What to do when an airline loses your bag
A missing bag is a written claim on a clock, not a complaint at the desk. Report it, keep the reference and file inside 7 or 21 days.
When a checked bag does not come off the belt, the airline is liable for it, and what you do in the first hours decides whether the claim is paid. The rules behind that liability come from an international treaty, and they set both a cap on what you can recover and a short window to claim it in. Treat a missing bag as a written claim on a clock, not a complaint at a desk.
Report it before you leave the airport
A delayed, damaged or missing bag has to be reported at the airport, at the airline's baggage desk in the arrivals hall, and you should keep a copy of the report the staff complete. The caa.co.uk guide calls this the Property Irregularity Report, and notes that the report alone does not guarantee the claim is accepted. It is the starting record, so keep the bag tag stub and the report reference alongside your booking details.
The two deadlines that decide the claim
A report at the desk is not a claim. The airline has to receive your claim in writing: within seven days for lost, stolen or damaged items, and within 21 days of receiving a bag that arrived late. The EU's own europa.eu air passenger guidance states the same two windows. Send the claim so there is a dated record of it, and quote the flight number, the bag tag number and the report reference.
What the airline is liable for
Liability for baggage is capped per passenger in Special Drawing Rights, the unit of account defined by the International Monetary Fund. icao.int raised that cap from 1,288 to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, about US$2,000, for travel from 28 December 2024, and the EU expresses the same protection as roughly EUR 1,300 per passenger. The local value moves with exchange rates, and a bag with an inherent defect is not covered. There is also no new for old: airlines look at what an item was worth given its age.
What you need to prove
- Receipts or card records for the bag and its contents, plus photos of any damage.
- An itemised list, with the age of each item if the receipt is long gone.
- Dated receipts for essentials you had to buy while the bag was missing, which most airlines reimburse separately.
- Proof you were on the flight, such as the boarding pass or the baggage tag.
Losses that follow on from a delay, such as a missed onward booking, are usually not paid automatically. If what you packed is worth more than the cap, you can declare a higher value at check-in for a fee, or cover the difference with travel insurance.
Bottom line: report the bag before you leave the airport, claim in writing inside the seven or 21 day window, and keep every dated receipt.