Last summer, I took a trip to Las Vegas but, sadly, my baggage didn’t spend as much time in Sin City as I did.

As per the instructions of Karen at the luggage desk, I went shopping the next day to get some clean clothes and toiletries. Now, there is obviously the temptation to go crazy and to take advantage, or to say that I had an important business meeting that required a new designer suit from Macy’s. But that wouldn’t be right.

My friends, who are practically locals they visit so often, took me to a favoured shopping spot just south of The Strip where I stocked up on a couple of changes of underwear, t shirts, a pair of shorts and some shoes. With toiletries, this came to about $160.

Once home, and with my other travels complete, I sent the receipts off recorded delivery to the AA Baggage claims departments in DFW.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited. I left it about 8 weeks of hearing nothing and got in touch. The canned response was that they were very busy and would get back to me. Eventually, just before Christmas, I had an email from Rosa, who said that they needed my bank details to pay the claim, which had been approved. These were sent back the same day, but needed to be sent again as the payment was refused. And I heard nothing more.

I was checking my bank statement today and noticed that there was a credit from American Airlines – success!

My top tips if you are ever in the same situation are:

• Keep all your receipts and the little baggage tag.
• Send your letter by registered post.
• Write a nice, polite letter outlining the incident and what you bought.
• Buy what you need, but don’t go over the top.
• Be patient! It will take time, so be prepared to diarise and follow up later.

It has taken nearly 7 months to be reimbursed and I lost out about 8% on currency fluctuation, but I am very happy. The items I bought are still in use; the shoes are very comfortable.