What happens if your checked bag is lost? What if it’s delayed? Here’s what you’re owed, what to do.
worse in Europe.
Here are some tips on what to do if your bags are delayed or lost, including how airlines might compensate you.
Flight cancellations and delays:What airlines owe you
Flight delays:If your flight is delayed, you may be eligible for compensation from your airline
What should you do if an airline loses your bags?
Olivia Nash Richardson, founder of the travel agency Nash Travel Management, said to keep a detailed list of everything you have packed.
Flying to Europe is complicated right now
Will the airline compensate you for missing luggage?
For delayed luggage, airlines have to compensate passengers for “reasonable, verifiable, and actual incidental expenses that they may incur while their bags are delayed,” within maximum liability limits, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
For domestic flights, that amount is $3,800, though airlines can choose to pay more. For most international flights, that number is lower at about $1,780.
Trains are a cheaper, quicker workaround
Trying to get an airline, hotel or cruise line’s attention? Try these social media strategies
Keyes said airlines will try to reimburse passengers for “more or less the exact dollar amount that you lost.” Richardson also suggested reading the airline’s lost luggage policy before leaving for your trip.
In the case of delayed luggage, American Airlines, for instance, will reimburse passengers for items they “need immediately while away from home without your bags,” according to its website. The airline advises travelers to send copies of their baggage claim checks and ticket receipt, their file reference number, and dated, original itemized receipts within 30 days.
If an airline is dragging its feet in compensating you, Keyes said, file a complaint with the DOT.
How like is your luggage to go missing permanently?
In the U.S., airlines mishandled almost 220,000 bags in April, according to the DOT’s Air Travel Consumer Report.
However, Richardson said bags going missing for good “isn’t uncommon, but it isn’t as prevalent either.” In her experience, 30% of bags that go missing are never reunited with their owners.