What Happens When an Airline Loses Your Car Seat? These Are the 5 Steps to Follow.

Waiting anxiously as the last bags are picked up and there’s no car seat in sight is a nightmare situation. It’s also one I found myself in on a recent trip to Türkiye. My family and I landed back in our home city of Denver after a 13-hour direct flight from Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. We waited dutifully by the oversized baggage claim, and one by one we saw the handful of parents pick up their strollers and car seats. Fifteen minutes passed, then 30. We asked security and then one of the airport employees, and they impatiently told us to have some patience. Then car seats from the next flight started showing up. It became pretty clear waiting wasn’t going to lead to a different result for us.

Over the next two hours, we sat in the missing baggage claim area as the representative for Turkish Airlines intermittently made calls to the back of luggage area, then to the airline, and then to seemingly each international airline’s missing bag department. It was far from a priority, however, and the easier-to-solve claims from the long line of other passengers kept getting moved ahead of us. Our claim tag showed that the car seat was indeed in the airport, somewhere, but no one could figure out where. The best guess anyone had was that it was stuck in one of the bag sorters.

Finally, after being told we couldn’t wait in the missing baggage claim area any longer by multiple workers, we were told to file a missing bag report and the car seat would be delivered to our house when they found it. Also, Turkish Airlines didn’t have any loaner car seats and neither did Lufthansa or any other partner airlines. In fact, there apparently weren’t any car seats available in the whole airport. We were out of luck.

The one bright side is that we were on the return side of our trip. I took an Uber back home, then drove back to the airport and picked up my wife and daughter, extra car seat in tow. It was about four extra hours of travel time we hadn’t planned for. Three days later, our car seat was delivered to our door.

Denver International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. The chances of the same car seat mishap happening to you are low — lost luggage is rare, and new bag tracking technology helps (Apple AirTags in particular are poised to be a game changer). That is small solace for anyone it does happen to. Especially considering that while airlines have to compensate passengers impacted by flight delays and cancellations, there’s no compensation for all of the lost time trying to track down a bag.

During and after the incident, I was peppered with tips of what to do by airline employees. I wish my exact situation on no one. However, if you do find yourself at your destination with no car seat to be found, these are the steps to take.

Photo: Fery Iswandy/Shutterstock

Before spiralling into too much of a panic, stop and ask the baggage handlers in the oversized area. They are the go-between from the plane to the building. Eyes on the ground are helpful, and they can take an extra look behind the scenes. I’m not saying they will be happy to do so (people rarely enjoy extra work being put on their plate, regardless of the job description), but this is an important first step particularly for international flights in order to try and figure things out before leaving the customs area and not being able to backtrack.

Missing baggage claims are typically near the baggage carousels for domestic flights, or right outside of customs for international arrivals. There’s a high chance there will be a line. In the best case scenario, the car seat was moved to a different pick-up location because of being an awkward shape and size. The attendant can make the calls to find that out without having to trek around the airport searching for yourself.

Here, you can also check to see the last place your baggage tag was scanned to see if it even made it to your destination. Airlines today have a pretty good idea of the general area a bag is in even if it isn’t where it’s supposed to be.

Maybe your car seat didn’t even make the flight. Maybe, like mine, it goes stuck somewhere in the destination airport and can’t be recovered. Either way, it’s time to file a claim and list the value of the car seat, description, and address for delivery. This isn’t a quick process. It is one of the most important, however, as quickly filing a claim insures you are on the bag search list and you can later file for compensation if the bag is truly lost to the ether.

The conversation here will naturally flow to the possibility of a loaner. Most airlines have loaner car seats on hand for when this happens. They apparently go quickly at busy airports, however, so be sure to ask the attendant to check with partner airlines as well.

The last resort if there are no loaner car seats available is accepting the fact that your trip just got more expensive. Some airports have car seat rental companies in the building that charge varying amounts. The missing baggage claim attendant can point you in the direction and fill you in on reimbursement options from the airline. If that isn’t an option, make some calls to the rental car companies at the airport and see if any are available. This, too, will come with a cost.

If you don’t immediately need the car seat because you’re in a place with good public transportation, trains, and shuttles, then you’re in a bit of luck. If not, there are a few other options. Carshare services like Uber have the option to request a ride with a car seat. These are more expensive than a typical ride, and also are only available in select cities (New York City, Los Angeles, and Orlando in Uber’s case). Local taxi companies may also have car seat options. The rides will take longer to arrive and it doesn’t help the rest of your trip’s car seat needs, but it’s better than nothing.

The last resort is to find the nearest store selling car seats and eat the cost.

This is where the initial claim is important. Airlines will generally compensate passengers for bags they lose or delay. Even if the car seat eventually makes it back to your home, you can be refunded for certain related expenses depending on the airline and country you’re in. Just make sure to keep your receipts for car seat rentals, purchases, and special rides.

Stay in communication with the airline help service each day to follow up on your claim and the status of your missing car seat. Sometimes it will work itself out on its own and the airline will deliver the car seat to your home or accommodations within 24 hours. Be sure to carefully check for any damage and report it immediately if found.

As a parent, these travel hiccups are hard to swallow — especially with all of the extra considerations and packing that comes with traveling with kids. The joys of traveling as a family are in the end worth the risk and annoyances. Looking back at our trip to Türkiye, our missing car seat fiasco inevitably comes up. But it was one small part of an otherwise incredible journey and the memories built while there last forever.