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 Narita International Airportthe Narita International Airport, Tokyo to Heathrow Airport in Londonto the Heathrow Airport, London on 1414th November with your airlineairlines. Unfortunately, my suitcase did not arrive at baggage reclaimdid not come out after the flight. Although I reported thisAlthough I have explained this to the officer in chargein-charge officer at the baggage claim officeLuggage Claim Office at Heathrow Airportat the Heathrow Airport, I have not heard anything from the airlineheard anything from them. My suitcase is a blue Samsonite and was approximately 12 X 98 centimetres in diameter. One side has several small scratchesOne side of it has some small scratches and a heart-shaped sticker is attached to the other sidewas placed on the other side. My initials "PB" also appear on both sidesare also written on both sides. The suitcase contains a few books, clothes and a copy of my thesis, which I need for a conference on 27th November. So I would highly appreciate it if you could give me a prompt reply at your earliest convenience. My flight number iswas NF 1452, and my luggage claim numberLuggage Claim Number is 02547. Yours faithfully, Paul Burrell
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter gives specific flight information and a clear description of the suitcase and its important contents, maintaining an appropriately formal tone. The central weakness is that it asks only for a prompt reply rather than directly asking what the airline will do to locate or return the luggage. State the required action explicitly and organise the incident, description, and request into separate paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The incident and suitcase details are well covered, but the requested airline action is only implied through a request for a reply.
Ask directly how the airline will trace and return the suitcase and when the writer can expect an update.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a sensible sequence, but presenting the entire letter as one block weakens the clarity of its functional sections.
Use separate paragraphs for the loss, the suitcase and contents, and the requested action, with the flight references near the opening.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate and sometimes specific, but awkward choices such as “your airlines,” “in-charge officer,” and “did not come out” reduce naturalness.
Use standard travel-service terms such as “your airline,” “baggage-claim officer,” and “did not arrive on the carousel.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses several complex structures successfully, though article, tense, punctuation, and measurement constructions are not consistently controlled.
Proofread tense sequencing and noun phrases, especially the report to the officer and the suitcase dimensions.
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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.