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The maximum compensation for lost luggage in Europe is 1,300 EUR. I think that's also similar to the Montreal convention covering other flights. I will need to travel with two laptops and I can't fit both in a small bag under my seat. They will travel in a carry-on trolley. The airline usually forces some people to check those bags at the gate. However, that luggage contains much more than 1,300 EUR.

My question is, what happens if my luggage needs to be checked in at the gate and then it is lost? Would it be possible to be compensated for all the items inside the bag? That is about 4,000 USD?

dda
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André
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    I suspect the answer is no. Take out insurance that gives you adequate personal possessions cover. – Traveller Dec 03 '23 at 18:02
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    Several airlines sell extra space which allows you to have the size of luggage you want to bring into the plane. That might be your solution. – Willeke Dec 03 '23 at 20:09
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    I always travel with at least two laptops, and usually a few tablets and phones and a lot of other stuff (which makes security an interesting exercise involving 3 or 4 trays) and my bag still fits under the seat in front of me. Not much space for my feet though. – jcaron Dec 03 '23 at 22:12
  • Which airline are you travelling on? – jcaron Dec 03 '23 at 22:13
  • The airline is Air Europa, International flight. So I guess I'm covered by both EU and Montreal convention? – André Dec 03 '23 at 22:20
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    You can’t (legally) gate check the laptops in most parts of the world unless you’ve removed their batteries (just like if they were going in checked luggage). Bringing this up with the gate agent who is asking you to gate-check the bag will usually either get them to let you carry it on, or prompt them to assist you in figuring out how to handle all of this. – Austin Hemmelgarn Dec 04 '23 at 02:05
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    Side point - If you are worried at all about losing the laptops you should also do a good backup before the trip. – MaxW Dec 04 '23 at 02:28
  • Websearching for the carrier's requirements show that they have generous carry-on allowances (compared to my recent flights to Europe with Lufthansa and even Qatar): for tourist class, a carry-on (10kg) + a handbag/briefcase (or presumably a laptop bag). For business class it is 2 carry-ons (14kg in total) + the accessory bag. (Max dimensions apply for all pieces.) I think if you stay within those limits (perhaps acquiring appropriate luggage if needed) your don't have to worry. That's a lot of stuff to carry by hand until you get an airport trolley, I prefer to stay below 7kg total :-) – frIT Dec 04 '23 at 07:17
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    It reminds me of a discussion about "don't put anything important in luggage" which had been discussed on another question. – Clockwork Dec 04 '23 at 09:30
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    Related: https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/166513/56112 – Clockwork Dec 04 '23 at 09:33
  • My experience has been that you can just refuse to get the bag gate-checked, especially if you paid for the extra bag as lots of european low cost companies require you to – bracco23 Dec 04 '23 at 17:05
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    @AustinHemmelgarn That's not correct. By IATA guidance, batteries <= 100 Wh contained in equipment are allowed in checked baggage. Airlines and national authorities may have stricter/looser rules, but both FAA and EASA airlines generally will allow a normal laptop in checked baggage. – user71659 Dec 04 '23 at 21:33
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    @Clockwork even hand luggage is not fully safe from long delays. We had a interesting case of that in germany last month where it was shut down due to a hostage situation and planes got evacuated but even hand luggage had to stay on it. There were reports after of travelers that had issues getting it back because of customer service ping pong between airport and airline. too bad that there are no laws that force responsibility to one side so they can't wiggle out – masterX244 Dec 05 '23 at 14:49
  • You can definitely fit two laptops in an underseat bag, you just can't necessarily fit much else in it. If you have to gate check a bigger bag, it's always possible to take valuables out. It's good to be prepared for this, for example having a small laptop bag which is obviously underseat / personal item sized inside the big bag. – djr Dec 09 '23 at 22:50

1 Answers1

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Would it be possible to be compensated for all the items inside the bag? That is about 4000 USD?

No. Terms and conditions and international agreements cap the liability of the airline. If you are worried, you should try to find insurance that would cover this. For example you can take a look at What is Baggage & Personal Items Loss travel insurance?

Laurel
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Hilmar
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    Of course, buying insurance doesn’t make sense if you can afford to replace the loss out of pocket. – JonathanReez Dec 03 '23 at 21:25
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    @JonathanReez - that's a cost-benefit analysis that depends on the price of the insurance relative to the estimated probability of losing the items, no? IOW, it could very well be worth the cost of the insurance depending on how the OP evaluates the circumstances. – davidbak Dec 04 '23 at 02:08
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    @jonathanreez that's only true if you remove risk aversion from the calculation. In that case, I offer you a coin throw. All your money and possession are doubled and you receive an additional ice cream if you win. If you don't, I take everything. If you calculate without risk aversion, it doesn't make sense not to play. After all, you win half an ice cream on average. – DonQuiKong Dec 04 '23 at 06:48
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    @DonQuiKong can you replace all your money and possession out of pocket? – Vladimir Cravero Dec 04 '23 at 07:54
  • @VladimirCravero no, the contents of your pockets are included in your money and posessions. – N. Virgo Dec 04 '23 at 08:19
  • @davidbak "IOW" means "in other words"? – Clockwork Dec 04 '23 at 09:33
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    @N.Virgo that is precisely my point - the original idea is that you should not buy insurance if you can pay for something oop, therefore the ice cream example is fallacious - it gives an idea of what risk aversion is, but really "afford" is not limited to money. – Vladimir Cravero Dec 04 '23 at 12:48
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    @VladimirCravero fair enough, that makes sense. But a less extreme example will still work. If OP could afford to replace the computers but would be put in a bad situation by doing so then it obviously makes sense to pay some money to guarantee that won't happen, even if it's a net loss in expectation. – N. Virgo Dec 04 '23 at 12:55
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    Yeah well my point is that if "op can afford BUT..." op really can't afford :) – Vladimir Cravero Dec 04 '23 at 13:02
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    Arithmetically, insurance is a net loss on the average, but in utility theory, utility scales logarithmically with wealth. Add the psychological and logistical discomfort an uninsured loss brings. So in practice, one only needs to avoid "sucker insurance". – Therac Dec 04 '23 at 14:59
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    That said, look at the link! Almost all the policies there have a very low per-item limit - from $50 to $500. Which makes them mostly useless, since insurance will subtract airline compensation from the payout. Only one is up to $1,250, which is still below what a high-end laptop goes for. – Therac Dec 04 '23 at 15:04
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    @DonQuiKong Did you miss the part about being able to afford the loss, or are you just trolling? – Brady Gilg Dec 04 '23 at 19:19
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    @BradyGilg did you miss that everything from the second sentence in my comment is just one example for what happens if you calculate without risk aversion or are you just trolling? – DonQuiKong Dec 04 '23 at 21:14
  • It's important to realize insurance is always a big net-loss. Because the premium not only has to cover the cost of all lost items, but also the running costs of the while insurance company (paychecks, rent, advertising, profit,...) often only about 60% of premiums actually go into payouts for customers. So on average customers will be expected to spend about $6.600 for each $4.000 item lost. – Falco Dec 05 '23 at 14:42
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    @Falco Insurance is really a way of most people losing a small amount of money to prevent a small number from suffering from financial disasters. Healthy people lose money when they buy medical insurance, but the few who eventually need expensive care avoid going bankrupt. And if you happen to become one of the latter, you'll be happy to have bought into the system. – Barmar Dec 05 '23 at 16:27