Bag didn't show up?The next hour

Report window

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pick your airline

StartThree answers

Airline that checked the bag What happened

When your flight landed

1Stay in the baggage hall

The report must be made before the airline's window closes, and for most carriers that means before you leave the hall. Everything else in this claim depends on it.

Find the airline's Baggage Service OfficeUsually inside the hall near the belts or the oversize area. Some airports use a handling agent's desk (Swissport, Menzies, dnata); they file the report for the airline.
If no desk is staffedAsk any staff of the airline, or use the airline's own report channel below. Do not leave without a reference.

2Photograph these now

Bag-tag receiptsThe stickers from check-in, usually on your boarding pass or passport. They carry the tag numbers the airline traces with.
Boarding pass and the belt display for your flightProves the itinerary and that you waited at the right belt.
The damage, from three angles, and the tag still attachedWheels, handles, shell, zips. Then the contents if anything inside is broken.
The bag as opened, and the spaces where items wereBroken locks, cut zips, tamper tape.

3At the desk

SayI need to file a Property Irregularity Report for my checked bag that did not arrive.

Then ask forThe file reference, a printed or emailed copy of the report, the agent's name, and how you'll be updated.

Report filed and you have the referenceIt is on the paper or the email. Ten characters like LHRBA12345, or a longer file ID at some carriers.
Delivery address and phone on the report are rightWhere you are staying tonight, not home, if that's where you'll be.
Asked how to claim what you buy while waitingSome desks hand out cash or a card for essentials. Take it, keep the receipt; it comes off the final claim, it does not replace it.

Do not sign anything that says "full and final", accept miles or a voucher in place of the report, or hand over your bag tags. You can accept help; you cannot settle at the desk.

4Record the reference

File reference from the report

Type it exactly as printed; we check the format.

Time the report was filed

Keep the photo of the report in your camera roll. You'll upload it to the claim in a minute.

5Tonight

Buy only what you need, keep every receipt, photograph each oneReasonable, verifiable, actual: toiletries, a change of clothes, a charger. Airlines reimburse these at cost; a per-day cap or a percentage is something the claim will contest.
Write down what was in the bag while you rememberItem, roughly what it cost, how old. The claim builder turns this into the itemized schedule.
Know the dates

Start my claim with these details

Carries the airline, what happened, the arrival and report times and the reference into the claim builder. Nothing is sent to anyone.

Windows and phone numbers come from each airline's own pages and are marked unverified until a reviewer has checked them; the printed report and the desk are the authority. This page prepares you to act; it is not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Your answers stay in this browser.