What should I do about lost or delayed baggage for an airline trip?
Report the bag problem to the airline as soon as possible and keep the report number, baggage tag and receipts. Use the airline's official tracker or claim process for the next step.
What this answer depends on
- A traveler should report a missing or damaged bag to the airline before leaving the airport and keep a copy of the mishandled-baggage report.
- For covered US travel, a paid checked-bag fee may be refundable when the bag is declared lost or is significantly delayed, but the traveler must file a mishandled-baggage report.
- Airline deadlines and liability rules differ between domestic and international travel, so receipts and written follow-up should be preserved.
Important unknowns
- Domestic or international trip
- Airline that operated the final flight
- Time since arrival
- Whether a mishandled-baggage report was filed
Original worked example — fictional inputs
Connect each missing item to what you know
In this fictional example, a coat remembered in an unreturned tagged bag is linked to that bag by recollection; a charger whose bag is uncertain stays unresolved; a book observed in the returned suitcase is not listed as currently missing.
Conditions
- For each item, record who last recalls it, any bag association (including when uncertain), and what is known now.
What to do next
Keep ownership separate from location and label memory as memory.
Limitations
- This inventory helps describe evidence; it does not establish responsibility, value, compensation or a reporting deadline.
Sources and last checked
- US DOT refunds and delayed baggage ruleshttps://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds
- US DOT baggage problem guidancehttps://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/plane-talk-tips-avoiding-baggage-issues