This thread is directed more towards the first termers who have never flown to Grenada. Unfortunately, many will have booked a flight with LIAT already. I write this a warning to students who might be considering LIAT in the future.

I am a second termer in the school of medicine, statrting Jan 11th 2008. This is my experience.......

I left Grenada after term 1 on December 16th 2007 flying to Port Of Spain, Trinidad. After a 6 hour layover I flew to Miami and then to my final destination, Tampa, Florida. My initial carrier from GND to TT was with LIAT. From there on it was with American.

I paid an overweight charge for one suitcase; the only one I checked in. My flight was overbooked and as a result my luggage was left in GND. Now I cannot say for sure that they overfilled the plane, hence the need to leave my and other baggage behind, but we had students sat in the 'back to front' seats that flight attendants sit in. I have never been on a plane where that has been allowed before. So I ask myself, did they cut luggage in order to profit in extra passengers? The flight was overbooked, I do know that.

While there in TT, I went to the baggage claim by the belts (along with other people). I filled out a missing baggage form (Property Irregularity Form) where I wrote my name and address. I was incorrectly told that there was another flight from GND coming within 2 hours - that was a blatent lie. So thinking that there was a flight coming in (perhaps with my luggage on it) I cleared customs. Later I tried to revisit the baggage claim, still believing my baggage would be coming in the next flight.
I was told by the guard at customs that I had to be accompanied by somebody from LIAT, to go the 'wrong' way back through customs to the baggage claim. So I went to the LIAT desk. I asked if there was somebody who would walk me through. The girl at the LIAT desk eventually sauntered through a door and disappeared. I am assuming she had her hair and nails done in there, before coming out again.
When the girl did finally reappear she told me that the person who does this chaperoning through customs, had just recently done this with somebody else and words to the effect of she wouldn't be leaving the office to do it anytime soon. With this she walked off, no sorry, no elaboration she just walked off.

Well, I suggested that it was LIAT that ommitted to send my suitcase in the first place, and that the person concerned needed to elevate themselves from their chair and accompany me through customs. I then asked to speak to the superviser who happened to be right there. This guy also walked off when I challenged him. I can see why passengers lose it and hop over the counter to clean somebody's clock, I really do.

You see first termers, in my experience this what these people are like. If you are a guy and you lean on them to increase their work rate, they will make a silly face, tut and walk off. If you are a girl they will do the same whilst also giving you some lip.

So, I left TT without my suitcase. Today is the 7th of Jan; I fly back Jan 11th and I still do not have my luggage, courtesy of LIAT. In the time I have been back I have:

Called LIAT (GND) to which I have been told that there is no luggage here and that they cannot use the TAG number on my missing luggage form to trace it. Translated, they don't give a hoot call TT.
Called LIAT (TT) and on the rare occasion that they pickup, I have been told twice that my baggage will be sent and that I will be called to be informed. I have never received my luggage to this day. The LI number (another tracking tool) on the missing luggage form, was also written incorrectly (one number is missing). Just in case they have not been incompetent enough.

I have sent emails to the appropriate bodies that deal with lost luggage at LIAT and never heard a thing back. Meanwhile their website gushes about how wonderful they are and how comitted to customer service they are. Yeah..... okay.

So, it's bad enough that LIAT lose your baggage but it is then compounded by the hassle you have to go through to get it. They simply lie to you if it is easier to get you off the phone, than to go and consult with somebody.

So, the inexperienced beware. LIAT has a longstanding record of bungling peoples baggage and providing c r a p service. This is by no means an isolated incident. I understand that all airlines lose luggage but LIAT reinforce that by their shoddy attitude after the fact, that's the difference.

To people at the same point at SGU as me and to those upper termers that have endured this c r a p many times, please post it here. Guys, let's make a stand on this, I propose booking flights early and eliminating the last minute rush to buy any flight to GND, hence having to use LIAT.

Please, let's send a message to LIAT that we the students of SGU, will no longer use LIAT until they wake the (sensored) heck up !

damn, I wish i'd known this before. it seems like the biggest problem was with their customer service people being rude and unhelpful. If that is the case, isn't it also possible that the other airlines customer service people are the same way? I hope not. They shouldnt have overbooked your flight but I think I know why it didn't arrive on time. On their website it reads:
>free baggage allowance for all LIAT services will be a maximum of 50 lbs
> excess baggage will be subject to excess baggage charges and will only be accepted on a space available (standby) basis
I guess the only way to be sure of getting the luggage on to the airplane with you is to pack less than 50lbs so it doesnt end up standby and probably lost...which is tough.

I agree on the excess baggage usually being delayed, but almost 3 weeks without one's suitcase, that's contempt. However, did they have excess passengers at the expense of overweight baggage, I wonder. Besides, it is very difficult to get your suitcase down to 50 lbs after each term. The damn suitcase must weigh 10 - 15 lbs on its own.
Well anyway, got off the phone again today, this is the third time that they have said they will send my suitcase.......

Just want to share my experience with as many students as possible.
Come on guys let us the consumers lean on LIAT; its the only way.

based on some experience i've had listening to the stories of people with perpetually delayed luggage (lost), you might want to ask for a lost baggage claim form and work on that before school starts because it take a while. I think it's their official policy to deny that it's lost for several weeks in the hopes that you'll keep waiting and maybe forget about it. But yeah, liat sounds lame. its costing me around $150 to get from ny to trinidad but somehow around $300 for a 30 minute hop from there to grenada. AND half the luggage allowance!

The baggage claim form is the Property Irregularity Form thatLIAT fills out. You do that before you leave the baggage claim. I did this. I'm just trying to say that, well... LIAT are (sensored again) silly people.

Funny, I was going to post a message this week about how awful LIAT is and try to warm people, and someone got ahead of me.

I have flown LIAT twice - unfortunately I had to fly LIAT again after I said I would never again...but in the only way we can possibly send a message to that company, hit them where it counts, in the financial aspect. NEVER let any one fly with Liat - luckily Air Jamaica has started a Miami - GND leg for the students, so that helps some people in the South at least...

My story was similar as many others. I understand the concept of heavy luggage and flights needed to take off and so forth, but the customer service of LIAT is horrendous. Each office redirects your call to another office, and when I lost my luggage traveling to San Juan and found the baggage phone number on their website, it turns out that the number NEVER is answered, only rings and rings...what a nightmare this company truly is...

I could go on and on. Really, I just tell people to pay the extra costs to fly American, Air Jamaica, etc...Maybe after a few years of lost revenues LIAT will finally shape up...

dF

Im very sorry to hear that ecela7,i am thankful i havent used Liat this time and now will not in the future if i can avoid it.I hope your luggage returns soon.

damn that’s really bad, well did u have travel insurance? i have got a friend flying from Trinidad Tobago to gnd via liat. There was no other option really. was just wondering what’s the luggage allowance with liat? 50 lb check in but what about hand luggage? How much do they allow?

on the website it says carryon is limited to 15lbs including the laptop. Someone said she carried on alot more and they didn't say anything so who knows what they might do. I'm going to try to limit myself close to the allowance just in case. If anything, i'm really prepared to wear all my carry on **** into the airplane rather than dump it.

At least you guys made it to your destinations even if your luggage didn't. The last time I flew Liat myself and 11 other SGU students were stranded in Antigua for two and a half days. They put us up in what was probably the worst hotel on the island (not exaggerating) where we had mayonnaise sandwiches for lunch once. We were continually lied to about how there was a flight being lined up for us and the taxi being on it's way, in order to keep us from going to their office at the airport. And we couldn't even stay in our rooms. In what could only have been an attempt on their part to save money they would check us out of our rooms in the morning to go and hang out in the non-air conditioned lobby (because the taxi was on it's way remember) and back to our rooms again in the evening.

It was pretty damn awful. So in conclusion, avoid Liat like the plague. In fact if given the choice between the plague and flying Liat, choose the plague. We have medicine for that sort of thing nowadays but as far as those few days of my life stolen by Liat, they're gone forever.