Leave your phone on the plane? Here’s how lost and found works at Miami, Broward airports

Ever leave your jacket at an airport security checkpoint?

How about your cellphone in a terminal waiting area?

Leaving things behind on a plane or in an airport is more common than you might think — especially during the holidays when more people travel.

And even though fewer people are expected to travel this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will still be hundreds of thousands of people who fly through either Miami International Airport or Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

“We continue to see more passengers and with more passengers, you get more lost and found items,” said Greg Chin, a spokesman for Miami International Airport.

MIA is expecting to see about 68,000 people a day through Jan. 6. In Broward, about a million people are expected during a two-week period from Dec. 21 through Jan. 3.

Here’s how office works at Miami International Airport lost and found department.
Miami International Airport

Chin said its lost and found office has seen everything including surfboards, wedding dresses, canes, full suitcases, wallets, glasses and myriad electronics.

Items are held for 30 days before they hand them over to Goodwill, which pays the airport for the goods.

The airport’s lost and found office is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the North Terminal D, Level 4.

All items found in the airport terminal, parking garages, drive areas or employee shuttles are stored securely in the office.

To report an item lost, a person can file a Lost Item Claim form online. If the item was stolen, you can file a stolen property report with Miami-Dade airport police.

Items can either be picked up or be shipped at the owners expense.

For more information call at 888-335-0690.

For items left on a plane, or in a rental car, the airport provides a list of vendor information on its website at www.miami-airport.com/airline-information.asp.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

Items lost at FLL are stored for 30 days.

Anyone who loses something in the airport including the security checkpoints and shuttle buses can send an email to [email protected] with the passenger’s name, phone number, date of loss, location of where an item was lost and a description of the item.

If something is left at a security checkpoint it takes one business day for it to get to the Lost and Found Office.

The Lost and Found Office, which is located in the Rental Car Center on Level 2 past the Enterprise Rental Car counter next to the elevators, is open from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information call 954-359-2247.

For items left on a plane, the airport has a vendor list and suggests calling the airline directly or you can also contact directly to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport lost and found.