No flight guarantee for air luggage

KELOWNA, British Columbia, May 10 (UPI) -- Checking in regular suitcases with an airline carries no guarantee it will be on the aircraft, a Canadian couple learned the hard way in Barbados.

Lynn-Ann and Roland Baumeister said they went days without luggage after flying from Kelowna, British Columbia, to Toronto and then on to Barbados in February on Air Canada.

After numerous inquiries to the airline's call center in India, they learned their baggage hadn't been lost, but had been deliberately kept off the flight because of weight limitations.

Airline spokeswoman Angela Mah told the CBC the practice of scaling back luggage is called a "bulk-out" and is common in smaller airports that use smaller planes.

"Bulk-outs usually happen during peak travel periods, during holiday traffic," she said. "With a smaller aircraft comes a smaller baggage hold, and that's just the way it is."

Baumeister said there didn't appear to be any logic to their luggage being excluded, CBC reported.

"My bags were well within the allotted weight and size," she said. "I saw people on that plane with carry-on bags that were bigger than my checked-in bags to Barbados."

Mah said the airline gave the Baumeisters a check for $100 for each of the bags that were delayed.