SUPPLIED

Golnaz Bassam-Tabar was upset it took two months to be compensated for her lost bag.

An Auckland woman says other travellers should know they may not be able to get full compensation if their luggage is lost by an airline.

Golnaz Bassam-Tabar travelled to Melbourne, flying Qantas, for a weekend in April.

She did not pay for her own flights and so did not think to buy travel insurance.

But when she arrived back in Auckland, her bag, containing $14,000 worth of things, was gone.

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"I took my Louis Vuitton scarf, my make-up bag – it doesn't have to be very heavy to be expensive, one Chanel powder is $100 – and I had a $7000 watch in there that I'd had since I was 20."

The airline could never tell her what happened to the bag, although it put an alert out at all the airports to which it flies around the world.

Bassam-Tabar started fighting for compensation, which she said was a long and difficult process. "They wouldn't respond to emails or Facebook, I messaged them nearly every day and they would say they were working on it but they wouldn't give a timeframe."

They airline paid on Monday – but only to the sum that they have to pay under the Montreal Convention, an international agreement on air carriage. Per passenger, that limit is currently $2300. It is reviewed every five years.

Bassam-Tabar said it was unfair that airlines' liability was limited.

"It protects them against having to pay more. It's disgusting that a corporate would have these protections in place that cap the payout. The consumer clearly loses out. The huge multinational corporation wins in a situation that is clearly unfair. It's out of step."

Bassam-Tabar said she was told by a lawyer that she should have told the check-in staff that the bag was valuable and needed to be protected. 

Consumer NZ head of research Jessica Wilson said it was something her organisation had received complaints about.

Qantas has been contacted for comment.

 - Stuff