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Lost on a plane: What to do when you leave your cell phone onboard

[additional-authors]
May 9, 2015

Let’s face it: traveling is stressful and despite your best efforts, sometimes personal items are misplaced, forgotten, or simply lost. In my case, I became a distracted passenger on a recent United Airlines flight from Houston to Albuquerque. It happened when I engaged in friendly conversation with the good-looking man sitting next to me. During our casual chat, I became distracted and simply forgot about my cell phone that I had tucked neatly in the seat back pocket in front of me. I was almost home when I realized my mistake.

Unfortunately, personal items that are either left or lost onboard, are at the mercy and good graces of whoever finds it next. It was too late for me to head back to the airport since I knew it was being turned around for another flight. All I could hope for was that the next passenger might be a good Samaritan and turn it in to the flight crew, who hopefully would turn it in to their lost and found department. And then there was the possibility that the cleaning crew might find it and view it in the vein of that old childhood chant, “Losers weepers, finders keepers.” (The cleaning crew is generally a service performed by a third-party contractor.)

I was expecting the worst, yet hoping for the best. So, to beat the odds which were clearly not in my favor, I decided to be proactive by exhausting all options.

Here’s a checklist of what to do when you lose your cell phone or any valuable item on a plane:

1.  Immediately turn-around and head back to  your gate. Tell the gate agent you left an item onboard and let them know your seat number. If the plane is still there, chances are good and they may be able to retrieve your belonging.

2.  If the plane is no longer there, immediately go to Baggage Claim to check whether they have your belonging. Do this in person if possible, as it’s far more effective than calling as lines are often busy or go straight to voice mail. Sometimes the voice mail is even full.

3. Visit or call the airline’s Lost and Found. (Note that this is generally different than Baggage Claim).

4. Visit or call the airport Lost and Found. In my case, I called Albuquerque’s International Sunport.

5. File United’s “Lost on Board” form – also known as an LOB and sometimes called “Left on Board”. (The form requests a detailed description, including brand, color, size and any distinguishing features of the lost item left on board a United flight or in the waiting area. The suggestion for electronic items is to provide the device’s serial number, or login and password combination, or a description of the screen saver.)  After you complete and submit the report online, you will receive a tracking number in a follow-up confirmation email.

United indicates they will be in contact by email if your item is found or if they are unable to locate it.  At that time they will also provide instructions on how to retrieve it.  I filed immediately but was somewhat disturbed by the implied message that I should not call them, rather they would contact me. I decided to be more proactive by turning to twitter.

6. Take to Twitter. Tweet about your lost item. In my case, I tweeted to @united. They responded immediately by suggesting I fill out an LOB online. Been there and done that. I also posted on FaceBook, where not only did I get sympathy, but also some solid suggestions on what to do by people who had been in my shoes.

7. Immediately contact your cell phone carrier and disable service if that is an option. Since my carrier is Verizon, I was able to go online and temporarily suspend service to my cell phone, thus preventing any random charges.

8.  If your item is found, be sure to thank the individual who contacts you and if possible, send an email to their supervisor regarding their exemplary assistance. But be sure you follow through.

I was one of the lucky ones. The following afternoon I received an unexpected call from Kathy Witt in United’s Lost and Found in Houston. Apparently a crew member handed over my cell phone whereupon Ms. Witt diligently pursued and tracked leads to find the owner. Turns out she checked to see if I had a passenger profile. As a frequent flyer, I did.

So here is a step everyone should take before they lose anything on a plane:

9. Make sure you fill out a frequent flyer passenger profile with the airline you are flying and ensure all contact information is current.

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