—unlike a clamshell with a clasp closure, which will just lightly waffle-iron press your clothes together.
So, I needed a hard-side bag with clasps, preferably silver, and it had to be sexy, like my Arlo Skye. I looked at a couple options from Away Travel, which I liked the design of, but they didn’t come in silver—unless you got the more expensive aluminum version, which is durable, but the bags can take quite a bit of cosmetic damage during handling. I also liked a bag from Nobl, but it didn’t pass the gut check. The website looks an awful lot like those fake Shopify storefronts that are advertised heavily on social platforms. There were also suspicious markdowns (the “$969 bag” I saw has been marked down 67% three times in the last six months, according to various media outlets covering luggage shopping), and customer service horror stories.
I finally settled on the largest check-in bag from Monos. I considered a trunk-style case, but after checking out the specs, it seemed the traditional-shaped bag actually had more interior volume. They also make an aluminum version, but I thought perhaps there was just too much possibility for more heartbreak. I liked that Monos is a Certified B Corp, has physical store locations (less chance of opaque online chicanery), and the price was the price, without any crazy discounting, which suggests integrity.
The bag arrived, and I did my highly scientific durability test by timpani drumming the Hawai‘i Five-0 theme on the side of the bag. I also traveled with it on two flights, and everything is as advertised—the glide-y wheels, the convenient recessed hand-hold on the bottom, the internal compression system—chef’s kiss.
The Takeaways
Perhaps the biggest lesson of this ordeal was that I had to turn down two offers of resolution (the free “replacement” bags) before being offered one that was acceptable (a reimbursement for the purchase cost of my destroyed bag). So, it helps to keep your receipts when you buy luggage you’re planning to check, and if a resolution offer isn’t acceptable, feel free to turn it down and inquire about alternatives.
I’ll miss trotting through airport lobbies with my beloved Arlo Skye, but I’m looking forward to more journeys with my new Monos.