The route was from Singapore to Los Angeles and then to Las Vegas. The entire trip was booked via SIA, even the leg from LA to Las Vegas via US Air was sold to us as a complete package by SIA.

Upon arrival at our hotel in Las Vegas, we discovered that our luggage had been broken into and a lot of items were missing.

I immediately contacted US Air and was told that we should contact SIA instead because all claims should go through SIA as our tickets are considered SIA tickets.

I then contacted SIA (after two days of leaving messages and e-mail), only to be told by a Ms Diane Jenkins in the LA office that there is nothing she could do because the last leg of my trip was not via an SIA plane. She then told me to personally go to the Las Vegas airport with all my luggage to make a report in person.

When I told her that US Air told me to contact SIA, she went on to tell me that it was not her problem and, at most, I could try to make a claim when I am back in Singapore. She even had the nerve to tell me that it was my fault for putting things in my luggage.

I called US Air again to try to make an appointment but was told not to bother because they will not entertain my claims and I should instead make a claim to SIA.

I am now in Las Vegas with my mother and sister, with three pieces of damaged luggage, and a whole bunch of items missing, including medication that we require and we have no idea how to proceed.

SIA does not want to help us even though we are SIA customers and the damage and theft of our items happened on their watch and their partner US Air insists that we can only make our claim to SIA.

I am a Singaporean, and I have flown almost exclusively on SIA flights whenever possible.

My question is this: Can SIA really do this to me? Abandon me and my family to our fate in a foreign country? I need my luggage repaired before I can travel again, I need to replace the missing/stolen items. I have already wasted two days of my holiday trying to get someone to assist me. To add injury to insult, I am told by an SIA staff that this is my fault.

Wang Sze-Shyang