Australian Travel Writer’s Morocco Trip Marred by Lost Luggage and Insurance Woes

Michael Gebicki, a travel writer based in Sydney, best known for his Tripologist column published for over 15 years in Traveller, and his wife arrived in October for a three-week stay. He receives his bag, but his wife’s luggage does not arrive at the destination. A problem the couple has already faced. Faced with the difficulty of recovering his bag, the wife roams the Zara and H&M stores in Marrakech, and spends more than $1,200 to buy clothes, toiletries, cosmetics and the cheapest suitcase in the world.

The couple goes to Rome, Singapore before returning to Marrakech. Two weeks later, the travel writer’s wife receives her suitcase. "But who was going to reimburse us for the clothes bought in Marrakech?" he asks in an article published by Sydney Morning Herald’s Traveller. He then turned to ITA Airways, with whom he had originally booked. "It’s not our problem," the airline told him, before sending him back to Air France. The couple then sent correspondence to the French company. It takes time to respond.

"Under the international legal liability regime established by the Montreal Convention, also mentioned in our General Conditions of Carriage, passengers must submit a claim for reimbursement of expenses incurred for the delay of their delayed baggage within 21 days of receiving their baggage. Therefore, you are unfortunately not entitled to compensation," a customer advisor from Air France finally told him.

Gebicki decides to file a claim with his travel insurer, Cover-More, but a product information notice makes him change his mind. "You must notify us of any claim or event that may give rise to a travel claim as soon as possible and within 60 days of your return date," the information notice stated. But this date had already passed. "Since we had booked our airline tickets with our American Express credit card, our last chance was to file a claim with Chubb Insurance Australia, the underwriter of the American Express travel insurance. The claim was filed on January 31 of this year."

This time, the couple prevailed. On March 7, the claim was fully settled. "The travel insurance that can apply when you pay for your trips with your credit card can save you a lot of money," Gebicki assures. A nice ad for the credit card then!