Cathay Pacific passengers love their Rimowa(s). Cathay Pacific used to have a peculiar policy when passengers check in their Rimowa. Check-in staff are required to tag Rimowa luggages as ‘fragile’. While it was a good thing to have since the cost of a Rimowa is anything but cheap and ground staff should handle it with care. However that wasn’t the real reason behind why CX tagged it as – fragile.
The main reason was to curb a “significant increase in damage claims for ‘Rimowa’ branded suitcases across the network [over the last six months]” said in a memo to all their staff by CX. It make sense because the cost of replacing or even repairing a Rimowa can cost as much if not more than a flight from Hong Kong to London.
Well, I do applaud CX for that move because even if my bag was an inferior one, I would still prefer the ground staff to treat my bag with respect because I might have something ‘fragile’ inside my bag. Unfortunately, CX has stopped this practice and my gut feeling was telling me that Rimowa might think it will affect their image as a premium luggage but of questionable durability.