Lost luggage: when a bag counts as lost, and what you can claim
Updated
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.
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Your bag never turned up. The baggage desk gave you a reference number, the airline's tracing system found nothing, and now you want to know what the airline owes you for the bag and everything in it.
When a bag counts as lost
Under the Montreal Convention, the international treaty on what airlines owe for bags, a checked bag that has not arrived 21 days after it should have counts as lost (article 17(3)). The airline can also admit sooner that the bag is lost.
Until then, it is a delayed bag, and you can claim what you had to buy while you waited. See delayed or lost baggage.
Counted from the dates you enter. Claim as early as you can.
What you can claim
You claim for the bag and what was in it, item by item.
- List each item: what it was, when you bought it, what it cost and what proof you have. Receipts, card statements, order emails and photos all help.
- Older items are worth less. Airlines deduct for age, so you get what an item was worth, not the price of a new one. There is no fixed legal rate. If something was new or hardly used, say so.
- The limit: about €1,836 per passenger for the bag and its contents together (article 22(2), set as 1,519 SDR since 28 December 2024). It is higher only if you made a special declaration of the bag's value at check-in and paid a fee.
- Valuables: if the airline's conditions ban jewellery, money or medicines in checked bags, those items are usually not paid.
- What you bought while you waited: the necessary purchases from the first days still count.
For checked bags, the airline is liable even if you can't show it did anything wrong (article 17(2)).
Deadlines
- Written claim: the treaty sets no deadline for a claim for a lost bag, but send it as soon as the 21 days have passed.
- Court: within 2 years of the day the flight arrived (article 35). A complaint to the airline, a board or a consumer centre does not stop this clock.
- Something missing from a bag that did arrive: treat it like damage and complain in writing within 7 days of getting the bag.
Airline terms that give you less than the treaty are void (article 26).
Step by step
- Keep the reference number (PIR) from the baggage desk and every message from the tracing service.
- Write the list of items with values and proof while you still remember everything.
- Send the written claim to the airline when the 21 days have passed, or earlier if it admits the bag is lost. Keep a copy with the date.
- Which airline: on one booking with several airlines, you can claim from the first, the last or the one whose flight caused the problem (article 36(3)).
- If the airline refuses or pays too little, go to the complaint body or consumer centre for your country. See where to complain.
Many travel and home insurance policies also cover lost bags. You can claim from both the insurer and the airline, but you can't be paid twice for the same cost. See the baggage limit explained.
FAQ
How much do airlines pay for a lost suitcase?
There is no fixed amount. You get the value of the bag and its contents, minus age, up to about €1,836 per passenger.
Do I need receipts for everything?
Receipts help most, but card statements, order emails and photos of the items also count as proof. Say honestly what you can't prove.
My flight was late as well. Can I claim for that too?
Yes. A flight that arrived 3 hours or more late can give EU261 compensation on top of the bag claim. See how to claim flight compensation.