baggage has been lost for a week, no updates or info on them—will I ever get them back?
Bit of a long backstory:
My original flight was all on Iberia Airlines(with American as a carrier): Valencia to Madrid (Barajas) to Chicago (ORD), however, Valencia to Madrid was delayed and so I missed the second flight.
I was told to talk to American to get a new flight, which I did: Madrid to Boston (Edward) on Iberia, and then Boston to Chicago on United. The agent at AA assured me my checked bags would be moved to my flight to Boston.
Sure enough, I get to Boston and my bags are not at the carousel. I talk to a worker there, she scans my bag tags and says my bags are still in Madrid and will be sent on the next flight (next day). Perfect.
I get to Chicago, go to AA service desk to create a delayed bag claim so the bags are delivered to my house, but they say they cannot see my flight/bags with my confirmation # and bag tags, and that I should contact Iberia.
That confuses me since all my confirmation and flight details were given to me via AA email, and I have both an AA and Iberia confirmation #, but whatever. I call Iberia and they say I need to submit my claim with United since it was the last airline I flew in. Fair enough.
I call them and create a delayed baggage claim.
Meanwhile, the next day, I go to the airport to pick up my bags since the lady at Boston said they’d be on the next flight. I wait at the airport for 5 hrs all to be told my bags were never on the way. I talk to a United agent again and she says they’re still in Madrid. Okay.
These last 7 days I’ve been calling United Baggage Service every day for any updates. They’ve all told me something different. First, that they cannot see where the bags are, only that Iberia was the last one that handled it. Then, that one of the bags was sent, and the other is not located. Later, that agents in all 3 airports had physically looked for my bag and no one found it. Now, that they’ve tried calling Iberia and Iberia doesn’t answer.
I’m at a loss. I’ve submitted a lost bag claim form. But how can they not find my baggage? My bags are pretty noticeable and I know they’re still in Madrid because they never made it to Boston (I don’t have AirTags). I’ve tried calling Iberia themselves, but they say they can’t do anything about it, only United can.
Is there anything else I can do? Should I submit an OACP complaint? Should I go to the Chicago airport and ask to look at the bags myself? Should I call lost and found in all airports? Should I try calling AA again to see if they can do anything?