From delayed planes to canceled flights to obnoxious passengers and overly-long layovers, there are plenty of inconveniences that can encroach upon your air travel experience. Despite paying for a comfortable, convenient trip, you truly never know what you’re going to get when you hop on a plane. Of all the possible mishaps, few are more menacing than arriving at baggage claim to find your luggage damaged, or worse — to not find your baggage at all because it’s lost.
To weed out some of the airlines and airports where you’re more likely to be met with mishandled baggage, Forbes Advisor evaluated the 100 busiest airports in the U.S. across metrics including the numbers and percentages of property loss and property damage claims, gathering all data from TSA.
Here are the airports where you’re most likely to have a bag lost or damaged, plus the airlines most likely to make that happen.
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10. Dulles International Airport (IAD) — Washington, D.C.
Overall score: 76.23 out of 100
Dulles International Airport’s baggage woes are mostly attributable to its position as the airport with the fourth-highest number of property damage claims among the 100 busiest airports. Plus, it’s the airport with the fifth-highest number of property loss claims.
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9. Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) — Honolulu
Overall score: 76.84 out of 100
With the eight-highest number of property loss claims among the 100 busiest airports across the last decade, the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is no stranger to lost luggage.
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8. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — Newark
Overall score: 78.07 out of 100
Over the past decade, the Newark Liberty International Airport tied with the Albany International Airport with the fifth-highest number for property damage, plus the airport holds the spot — among the 100 busiest airports — as the fourth-highest for property loss claims.
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7. Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) — Las Vegas
Overall score: 78.99 out of 100
Reimbursement issues are behind Harry Reid International Airport’s bad baggage behavior. The airport ranks 15th-worst for property damage claim reimbursement and only 15.88% of the property loss claims filed at LAS between 2013 and 2022 were fully reimbursed.
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6. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) — Boston
Overall score: 79.29 out of 100
Tied with Southwest Florida International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport had the ninth-highest number of property damage claims during the last decade.
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5. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) — Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Overall score: 80.06 out of 100
With the ninth-highest number of property loss claims during the last decade, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport also has the 11th-highest number of property damage claims, tied with the Los Angeles International Airport.
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4. Norfolk International Airport (ORF) — Norfolk, Virginia
Overall score: 80.37 out of 100
In terms of property damage caused during the TSA screening process, Norfolk International Airport only reimbursed 22.92% of the claims made during the past decade. To boot, the airport has the 13th-highest number of property loss claims during the same time period.
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3. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) — Los Angeles
Overall score: 87.12 out of 100
Between 2013 and 2022, the Los Angeles International Airport ranked seventh-highest for property loss claims. To plummet its score more, LAX also tied with Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for having the 11th-highest amount of property damage claims among the 100 busiest airports.
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2. Miami International Airport (MIA) — Miami
Overall score: 89.88 out of 100
Miami’s reputation as the second-worst airport for mishandled baggage coincides with its position as the airport — among the 100 busiest airports — with the second-highest number of property loss and property damage claims.
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1. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) — New York
Overall score: 100 out of 100
It doesn’t get much bleaker than a 100-out-of-100. John F. Kennedy International Airport earned its not-so-coveted title as the worst airport for mishandled luggage thanks to having the highest number of both property loss and damage claims between 2013 and 2022.
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The worst airlines for mishandled luggage
1. American Airlines: 5.34 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
2. SkyWest Airlines: 4.51 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
3. United Airlines: 4.00 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
4. Alaska Airlines: 3.80 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
5. JetBlue Airways: 3.17 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
6. Frontier Airlines: 3.09 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
7. Delta Airlines: 3.08 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
8. Hawaiian Airlines: 2.90 mishandled bags per 1,000 suitcases
Methodology:
Forbes Advisor analyzed data collected from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Reports, calculating the average number of mishandled bags during a 10-year period to determine which airlines are most likely to mishandle baggage.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
Image Credit: Marko Cvetkovic/istockphoto.
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