What should I do if my luggage is lost?

Most delayed bags arrive within a few days. What decides whether you are reimbursed is almost entirely whether you reported it properly and immediately, and whether you kept the receipts.

Safety

Step by step

1. Report it at the airport before leaving.At the baggage desk in the arrivals hall. Leaving and calling later makes claims much harder and can put you outside the deadline entirely.
2. Get a written reference number.A property irregularity report reference. This is the number everything else depends on — take a photograph of it.
3. Give a contact address and describe the bag precisely.Where you are staying, not your home address. Colour, brand, distinguishing marks, and a photograph if you have one.
4. Buy reasonable essentials and keep receipts.Toiletries, underwear, a change of clothes, anything specifically needed. "Reasonable" means necessities, not a new wardrobe — but genuine essentials are recoverable.
5. Check the airline's daily allowance.Many specify what they will reimburse per day. Knowing it before spending avoids a dispute afterwards.
6. Track it online.The reference number usually gives online tracking. Most delayed bags are located within 24-48 hours.
7. Know when it becomes officially lost.Usually 21 days, at which point it moves from delayed to lost and a different, larger compensation regime applies.
8. Claim through the airline first, then insurance.The airline is liable in the first instance, up to a limit. Travel insurance covers the gap and may cover items the airline excludes.

Tips

• Photograph your packed bag and its contents before travelling. It takes seconds and it is the best evidence for a claim.
• Put a change of clothes and any essentials in hand luggage. It converts a lost bag from a crisis into an inconvenience.
• An AirTag or similar tracker in the bag is genuinely useful — passengers have located their own bags when airlines could not.

Questions people ask