Alitalia customer mix-up sends baggage bye-bye

A: This is an exceptionally frustrating case. Alitalia shouldn’t have confused you with another passenger; it should have ticketed you correctly, should have delivered your luggage to the right place, should have quickly reunited you with your lost belongings and should have compensated you for your loss.

But seven weeks changes your perspective, wears you down. By the time you contacted us, you just wanted a sincere apology and a check for anything. You asked for $799, the approximate value of the clothing and toiletries you had to buy, but under international law you were

I have been attempting to get reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses from Alitalia.

The problem started when Alitalia checked me in as the wrong passenger on a flight from Miami to Rome to Tel Aviv. There was another E. Weiner on the flight. The problem was discovered by me while waiting to board the flight in Miami. My ticket was supposed to be from Miami to Tel Aviv via Rome. My boarding pass was only to Rome.

While airline employees scrambled to correct the problem, they said they would board the plane and find my bags. They gave me new boarding passes with my new baggage-claim tickets attached.

Unfortunately, when I got to Tel Aviv, only one of my two checked bags arrived. I was told that the other one would be delivered to me in Israel. A bag arrived while I was out touring, but it was not mine.

My missing bag contained most of the possessions that I had brought for my trip. I had only the shoes I was wearing on the flight and a few outfits — certainly not enough for 10 days in Israel.

Seven weeks after my return to South Florida, I arranged to finally have the bag delivered to me.

I am requesting that Alitalia reimburse me for all the items I needed to purchase while in Israel. entitled to up to $1,400.

Alitalia found your luggage, but way too late. The trick is to ask for compensation as soon as possible. When your luggage goes missing, talk to an airline representative and ask for an allowance to buy clothes and other necessities. Normally, airlines can authorize a few hundred dollars for clothes; I’ve even seen them pay passengers at the ticket counter in cash.

After you returned home, a series of polite but firm emails to one of Alitalia’s customer service executives might have done the trick. I list their names, numbers and emails on my consumer advocacy site: elliott.org/company -contacts/alitalia/.

This is one of the strangest cases I’ve seen in years. Alitalia should have systems in place to prevent one passenger from being confused with another.

Alitalia apologized and agreed to refund $600 for your clothes and $100 in baggage fees. Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of “How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler.” You can read more travel tips on his blog, or email him at