Lost Luggage After a Flight: What to Do and How to Claim

When the baggage carousel stops and your suitcase is missing, what you do before leaving the airport can affect both the search and any later claim. Report the problem immediately, keep every document and do not assume the airport report automatically requests compensation.

First, confirm the correct carousel and check the oversized-baggage area. Then report the missing bag to the airline or its ground-handling agent, obtain a Property Irregularity Report reference, and retain your baggage tag. Keep receipts for reasonable essentials and submit any required written claim within the applicable deadline.

What to do before leaving the airport

1. Confirm that the bag is genuinely missing

Check the airport screens, the carousel assigned to your flight and any separate collection point for oversized or special baggage. On connecting journeys, also confirm whether your bag was checked through to the final destination or only to the transfer airport.

2. Report it to the operating airline

Go to the airline’s baggage-service desk or its handling agent. At some airports, one contractor represents several carriers. If no desk is open, use the airline’s official baggage-reporting website or app immediately and save proof of submission.

Provide:

• Your name, telephone number and email address
• Flight number and travel date
• Baggage-tag number
• Delivery address, including hotel details where relevant
• The suitcase’s colour, size, brand and distinctive features
• A photograph of the bag, if available
• Details of any connection where the bag may have been mishandled

Request a copy of the Property Irregularity Report, commonly called a PIR, and its reference number. You will normally need that number to track the bag and communicate with the airline.

3. Ask how delivery will work

Confirm whether the airline will deliver the recovered bag, whether you must collect it, and how to update your address if you are moving between hotels or cities. Record any instructions given by airport staff.

A PIR is not always a compensation claim

A PIR creates a record that the baggage failed to arrive and starts the tracing process. Airline procedures differ, however, and filing a PIR may not complete the separate claim for expenses or lost property.

Check the carrier’s website for its baggage-claims form and submission rules. Complete the written claim even if staff told you that the bag was being traced. Keep screenshots, confirmation emails and copies of everything submitted.

What can you buy while the bag is delayed?

For international journeys covered by the Montreal Convention, an airline may be liable for damage caused by baggage delay. This does not create an unrestricted shopping allowance. A claim should reflect necessary and reasonable costs arising from the delay. ([transportation.gov](https://www.transportation.gov/lost-delayed-or-damaged-baggage?utm_source=openai))

Depending on the circumstances, reasonable purchases might include:

• Basic toiletries
• Underwear and socks
• A limited change of clothing
• Essential items required for the purpose of the trip

Necessity depends on where you are and how long the delay lasts. Replacing basic clothing at the beginning of a holiday is easier to justify than buying an expensive wardrobe after returning home, where alternatives are readily available.

Choose moderately priced items and retain itemised receipts. Do not rely on a verbal promise of reimbursement, and do not treat the airline’s maximum legal liability as a personal spending limit.

Montreal Convention rules for international flights

The Montreal Convention applies to many international journeys between participating countries. It governs carrier liability for delayed, lost, destroyed or damaged baggage, although the precise application depends on the itinerary and countries involved.

The current baggage liability limit

Since December 28, 2024, the Convention’s baggage liability limit has been 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, per passenger. SDR is an international accounting unit whose value in ordinary currency changes with exchange rates. The limit applies to destruction, loss, damage and delay collectively; it is not a guaranteed payment and is not calculated per suitcase. ([icao.int](https://www.icao.int/news/international-air-travel-liability-limits-set-increase-enhancing-customer-compensation-0?utm_source=openai))

Compensation is generally based on the passenger’s substantiated loss, subject to the limit. Airlines may request receipts, photographs, bank records or other evidence of ownership and value. Depreciation may be applied to used belongings.

A passenger checking unusually valuable property may be able to make a special declaration of interest and pay an additional charge before travel. The carrier can then have a higher liability limit, subject to the declaration’s terms. Valuable, fragile or irreplaceable items should nevertheless be kept out of checked baggage whenever possible.

When delayed baggage becomes lost

Under the Convention, a passenger may enforce rights relating to lost checked baggage when the airline admits the loss or when the bag has not arrived within 21 days of the date on which it should have arrived. An airline may declare it lost earlier.

Once the bag is treated as lost, submit an inventory describing the suitcase and its contents. Include approximate purchase dates, original prices and supporting evidence. Claims should be accurate and realistic rather than based on the cost of buying every item new.

Claim and legal-action deadlines

For baggage that is eventually delivered, a written complaint about delay must be made no later than 21 days after the bag is placed at the passenger’s disposal. Damage to checked baggage must generally be reported in writing within seven days of receipt. Court proceedings under the Convention are subject to a two-year time limit, but passengers should never wait that long to begin the airline’s claims process. ([eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/LSU/?uri=CELEX%3A31997R2027&utm_source=openai))

EU rules: what is different?

For EU carriers, the Montreal Convention’s baggage-liability framework is incorporated into EU law. It is separate from the EU’s fixed compensation regime for cancelled flights, long flight delays and denied boarding.

In other words, a missing suitcase does not automatically produce a fixed EU cash payment. The passenger claims the documented loss caused by the baggage problem, subject to the applicable liability limit and evidence requirements.

The key written-complaint periods remain:

• Delayed baggage: within 21 days after it is delivered
• Damaged checked baggage: within seven days after receipt
• Lost baggage: claim promptly after the airline confirms the loss or the Convention’s 21-day threshold is reached

If a cross-border dispute with an EU-based airline remains unresolved, passengers may also be able to seek assistance from the European Consumer Centres Network or an applicable national dispute-resolution body.

Carrier-specific rules to check

Airlines use different tracing systems, forms and reimbursement procedures. The carrier’s rules may determine:

• Whether the initial airport report also counts as a written claim
• Which online form must be used for interim expenses
• How and where the recovered bag will be delivered
• When the airline administratively declares a bag lost
• What evidence is required for the suitcase and its contents
• Whether an emergency kit, voucher or advance payment is available
• How claims involving several airlines or codeshare flights are handled

These procedural rules cannot necessarily reduce rights granted by applicable law or treaty, but failing to use the correct form or provide requested documents can delay a claim. As one carrier-specific example, British Airways currently states the Montreal Convention limit of 1,519 SDR per passenger, but its reporting and claims workflow remains specific to that airline. ([britishairways.com](https://www.britishairways.com/content/en/us/information/legal/our-customer-commitment-and-contingency-plan?utm_source=openai))

Documents to keep

Create one digital folder containing:

• Booking confirmation or ticket number
• Boarding passes for every flight segment
• Checked-baggage receipt and tag number
• PIR and tracing reference
• Photographs of the suitcase
• Emails, chat transcripts and claim confirmations
• Itemised receipts for essential purchases
• Proof of payment, if receipts are unclear
• The recovered bag’s delivery record
• An inventory and evidence of value if the bag is declared lost

If the suitcase arrives damaged or with contents missing, photograph it before disposing of packaging or arranging repairs. Report the additional problem immediately.

Travel insurance rules are separate

Travel insurance may cover delayed baggage purchases, permanent loss or both, but the policy wording controls the claim. Benefits may have waiting periods, per-item limits, exclusions for valuables and lower limits for baggage left unattended.

Notify the insurer promptly and ask whether it requires you to claim from the airline first. Many policies operate as secondary or excess coverage, meaning the insurer considers what the carrier has paid before settling the remaining eligible loss.

Insurers commonly request the PIR, baggage tag, itinerary, airline correspondence and original receipts. A credit card used to buy the ticket may also include baggage protection, but eligibility and payment conditions vary by card issuer and country.

A practical claim checklist

1. Report the bag before leaving the airport or online as soon as possible.
2. Obtain and save the PIR or equivalent reference number.
3. Keep the baggage tag, boarding pass and booking confirmation.
4. Give the airline an accurate delivery address.
5. Buy only reasonable essentials and retain itemised receipts.
6. Track the bag and save all communication.
7. Submit the airline’s written expense claim without delay.
8. If the bag remains missing, prepare an evidence-based inventory.
9. Notify your travel insurer within the policy deadline.
10. Escalate the complaint if the airline rejects it without adequately addressing the evidence.

The safest approach is simple: leave the airport only after the missing bag has been formally recorded. From that point onward, careful documentation, reasonable spending and prompt written claims give you the strongest chance of recovering your bag and being reimbursed for an eligible loss.

Sources

1. Lost, Delayed, or Damaged Baggage — US Department of Transportation — https://www.transportation.gov/lost-delayed-or-damaged-baggage
2. International air travel liability limits set to increase, enhancing customer compensation — ICAO — https://www.icao.int/news/international-air-travel-liability-limits-set-increase-enhancing-customer-compensation-0
3. https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2025-01/Order%202025-1-7%20Turkish%20Airlines.pdf
4. https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds
5. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CONSIL%3AST_9795_2025_ADD_3
6. https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/resources/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/303106/order-2018-1-6.pdf
7. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A62024CJ0218
8. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AC_202603701
9. Our Customer Commitment and Contingency Plan — British Airways — https://www.britishairways.com/content/en/us/information/legal/our-customer-commitment-and-contingency-plan
10. https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/eo_2012-10-1.pdf
11. https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/eo_2013-7-5.pdf
12. Consumer Protection — ICAO — https://www.icao.int/consumer-protection
13. https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/dot-fines-united-airlines-providing-inaccurate-information-about-baggage-liability
14. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A62019CC0086
15. https://ireland.representation.ec.europa.eu/live-work-study-eu/air-passenger-rights-frequently-asked-questions_en
16. https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/eo_2016-3-23_0.pdf
17. Council Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 on air carrier liability — EUR-Lex — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/LSU/?uri=CELEX%3A31997R2027
18. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1787342974710&uri=CELEX%3A01997R2027-20020530
19. Lost, Delayed, or Damaged Baggage | US Department of Transportation — https://www.transportation.gov/lost-delayed-or-damaged-baggage?utm_source=openai
20. International air travel liability limits set to increase, enhancing customer compensation — https://www.icao.int/news/international-air-travel-liability-limits-set-increase-enhancing-customer-compensation-0?utm_source=openai