After an airline misplaced the package holding her waterproof prosthetic limb, which she required for beach activities like swimming and standing up in the shower, Emily Tuite claims she has been traumatized.
Tuite, a 26-year-old Texas woman, spent her whole recent trip to San Diego on the phone with Allegiant Airlines in a futile attempt to locate the bright blue luggage she checked before her departure on September 1.
After many days of waiting, Tuite’s luggage containing her pricey, personalized medical equipment inside was finally delivered on Monday afternoon (September 12).
She said that throughout her eight-day vacation, “I spent practically every day scared, frightened, and attempting to receive information from Allegiant.” “I couldn’t believe it took 12 days to get my medical gadget back,” the customer said.
“Having a leg constructed may take more than a year.” It’s difficult to have medical equipment remade for you if you have insurance. She told the local Austin station KXAN, “I did a lot to get there because I was like, I need to do everything in my power to get the bag back somehow.
Emily Tuite’s waterproof prosthetic leg that was lost by Allegiant Airlines for the duration of her beach vacation only to be found 12 days later in an airport in Provo, Utah
Tuite flew from Austin, Texas to San Diego, California on September 1 only to be informed days later that the suitcase containing her prosthetic never made it aboard the flight
Tuite told the Daily Mail her experience with Allegiant Airlines was ‘traumatic’ because of how much time she devoted to speaking with employees that amounted to zero progress.
‘They never called me back after promising to do so. It seemed near impossible to get in touch with them,’ said Tuite.
At one moment in the saga, she was told by an airline representative that her bag never successfully made it onto her flight out of Austin, despite being given a tracking number.
Tuite concluded that someone must’ve stolen her bag containing precious cargo.
But just one day after KXAN reached a media spokesperson with Allegiant, Tuite received a call that her bag had been located.
The blue suitcase had somehow mistakenly been tagged with another passenger’s information and was sitting in a baggage claim in Provo, Utah the entire time.
‘So they were calling that person saying, ‘We have your bag,’ and that person was saying, ‘It’s not mine,’ Meanwhile, I’m frantic, panicked, thinking that my items are gone, like just stolen from the airport, so I really learned a lesson for sure about flying and tracking your stuff,’ Tuite recounted.
Allegiant refunded Emily the price of her checked bag, which seems insufficient given her inability to enjoy much of her 8-day vacation without her medical device
A spokesperson for the airline said Allegiant provided Tuite with a ‘refund in the amount of $60, which covers her baggage fees.’
‘In addition, we kindly asked Ms. Tuite to submit receipts for compensation and processing,’ added the spokesperson.
Tuite expressed disappointment that the airline failed even to offer covering the cost of her flight, given that her entire trip was ‘spent on the phone trying to contact them.’
‘It’s frustrating to think that there’s no other compensation for losing someone’s medical device for 12 days,’ she added.
Tuite said that for future trips she will be investing in Apple AirTag devices so she is able to keep tabs on her luggage herself.
Despite the weight of her waterproof prosthetic, she said she will also lug it around as a carryon rather than experience such a nerve-wracking delay again.
‘As a disabled person, you don’t always want to be carrying your device with you the whole time. You would hope that you could check it. But hopefully, if I check it with an Apple AirTag in there, I’ll at least know where it is myself,’ she said.
Tuite advised passengers to be vigilant at the baggage check desk and ask to see that the correct information is listed on luggage so that it doesn’t end up in the wrong place.
‘I’m not sure why they put the incorrect label on my luggage, but it impacted both my trip and my trust in future travel as someone who has to fly with a medical device,’ she told the Daily Mail.
American Airlines handled 52million bags within the last six months and ‘mishandled’ 454,000 of them
American was the worst airline for baggage mishandling in the first six months of the year, losing 8.7 out of every 1,000 bags. JetBlue was next at 7, followed by United at 6.6, Delta at 6.1, and Southwest at 4.5 bags
Allegiant is not the first airline this summer to struggle with passenger luggage issues.
Several weeks ago, it was revealed that American Airlines has lost nearly half-a-million bags in the last six months alone.
According to the Daily Mail report, other leading airlines, including Jet Blue, United and Delta, were not so far off American’s mark as baggage missteps across the globe plagued summer travelers.