Four months after returning to Canada from their honeymoon in Italy and Greece, Nakita Rees and her husband have finally had a lost suitcase returned to them by Air Canada..The suitcase had its own travel tale to tell..On their return in September, the couple, from Cambridge, ON., landed in Montreal and Rees said they had to recheck their bags for their flight to Toronto. .After arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport, she said on Tik Tok, “My bag made it back; my husband’s did not.” .They filed a missing baggage claim with Air Canada, but the carrier failed to find the missing piece..Fortunately, says Rees, they had placed an Apple AirTag tracking device in the bag, which enabled them to monitor its location..The bag remained in Montreal for a month before heading down the highway to Toronto, but its journey wasn’t back to its owners’ home..“We were a little frustrated, but weren’t upset,” said Rees..As they saw their bag being transported from Montreal to Etobicoke, they said they were “pumped,” assuming their bag was headed for a storage facility..However, the AirTag showed that the bag was in a residential community..“My husband said when he looked at the AirTag tracker it showed up at two different locations, two different houses that were about a street or two apart,” said Rees, adding that her husband went to these houses to find out what was going on..When they checked the AirTag again, their bag was apparently in a storage facility. But once there, Rees said “it sat there for a month, two months, three months. No movement, nothing from Air Canada.”.Even though they contacted Air Canada many times, even sending the airline screenshots showing the bag’s location, it failed to return it or explain why the bag was being held there..Eventually, the couple decided to go to the storage facility to try to find their bag..“[My husband] started peering through some doors with his flashlight in the public storage facility until he found the one that was piled floor to ceiling high with luggage,” she said..Rees and her husband eventually reported the incident to law enforcement..Toronto police said in a statement that theft reports from four people related to lost bags with AirTag trackers led them to the Etobicoke storage facility. They gained access with a search warrant..“Through investigation, it was determined a charity organization that's contracted by the airline carrier had lawfully obtained the luggage from the airline after the luggage was not claimed. The luggage was transported to a storage facility in Etobicoke,” police said in a statement to CTV News..Police told the couple about 500 bags had been found in the storage unit, several of them with the beeping AirTags inside..On Jan. 23, Rees’s husband received a phone call from Air Canada’s global baggage department, from a representative who apologized and said the bag had been located in a warehouse in Toronto. It was delivered to Rees’s workplace later that day..Rees said they had already received compensation for the bag, but for less than the total value of the luggage and its contents. They still want the airline to be held accountable for the mistake and are considering further legal action..In a statement, Air Canada said it provided the couple with the “legally specified maximum compensation of approximately $2,300 in October.”.The airline cited disruptions related to COVID-19 and the disconnection of the baggage tag from the bag somewhere during the journey. .“Despite our best efforts, it was not possible for us to identify the bag’s owner, it was designated as unclaimed, and we moved to compensate the customer,” the airline said in an emailed statement to CTV News..“Consistent with IATA policy and other carrier practices, customers whose bags cannot be located are eligible for compensation after 21 days and bags whose ownership cannot be determined can be disposed of after 90 days, something we do through a third-party company, which does make donations to charity.” Air Canada continued..She said she hadn’t been able to find out the name of the charity yet..And for those who find themselves in the same situation, Rees urges them to keep pushing by speaking up and emailing airline executives..“Because they will not do anything and they will not change until enough people start spreading the word,” she said. “We need this to be huge because this is wrong, and this is criminal. And this is my property that was donated without my consent and without my knowing.”
