Travel Solutions: An airline lost my luggage. Why won't it cover my expenses?

Since my luggage was missing the entire trip, I had to make purchases, including luggage. My coat was in my suitcase. Thank God another woman on my tour lent me her coat. The weather was cold with heavy rain.

I think I did a good job of keeping my cost of purchases to a minimum, but I still spent $992. I have copies of my receipts.

ITA Airways wants to reimburse me $733. I’d like to be fully reimbursed. Can you help me? — Jacqueline Bartolini, Bradenton, Florida

A: ITA Airways is liable for the entire $992. Under the Montreal Convention, if an airline loses, damages or delays your checked luggage, you’re entitled to compensation up to an amount of about $1,400 (unless there’s damage caused by an “inherent” defect in the baggage).

Bottom line: If you can prove that you purchased these items while you were waiting for your luggage, ITA Airways should cover them.

Unfortunately, airlines don’t always pay what they’re supposed to. They may scrutinize your list of items and say, “We don’t think you really needed that.” However, you were careful to document each purchase and noted the reasons for buying each item.

I think ITA Airways needed to tell you why it wouldn’t cover certain items, but I don’t see it justifying its decision not to reimburse you anywhere in your correspondence with the airline.

My team checked with ITA Airways. At first, the airline said it couldn’t refund you because it didn’t have documentation for some items. But it did have them, and you showed them the receipts again.

Finally, 10 months after you lost your luggage, ITA Airways sent the following statement: “ITA Airways apologizes for the disruption and confirms that the customer will receive a refund for the expenses related to the purchase of items which occurred due to this inconvenience.”

Then, it sent you a check for $733. I contacted ITA again and asked it to cover the rest of your expenses. It finally did.