Typically if you leave something behind on a plane, you expect that it’ll either be returned to you pretty quickly, or not at all. So here’s a crazy story of a Qatar Airways passenger who left headphones on a plane, only to have them returned almost four years later. I guess all it took was a war that largely grounded the airline, giving employees time to get through the lost & found backlog…
In this post:
Qatar Airways returns headphones one World Cup cycle later
OMAAT reader Eric was kind enough to share an amusing story about how a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones that he owned went on a four-year journey from Doha back to his hands. I appreciate all the details, so let me just share his story:
Back on November 24, 2022, I flew from Dallas-Fort Worth to Doha on Flight QR732 to attend the FIFA World Cup. I was flying in Qatar Airways’ Qsuite business class—which is an incredible product, except for the fact that I managed to leave my trusty Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones tucked away inside the suite when I deplaned. I submitted a lost and found report online, heard nothing but silence, and eventually had to fly back home to the US empty-handed.
A few weeks later, on December 12, 2022, the Qatar Airways Found Property Central Office in Doha finally emailed me. Success! They found them.
Because I was a frequent international traveler and happened to be moving through Taiwan and transiting Japan at the time, I asked if they could forward the headphones to Tokyo-Narita or LAX. We traded a few emails—they told me they could only forward to airports they actively flew to and that I could have a relative pick them up with an authorization letter. I replied on December 15, 2022, asking about the specific airside vs. landside pick-up mechanics at NRT or LAX.
I followed up again on January 7, 2023… and then the trail went completely cold. No reply. I gave up, assumed they were lost to the warehouse ether, bought a brand new pair, and moved on.
Fast forward nearly four years. I had completely forgotten about the headphones and had since permanently relocated to Los Angeles.
Then came March 2026. Following the outbreak of war, Qatar’s airspace was completely closed, and the airline’s flights were entirely grounded. With no planes flying and presumably a lot of operational downtime, it seems the airline staff decided to tackle the ultimate boss: auditing the years-old lost and found warehouse backlog.
Out of nowhere on March 23, 2026, I received a brand new email from Doha. They confirmed my Sony headphones were still sitting safely in their storage facility after 3.5 years. I gave them my new LA address, but they informed me that because the DOH-LAX route was temporarily suspended due to the airspace closure, they would have to hold them until flights resumed. They promised to put them on the earliest flight possible.
Fast forward three months to right now—June 2026—right in the middle of the current World Cup.
Out of the blue, I received a phone call and an email from the Qatar Airways baggage team live at LAX. The airspace had opened up, flights had resumed, and my headphones had officially crossed the ocean and landed in the United States.
A few days later, I walked right up to the Qatar Airways check-in counter at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. The agent smiled and handed me my exact same Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones.
The battery was entirely drained after a 4-year slumber in a Middle Eastern warehouse, but after a deep overcharge back at my house, they powered right up and work flawlessly.
Apparently, the golden rule of premium cabin travel is simple: if you lose an item at a World Cup, you just have to wait until the next World Cup cycle to get it back!
Should we be impressed or disappointed by this service?
I think there’s a certain point at which you don’t expect an airline will return belongings to you, since the incentive just typically isn’t there for the airline. To Qatar Airways’ credit, it sounds like they initially recovered the headphones, but then the communication stopped.
I guess it literally took the airline largely being grounded and employees having a lot of time on their hands to actually go through the lost & found backlog, and reunite items with their owners. I’m inclined to give the company credit here, because several years in, it seems like the airline doesn’t have much of an incentive to put in effort like this, when passengers may have completely forgotten about the item that was lost.
The timing here is just hilarious, how this literally happened one World Cup cycle apart…
Bottom line
A passenger left a pair of headphones behind on a Qatar Airways flight while enroute to Doha in 2022, for the World Cup. While the airline initially found the headphones, communication ultimately ended, and the traveler wrote off the idea of getting them back.
However, with the airline largely being grounded due to the Iran war, it seems they once again worked on the lost & found backlog, and ultimately reunited the item with the traveler. The timing is just downright funny, as we’re in the midst of another World Cup.
What do you make of this Qatar Airways lost & found story?
Better late than never I guess! At least this makes a good story to share.
I’m actually impressed how effective the lost and found system is at airlines/airports sometimes. My partner left his small bag with his wallet and keys after we arrived from SYD to LAX at TBIT. By the time he realized, we were at T7 already. He filed a report but also went to a United Club agent who called someone...
Better late than never I guess! At least this makes a good story to share.
I’m actually impressed how effective the lost and found system is at airlines/airports sometimes. My partner left his small bag with his wallet and keys after we arrived from SYD to LAX at TBIT. By the time he realized, we were at T7 already. He filed a report but also went to a United Club agent who called someone at TBIT and personally went to the terminal to fetch it. It was returned to him within and hour and half.
As Robin Williams might say, how Japanese (or Egyptian?...).
Can Qatar Airways lose my mother in law, find her and keep her in their warehouse for 4 years ?
I bet the Qsuite + Doha WC tickets are still cheaper than WC tickets only, in USA.
I've been victim of theft in Barcelona in 2022. A Macbook Air. I went to the police station and they redirected me to another bigger and more central police station. I remember I put all the information and serial number on it. Took hours to do this.
Fast foward a year later. I received an e-mail from the police telling me that they have found my laptop after a raid. Got to Barcelona and pick it up. It was exactly how I've left it.
theft + Barcelona, nothing too unusual... Also, this just reminded of Ben's story as to how his mom got robbed at the (then) W. Part of the experiences of travel
I work for a ground handler and the amount of crap people leave on the plane is astounding.
Expensive headphones, duty free alcohol, phones etc.
More perplexing is when people leave behind these valuable items and seemingly never return to claim them.