HOUSTON — Holiday travel turned into a nightmare for a lot of people in 2022.
Flights were canceled and plans were ruined.
The United States Department of Transportation has a page dedicated to making sure travelers know what to do if their baggage was lost, delayed or damaged.
"While the vast majority of airline passengers’ checked bags arrive at their destination on time and in the condition received, a passenger’s bag may occasionally become damaged, delayed, or lost in transit. Under DOT regulations (for domestic travel) and international treaties (for international travel), airlines are required to compensate passengers if their bags are damaged, delayed or lost," the website says.
Lost baggage
When does an airline consider a bag lost?
Airlines may have different policies to determine when a bag is officially lost. Most airlines will declare a bag lost between five and 14 days after the flight, but this can vary from one airline to another.
Whether your bag is declared lost may also depend on the type of itinerary (international vs. domestic), whether more than one airline is responsible for the flight, the airline’s searching mechanism and other circumstances.
If an airline unreasonably refuses to consider a bag lost after it has been missing for an unreasonable period of time, the airline could be subject to enforcement action by the DOT.
What are the airlines’ responsibilities when your bag is lost?
Once an airline determines that your bag is lost, the airline is responsible for compensating you for your bags’ contents - subject to depreciation and maximum liability limits.
Airlines are also required to refund any fees you paid the airline to transport the bag that was lost.
Airlines may require receipts or other proof for valuable items that were in the lost bags.
For domestic flights, DOT regulation allows airlines to limit their liability for a lost, damaged or delayed bag. Airlines are free to pay more than the limit but are not required to do so. The maximum liability amount allowed by the regulation is $3,800.
For most international flights, a treaty called the Montreal Convention applies to the carriage of baggage. The maximum baggage liability for flights covered by the Montreal Convention is currently 1,288 Special Drawing Rights (approximately $1,780 USD). This is the most that airlines must pay a passenger for a lost, damaged, or delayed bag. Airlines are free to pay more than the limit but are not required to do so.
The Montreal Convention’s international baggage liability limit is reviewed for inflationary adjustment every five years by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
In the few situations when the Montreal Convention does not apply to travel to and from the United States, an older treaty called the Warsaw Convention may apply.
Delayed baggage
What should a passenger do if their bag is missing after taking a flight?
When a checked bag does not arrive at its destination, airlines are responsible for locating the bag. Airlines have tracking systems in place to try to identify the bag’s location.
Some airlines now offer applications for cell phones, tablets and other electronic devices, which provide passengers with data on the location of their baggage. It may be helpful to use this technology to locate your baggage, if available.
Passengers should file a baggage claim with their airline as soon as possible.
Passengers should stay in close communication with the airline after filing a claim and during the baggage location process.
What are the airlines’ responsibilities when your bag is delayed?
Airlines are required to compensate passengers for reasonable, verifiable and actual incidental expenses that they may incur while their bags are delayed -- subject to the maximum liability limits.
Airlines are not allowed to set an arbitrary daily amount for interim expenses. For example, an airline cannot have a policy that they will reimburse a passenger up to only $50 for each day that a passenger’s bag is delayed.
Damaged baggage
What are airlines’ responsibilities when they damage your baggage?
Airlines are responsible for repairing or reimbursing a passenger for damaged baggage and/or its contents when the damage occurs while the bag is under the airline’s control during transportation (subject to maximum limits on liabilities).
Airlines are not responsible for pre-existing damage to the bag or if the damage was caused by improper packing.
When the damage to the bag cannot be repaired, airlines will negotiate a compensation amount based on the value of the bag and its depreciation.
Can the airlines exclude liability for certain items?
Airlines often exclude liability for certain categories of items (for example: fragile items, electronics, cash, perishable items, other valuables, etc.). These exclusions are typically listed in the airlines’ contracts of carriage.
For domestic travel, airlines are not required to compensate passengers for items they have excluded in their contracts of carriage.
For international travel (including the domestic segment of an international itinerary), airlines are responsible for these items if they have accepted them for transportation. This applies even if passengers did not disclose when they checked in that these items were packed in the bag.
Passengers may wish to consider purchasing additional insurance for valuable items.
What about damage to the wheels, handles, or straps of baggage?
Although airlines are not required to cover fair wear and tear, airlines cannot exclude liability for damage to wheels, handles, straps and other components of checked baggage.