Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the airline was founded by the Ryan family in 1984. All of its fleets operate on single-model aircraft with no business class. Its sister airlines are Ryanair UK, Buzz, Lauda Europe, and Malta Air.
It is an eco-friendly, budget airline, and ranks as the world’s fourth largest. It flies both short-haul and long-haul flights. Interestingly, this air carrier has never had an accident in over 38 years of its operation. On average, a Ryanair flight leaves a terminal every 45 seconds. The airline serves 230 destinations across 40 countries worldwide.
In a worst-case scenario that you must lose your baggage on a Ryanair flight, this is what to do.
Approach the Lost Property Office
It can be nerve-racking to discover that your bag isn’t showing or coming at the baggage carousel when the last one just got picked.
If you have just flown with Ryanair, here’s what you do — proceed straight to the Lost Baggage counter and lodge a missing bag report upon which they issue a PIR or Property Irregularity Report with a file reference number that would be needed to track the status of your baggage claim online or when you call an agent at the office for a follow-up.
Ryanair uses a central database to trace luggage across airlines and airports. You will be required to fill out important details on paper forms or web forms, and they include — flight number, date, and arrival time; baggage tag number; a proper address and contact number; baggage customs form (only if you are flying into a foreign country). On submitting the form in person at the office to the authorities (or online), you get a WorldTracer Reference Number which is a combination of letters and numbers.
Passengers usually do not have to worry about misplaced luggage because they are returned to them within 24 hours at Ryanair. It operates several flights in a day so the chances of your bag getting accidentally transferred to the next flight are quite high. In all probability, someone from the Lost Property Office would contact you later that day or the following morning with the good news.
According to their website, damaged and delayed baggage claims are processed within 15 and lost baggage claims are processed within 28 business days of receipt. All communication takes place via the postal/email address that is provided in the claim form.
Fill the Online Baggage Claim
You must know your rights of compensation claim under the circumstances where the airline either delays, damages, or loses your belonging/s. You can submit your missing baggage claim here.
However, terms and conditions of carriage would differ with every airline. It is recommended that you check out Ryanair’s terms before you proceed to make a claim. In the interim period that you wait for the arrival of your luggage, the airline will compensate you reasonably but in line with the cost of passenger (your) inconvenience.
Retain all important coupons, pictures, and receipts that you will need to produce at the time as proof of lost items and their ownership. The reimbursement would depend on the terms of the airline, the lost time, and a travel credit card (if you have one) with insurance protection.
Reach Customer Service via Phone or Social Media
It can be frustrating to be standing in a never-ending queue at the Lost Property Office behind a bunch of other people with the same problem. Loud protests are not uncommon when the officials at the counter take unreasonably long to log in details. The line does not seem to move at all, trying your patience, as you feel sick and tired after a long-haul trip. So do you have an option? Of course, you do. Those days of a long wait at the airport are, thankfully, behind you. The process is swifter with social media.
Typically, the airline will alert you through their messaging system if your bag hasn’t traveled with you with complete details of where it is, how it will be traveling, and how they plan to deliver your stuff at the address entered in their database.
If you would rather get on the phone with their representative, you can call their helpline on +44 1279-35-8395 or write to customerqueries@ryanair.com. If you must send out a message on their social media pages, you may check out their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.
Conclusion
It is always the best policy to pack everything in a carry-on to save you the trouble of tracking down lost or delayed checked-in baggage. However, this may not always be viable in certain scenarios like family vacays, long trips, or when you are traveling with gifts during the festive season. No matter what, remember to pack your essentials in your cabin baggage, which should help you survive the curveball.
Draw up a list of all the contents of your bag and take a picture of the bag once packed, if you must prove your ownership at any point later or if the need to make a compensation claim arises. Last, but never least, arrive well in advance at the airport of your layover city so that you can eliminate any chances of baggage disruption. Also, check your bag tags to ensure they have the correct airport code, and retain them till you are claiming your bags at the luggage carousel.
