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# Lost or Damaged Baggage: What to Do at the Airport
- URL: https://roadme.io/blog/lost-or-damaged-baggage-what-to-do-at-the-airport/
- Published: 2026-10-10T11:52:16.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-10T11:52:16.000Z
- Author: RoadMe
- Tags: Recommendations

If your checked bag does not arrive, or comes off the belt damaged, report the problem to your airline’s baggage service before leaving baggage reclaim. Keep your bag tag, flight documents and the report reference. Photograph damage straight away, then confirm the separate process and deadline for a written claim.

This guide covers baggage handed to an airline. A backpack left in the terminal or a bag forgotten on board follows a lost-property procedure. Your route and applicable law determine baggage rights; speaking English does not make US or UK rules apply.

## Find the right desk and register the problem

Check the carousel display against your flight. Ask whether unloading has finished and whether bags have been moved to another belt or the oversized-baggage area. On a connection, check the destination on your baggage receipt: your bag may be travelling onwards without collection here.

If the bag should be available at this airport, contact the airline’s baggage service or its handling agent. Signs may say **Baggage Services, Baggage Claim or Lost & Found**. The airport’s general lost-property office may handle belongings passengers have left behind rather than missing checked bags.

For a journey involving several airlines, the final carrier’s baggage service is usually a useful starting point. Confirm who is handling the file and where to send claims. That does not necessarily make the final airline the only carrier against which you can claim.

Describe the incident precisely:

| What happened        | Action before leaving                                    | Evidence to retain                                 |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Bag did not arrive   | Register the missing bag and obtain tracing instructions | Report, file reference and service contact         |
| Case arrived damaged | Show the damage and ask for it to be recorded            | Whole-bag and close-up photographs, tag and report |
| Contents are missing | Check the bag and report the missing items               | Item list, photographs and value evidence          |
| Contents are broken  | Record the items and their packing                       | Photographs, packaging and purchase evidence       |

If the desk is closed, or you have already left, use the airline’s official reporting channel immediately. Save the submission time and acknowledgement. Do not wait for a paper form before taking action.

## Keep the report, then ask about the claim

A **Property Irregularity Report, or PIR**, records a baggage incident. Airlines may use a different name, an online form or another reference format.

Check your name, flight, bag tag number, bag description and contact details. For a missing bag, include a delivery address and the dates you will be there. Keep the report and the instructions for checking its status.

A tracing reference, bag tag number and booking reference serve different purposes. Use the reference requested by the baggage service.

**Do not assume the report also submits your reimbursement claim.** Ask whether you must complete another form for essential purchases, repairs or loss, and confirm its deadline. Keep evidence that each required submission was received.

## If the bag is delayed, arrange delivery and document essentials

Give the airline a reachable telephone number and your actual accommodation address. If you are moving on, update the address and obtain confirmation that the change has been recorded.

An airport-arrival update is not necessarily an instruction to collect the bag. Confirm that it is ready and whether customs formalities require your presence. Delivery arrangements vary by airline and destination.

Buy essentials that fit your immediate situation, such as basic toiletries, underwear and suitable clothing. Keep dated, itemised receipts and a short explanation of each purchase. Request written reimbursement instructions rather than relying on a general verbal promise.

A delay while you are away from home creates different needs from a delay after returning to a wardrobe of available clothes. Necessary replacement purchases and a shopping spree do not support the same claim.

For US travel, DOT requires reimbursement of reasonable, verifiable, actual incidental expenses within applicable liability limits; an airline cannot replace that assessment with an arbitrary daily spending cap. Other journeys need their own applicable rules checked.

Tell the airline immediately if essential medication or a mobility aid is missing. Seek appropriate replacement assistance rather than relying entirely on baggage tracing.

## Record damage before arranging repairs

Inspect wheels, handles, zips, locks and the shell. If the case is open or damaged, check its contents as well. Photograph the whole bag, the damaged area and the tag without posting personal details publicly.

Use a specific description: “rear wheel detached” or “crack beside the carrying handle”. Ask whether the airline wants an inspection, repair estimate or replacement assessment.

Keep the bag and damaged-item packaging until the evidence and proposed remedy have been agreed. If an urgent repair is needed to continue travelling, document the original condition and seek approval first; retain the repair report and receipt.

Normal wear and a broken component need different assessments. For US flights, DOT states that airlines cannot exclude liability for damaged wheels, handles and straps merely because they are those components. Pre-existing damage and unsuitable packing raise separate issues.

If contents are missing, record what is absent without guessing how it happened. Where theft is suspected, ask about the local police reporting process. A police report does not replace the airline report.

![](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/file16-3.webp)

## Check which deadline applies to each problem

Many international journeys are covered by the **Montreal Convention**. Its application depends on the agreed route and relevant countries. Domestic journeys may have national rules or laws extending similar protection. Airline procedures can also set short initial reporting deadlines, particularly on US domestic flights.

For a journey covered by the Montreal Convention:

| Issue                                 | Written notification requirement                                         | What to record                               |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- |
| Damage to checked baggage             | Complain immediately after discovery, no later than 7 days after receipt | Receipt date, damage and submission evidence |
| Delayed baggage subsequently returned | Complain no later than 21 days after it is placed at your disposal       | Return date and delay-related expenses       |

A separate rule addresses a bag that never arrives: if the carrier admits loss, or the bag has not arrived after 21 days from when it should have arrived, you can enforce the rights arising from its loss. **Report the missing bag immediately; do not wait three weeks to open a file.**

The 21-day loss rule and the 21-day notification window after a delayed bag is returned are different clocks. Neither creates a universal deadline for every domestic flight.

The UK CAA also distinguishes the airport report from the subsequent written claim. Check your airline’s official process when travelling from or to the UK; do not treat a PIR as proof that every required step is complete.

A court action has a separate deadline. Under the Montreal Convention it is two years from the relevant arrival, expected arrival or cessation of carriage. Continuing correspondence is not a reason to overlook notification or legal deadlines.

**Illustrative example:** your bag was due on 10 October and delivered on 12 October with a broken wheel. Keep proof of the delay and any necessary purchases, then report the newly discovered damage immediately. A missing-bag report filed on the first day does not describe that later discovery.

## Understand compensation limits and baggage-fee refunds

Baggage compensation generally depends on proven loss and applicable limits. It is not a flat payment awarded simply because a bag was delayed.

For Montreal Convention journeys, the ordinary baggage liability limit effective from **28 December 2024 is 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, or SDR, per passenger**, rather than per suitcase. SDR is a monetary unit whose currency equivalent changes. A special declaration made when checking the bag, and other legal exceptions, need separate assessment.

For US domestic flights, the ordinary liability limit an airline may impose is **$4,700 per passenger**. It is a ceiling on liability, not a promise to pay that amount. Disability assistive devices have special protection, so ordinary suitcase limits should not automatically be applied to them.

A **refund of the checked-bag fee** is separate from reimbursement for purchases or the bag’s contents. For flights to, from or within the US covered by its refund rules, significant delay generally means non-delivery within:

- **12 hours** for a domestic itinerary;
- **15 hours** for an international itinerary whose nonstop segment between the US and a foreign point lasts 12 hours or less;
- **30 hours** when that international segment lasts more than 12 hours.

The international standards also apply to domestic segments of an international itinerary. The clock starts when you are given the opportunity to leave the aircraft at your final destination; collection or agreed delivery ends the delay. File a mishandled-baggage report. Exceptions include failing to collect and recheck a bag at the first US entry point, failing to collect an on-time bag, and certain voluntary late-check-in or standby arrangements. Check the applicable conditions rather than assuming every delay qualifies.

Rules and figures were checked on **10 October 2026**. Read any proposed final settlement before accepting it, including which claims your acceptance resolves.

## Build a claim the airline can assess

Separate your requested amounts by reason: necessary purchases during delay, repair or bag value, missing contents, and any eligible bag-fee refund. Include the flight and route, tag number, incident reference and a clear account of what happened.

A useful evidence list is:

| Claim component     | Supporting record                                           |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Essential purchases | Dated itemised receipts and the reason each item was needed |
| Damaged case        | Photographs, report, purchase evidence or repair assessment |
| Lost contents       | Accurate inventory, descriptions and evidence of value      |
| Checked-bag fee     | Receipt showing the payment                                 |

For lost contents, describe age and condition accurately. Compensation is not necessarily the cost of buying every item new today.

Submit through the official channel. Keep a copy of the complete claim, acknowledgement and any later response. If originals are required, copy them first.

If you have travel insurance, notify the insurer within the policy’s deadlines while the airline process continues. Disclose payments already received for the same loss.

If the claim is rejected, request the reasons and applicable terms in writing. Check the dispute route available for that carrier and journey, which may involve an appropriate regulator, dispute-resolution scheme or legal advice. Do not assume a regulator complaint itself orders payment.

## Continue your trip without losing track of the file

If you have another flight, confirm the delivery plan before leaving the current airport. Tell the baggage service about any imminent boarding deadline. Waiting for a suitcase does not guarantee that a missed onward flight will be replaced at the airline’s expense.

Separate tickets require particular care. The guide to [self-transfers and connecting flights](https://roadme.io/blog/self-transfer-vs-connecting-flights-what-is-the-difference/) explains the arrangements to check.

Once the incident is registered, allow time for essentials and rest. Review which visits still fit the day and what you can do with the belongings you have.

> If baggage paperwork has shortened your arrival day, try removing or replacing visits in [RoadMe](https://roadme.io/?ref=roadme.io). Adapt the city plan to the time and energy you have left.

Before a future flight, photograph your bag and keep the tag for every checked item. Place permitted essentials you cannot readily replace in your cabin bag. For delicate purchases, use the guide to [packing fragile items and souvenirs for a flight](https://roadme.io/blog/how-to-pack-fragile-items-and-souvenirs-for-a-flight/).

Before leaving baggage reclaim, aim to have **a recorded incident, a file reference, a contact, agreed collection or delivery instructions, and the process for your written claim**.