Lost or delayed luggage? What the airline really owes you

On an international flight the most an airline has to pay for a lost, damaged or delayed checked bag is 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger, about US$2,057 at the start of October 2026. On a US domestic flight the minimum is US$4,700. Both are ceilings, not payouts: you get what you can prove you lost, up to that figure. What decides most claims is a deadline, not the cap. A damaged bag needs a written complaint within 7 days, a delayed bag within 21 days of getting it back, and both start with a report at the airport before you leave.

How much can you claim for lost luggage?

Up to 1,519 SDR per passenger on an international journey, and at least US$4,700 per passenger on a US domestic one. The Special Drawing Right is the International Monetary Fund’s basket currency; the IMF valued one SDR at US$1.35408 on 2 October 2026, which puts the international cap at about US$2,057. ICAO raised it from 1,288 SDR with effect from 28 December 2024, its fourth inflation review since the Montreal Convention took effect in 2003. The limit is per passenger, not per bag, so two suitcases on one ticket share one cap.

The US domestic figure comes from the Department of Transportation’s rule at 14 CFR 254.4, which forbids an airline from limiting its liability for lost, damaged or delayed baggage to less than US$4,700 per passenger. DOT reviews it every two years against inflation; the current figure dates from October 2024.

So the rule of thumb holds almost everywhere: the Montreal figure is the ceiling, the US domestic rule is the one exception that is more generous, and Canada adds a refund of whatever you paid to check the bag.

When does a delayed bag count as lost?

After 21 days. Article 17 of the Montreal Convention lets you treat a checked bag as lost if the airline admits it is lost, or if it has not arrived 21 days after it should have. Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations use the same 21-day line. Until then it is a delayed bag, and the claim is for what the delay cost you.

What can you claim while your bag is delayed?

Reasonable, receipted costs of the things you needed while you waited: toiletries, underwear, a change of clothes, laundry. The airline is liable for damage caused by the delay up to the same cap, but it will expect necessity and proof. Buy what a reasonable person needs for the days you are without the bag, keep every receipt, and do not buy a new jacket you would have wanted anyway. Some airlines offer a fixed daily allowance; that is their offer, not the legal limit.

US flights add a separate, automatic right. Under 14 CFR 260 a checked bag is significantly delayed if it is not delivered within 12 hours of arrival on a domestic itinerary, 15 hours on an international itinerary whose longest US nonstop leg is 12 hours or less, and 30 hours where that leg is longer. Once you have filed a Mishandled Baggage Report, the airline must refund the bag fee without being asked: within 7 business days if you paid by card, 20 calendar days otherwise.

What if the bag arrives damaged?

Complain in writing within 7 days of receiving it, with photographs. Under Article 17 the airline is liable for damage to checked baggage unless the damage came from an inherent defect, quality or vice of the bag itself, which is how airlines decline worn wheels and scuffs. A cracked shell or a torn-off handle is a claim; normal wear is not. Expect the airline to value what was damaged at its depreciated worth, so an old suitcase does not buy you a new one. For cabin bags the position flips: the airline is liable only if its own fault caused the damage.

What to do at the airport, step by step

File the report at the baggage desk before you clear the hall; everything else depends on it.

• Go to the airline’s baggage desk or its handling agent in the arrivals hall, not the check-in desk upstairs.
• File a Property Irregularity Report (international) or Mishandled Baggage Report (US). Get the reference number and a copy.
• Photograph damage on the spot, with the bag tag visible.
• Give a delivery address for the days ahead, including your next hotel if you are moving on.
• Ask what the airline pays for essentials and whether it gives an advance. Write down the name of the person you spoke to.

How to claim afterwards

In writing, inside the deadline, to the airline that operated your last flight, with receipts. Use the airline’s baggage claim form or email; a phone call or a chat message is not a written complaint. Attach the report reference, boarding passes, bag tags, receipts and photographs, and list lost items with what they cost and when you bought them. If the airline refuses or goes quiet, US travellers can file with DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, UK travellers with the airline’s alternative dispute resolution body or the Civil Aviation Authority, and Canadians with the Canadian Transportation Agency. A court claim must start within two years of arrival under Article 35.

Travel insurance and some credit cards pay on top, usually after the airline. The order of claims and the paperwork each wants are in our guide to baggage cover and who owes you first.

Why this matters more on a trek

A bag that is two days late can cost you a trek start date, so carry what you cannot replace and land early. Our guides see it every season: boots and medication in the hold, the bag stuck in a Gulf hub, and a departure the next morning. Wear your boots on the plane, keep prescriptions and a warm layer in the cabin, and remember that sleeping bags and down jackets can be rented in Kathmandu and Pokhara for a few dollars a day, which beats buying replacements at airport prices. Our wider guide to flight rights country by country covers the delay itself.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Sources: US Department of Transportation, 14 CFR 254.4 (as amended 89 FR 84819, 24 October 2024) and 254.6, and 14 CFR 260.2, 260.5 and 260.10 (89 FR 32832, 26 April 2024); ICAO, “International air travel liability limits set to increase”, 18 October 2024; Montreal Convention 1999, Articles 17, 22, 31 and 35; Regulation (EC) No 2027/97; Canada, Air Passenger Protection Regulations SOR/2019-150, section 23 (current to 21 September 2026); UK Civil Aviation Authority, lost, delayed or damaged baggage; IMF SDR valuation, 2 October 2026. Dollar conversions are our arithmetic. Read 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Photos via Pexels: Victor Freitas (cover), Sergey Meshkov, Bingqian Li.