When Lufthansa lost $5,000 worth of luggage for one woman, she says she spent $1,000 and traveled from Malaysia to Germany to hunt for her bag herself

16.09.2023 - 10:25 / insider.com

When Irene Ortega's new, shiny black Rimowa suitcase was lost on a Lufthansa flight, she spent more than $1,000 on flights and 14 hours on a plane in an attempt to track down her bag, she told Insider.

While she said she convinced Lufthansa staff to let her comb through rows of lost suitcases once she landed in Munich on a flight from Malaysia, Ortega couldn't find her $955 suitcase and its contents, which she said were worth around $4,000. 

It's been more than three months, and Ortega's bag is still missing. But she told Insider she wants her luggage back, along with the Gucci sneakers, Le Creuset accessories, and the designer goods inside.

At the end of May, Ortega and her husband were wrapping up a three-week trip across Europe. One of the final flights was from Toulouse, France, to Frankfurt, Germany, with a layover in Munich. (The itinerary was viewed by Insider.)

On May 22, the couple arrived at the airport in Toulouse, where they priority-checked their two bags with Lufthansa, Ortega said. 

They landed in Frankfurt and headed for baggage claim. Ortega said her husband's bag came out immediately, and they waited for Ortega's Rimowa suitcase to land on the conveyor belt.

Soon, it became clear that Ortega's bag wasn't there. 

The same day, Ortega filed a report with Lufthansa (which was viewed by Insider) for the missing luggage. Airport staff told her at the time that passengers are usually reunited with their suitcases within a few days. 

Ortega and her husband were only in Germany for a day, and by the end of it, she still didn't have her bag or any updates on where it might be, she said. After contacting the airline and learning that they still hadn't found her bag, Ortega headed back to one of her homes in the Philippines.

When she got home, she didn't give up her search. Every day, she said she called and emailed Lufthansa requesting updates on her lost luggage. But since the customer-service representatives weren't stationed at the Munich or Frankfurt airport, she said they never had any updates specific to her case.

In a statement sent to Insider, a Lufthsana representative said that "travelers can report lost baggage up to 21 days after arrival. Lufthansa then searches intensively for the lost baggage for at least 90 days, regardless of whether or not compensation claims have already been made by the travelers."

Lufthansa did not respond to a request for comment on Ortega's case specifically.

Around day 20 of her bag missing, Lufthansa issued Ortega $1,700 in compensation. (The email was viewed by Insider.)

In a statement sent to Insider, a Lufthansa representative said, "The Montreal Convention has established binding regulations on damage to or loss of baggage." The convention, which is