Is transatlantic package shipping still an option right now? (Lost luggage.)

It should still be possible, just no guaranteed delivery dates anymore.

I ordered stuff from London UK via the eBay Shipping Program at the end of March, and it arrived in the 2nd week of April via Florida

YES ... the likes of FedEx Cargo Planes are still flying goods around the globe

Might be possible ... you’d have to get BOTH Air Canada to agree to release it
And FedEx agree to pick it up / ship it

IF that’s possible ... a few things

1- It’s gonna be pricey. We complain about airline baggage fees ... I imagine this will be tons more than that.
If you wait it out ... AC would at least be returning it to you for FREE on one of their flights.

2- If you do go this route ... one thing you might want to work out with BOTH AC & FedEx is photos.
I would want to see a photo from AC to confirm they indeed found YOUR STUFF
And then a photo from FedEx at pick up that AC gave them the RIGHT STUFF

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ 1- It’s gonna be pricey. We complain about airline baggage fees ... I imagine this will be tons more than that.
If you wait it out ... AC would at least be returning it to you for FREE on one of their flights.

I'm thinking $100-200? It was only about 11 kilos or so. See for instance https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/05/trav ... ggage.html .

Seems it's an open question as to when Air Canada will be flying luggage from there again, and they've been so completely unhelpful that I can imagine them saying, "It's been x weeks, so let's register the bag as lost and forget about it." It might be worth paying the price for peace of mind.

2- If you do go this route ... one thing you might want to work out with BOTH AC & FedEx is photos.
I would want to see a photo from AC to confirm they indeed found YOUR STUFF
And then a photo from FedEx at pick up that AC gave them the RIGHT STUFF

I was thinking a personal contact could pick it up and then hand it off to FedEx.

Jorpho wrote: ↑ I'm thinking $100-200? It was only about 11 kilos or so.

Seems it's an open question as to when Air Canada will be flying luggage from there again, and they've been so completely unhelpful that I can imagine them saying, "It's been x weeks, so let's register the bag as lost and forget about it."

I was thinking a personal contact could pick it up and then hand it off to FedEx.

Sounds about right

I’d still want to see photos.

Last thing you want to do is pay shipping on the WRONG STUFF

North American Passenger Airlines Expand Cargo Flights In May

Having gotten a taste of flying on-demand and scheduled cargo-only flights, U.S. and Canadian passenger airlines are doubling down on their new business model in May.

Cargo is one of the few sources of revenue for airlines these days and after idling most of their fleets because of coronavirus travel restrictions and safety fears, shippers are itching to find available air transport to move their goods.

Hey @Jorpho
Been a month since your OP
Curious ... any update ?

Oh, yes, resolved weeks ago. I would have posted again but it didn't seem that interesting.

I managed to get into contact with Swissport, who handles baggage for Air Canada at the airport in question, and they were soon able to get it on a KLM flight to Toronto. I don't know why Air Canada couldn't manage that - if I had listened to them, I would have wasted a whole lot of time trying to track down receipts to make a claim for the contents. I certainly hope they operate a whole lot more efficiently than this in better times. At least they offered me a $200 coupon, good for one year.

Jorpho wrote: ↑ Oh, yes, resolved weeks ago. I would have posted again but it didn't seem that interesting.

I managed to get into contact with Swissport, who handles baggage for Air Canada at the airport in question, and they were soon able to get it on a KLM flight to Toronto. I don't know why Air Canada couldn't manage that - if I had listened to them, I would have wasted a whole lot of time trying to track down receipts to make a claim for the contents. I certainly hope they operate a whole lot more efficiently than this in better times. At least they offered me a $200 coupon, good for one year.

Good to hear it’s resolved.

So, I take it you lucked out and didn’t have to pay anything with Swissport ?

$ 200 Voucher from AC ... for missing luggage / the inconvenience ... sounds like you did get a good deal.

You’re a lot better off than many AC Customers still waiting Refunds / Resolutions on cancelled flight tkts

PointsHubby wrote: ↑So, I take it you lucked out and didn’t have to pay anything with Swissport ?

Nothing at all. They sent me an E-mail telling me which flights it would be on, so I went down to the airport at the appointed time and plucked it right off the carousel. It definitely could have gone a lot worse - maybe I had some good luck to balance out the bad luck that got me into this mess to begin with.

$ 200 Voucher from AC ... for missing luggage / the inconvenience ... sounds like you did get a good deal.

With the highly dubious level of competence on display here, I might have expected more - but I should probably be happy to have gotten anything at all (along with my luggage).

Jorpho wrote: ↑ Nothing at all. They sent me an E-mail telling me which flights it would be on, so I went down to the airport at the appointed time and plucked it right off the carousel. It definitely could have gone a lot worse - maybe I had some good luck to balance out the bad luck that got me into this mess to begin with.

With the highly dubious level of competence on display here, I might have expected more - but I should probably be happy to have gotten anything at all (along with my luggage).

Awesome.
Glad it went so well for you

The unknown ...
Chalk it up to Karma
You must have done some good deeds in life along the way
What goes around, comes around
And being a kind & caring person pays off eventually
Usually when you least expect it

Jorpho wrote: ↑ Nothing at all. They sent me an E-mail telling me which flights it would be on, so I went down to the airport at the appointed time and plucked it right off the carousel. It definitely could have gone a lot worse - maybe I had some good luck to balance out the bad luck that got me into this mess to begin with.

With the highly dubious level of competence on display here, I might have expected more - but I should probably be happy to have gotten anything at all (along with my luggage).

How did you get into the luggage section ? Its before the customs ? Just curious

SquadG wrote: ↑ How did you get into the luggage section ? Its before the customs ? Just curious

In this case it arrived in Ottawa on a domestic flight from Toronto. There was nothing between the carousel and the exit.