You travelled by plane last week and your suitcase was lost. You have still heard nothing from the airline company. Write to the airline. In your letter: - explain what happened - describe your suitcase and say what was in it - ask what the airline is going to do about it
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I took a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on 16th March on Royal Dutch Airlines and lost my suitcase. I am writing to request an update on my suitcaseget an update regarding this and hope you can helpand hoping you would help me locate the lost luggage. My flight number was MH 1685 and mythe seat number was 12B. The plane departed fromthe Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 9.30 pm and after I arrived at Melbourne Airport, I discovered that my suitcase was missingnoticed that my suitcase was lost. I could not find it despite searchingrecover it after searching for more than two hours. Although I reported this to Mr Johnsonhave explained this to Mr Johnson, who was in charge of the baggage-claim officeluggage claim office and promised to give me a call within the next 24 hours, I haveam yet to receive an update. My luggage claim number is 00269 and I am attaching a copy of the claim receiptcopy of it. My missing suitcaseThe suitcase that I lost is a dark brown leather suitcase with a black handle. It contains some clothes, souvenirs for friends, a couple of magazines, a novel and a business proposal which I need for a presentation I am due to givepresentation I am going to conduct on 30th March. I would really appreciate it if you could investigate the losslook into the matter and update me on the whereabouts of mythe suitcase. I urgently need the suitcasereally need this urgently and can pick it up from your office once you confirm that you have itconfirm its possession. Thank you for giving your attention to this mattergiving the matter your attention and I hope to hear from you soonhear your reply soon. Yours faithfullyFaithfully, Andrew Harris
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter achieves its formal purpose very effectively, providing precise flight and claim details, a clear suitcase description, a useful inventory, and a direct request for action. The business proposal and presentation deadline establish convincing urgency. Its main limitations are minor language refinements, including repeated wording around the lost suitcase and a few awkward phrases; prioritise a concise request for the airline’s tracing, recovery, and delivery plan.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All bullet points are fully developed with specific, relevant details and an appropriately firm but polite formal tone.
Ask explicitly for the tracing status, expected recovery timeline, and delivery arrangements to make the requested action even more precise.
Coherence and Cohesion
The account progresses logically from the flight and earlier report to the suitcase description, urgent contents, and requested response.
Use separate paragraphs for the incident, luggage description, and action requested, while reducing repeated mentions of the suitcase being lost.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise and suitably formal, though a few phrases such as ‘confirm its possession’ and ‘hear your reply’ are unnatural.
Use ‘confirm that it has been found’, ‘arrange delivery’, ‘trace the baggage’, and ‘hear from you’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures are generally accurate and easy to follow, with occasional coordination, article, and clause-attachment issues.
Revise the opening coordination and the sentence about Mr Johnson so each action has an unambiguous subject.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You travelled by plane last week and your suitcase was lost. You have still heard nothing from the airline company. Write to the airline. In your letter:
- explain what happened
- describe your suitcase and say what was in it
- ask what the airline is going to do about it
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.