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Plain-English guides to baggage claims

What the rules say, what the airline owes, and what to do, without the jargon.

How much can I claim for lost luggage?Airlines must pay up to $2,081 per passenger on international trips and up to $4,700 on US domestic trips. What that means for your bag, in plain English.
Delayed baggage: what the airline owes you while you waitWhat the airline owes while your bag is delayed: interim purchases, the bag-fee refund, the daily-allowance trick, and the deadline that starts on delivery.
Damaged luggage: how to claim, and the 7-day deadlineReport it at the airport, photograph everything, and get the written claim in within seven days on an international trip.
The Montreal Convention and your bag, explainedThe treaty behind every international baggage claim: which trips it covers, the five articles that matter, the SDR limit in dollars, and the three deadlines.
Lost luggage on a US domestic flight: the DOT rulesUp to $4,700 per passenger, no forced depreciation, bag fee refunded after 12 hours: what federal rules require of airlines on domestic trips.
When is a delayed bag officially lost?A delayed bag becomes a lost bag after 21 days on an international trip, sooner under many airlines’ rules. How the days are counted and what the claim becomes.
Getting your checked-bag fee backAirlines must refund the fee when a bag is late: 12 hours domestic, 15 or 30 hours international. Here is the rule and how to ask.
Your bag did not come out. What to do in the next hourDo not leave the airport without a report and a file reference. What to photograph, what to ask for at the desk, and what the first written claim must say.
How to write a baggage claim letter an airline will payThe six things a written baggage claim has to contain, the mistakes that make airlines stall, and a worked letter with the current limits filled in.
Airline, credit card, travel insurance: who pays for a lost bag, and in what order?The airline pays first, card benefits and insurance pay the gap. Why you must open all of them at once, and what each one wants.
The airline offered a voucher for my lost bag. Do I have to take it?You do not have to take a voucher or miles for a lost bag: the rules entitle you to money. Why airlines offer them, what to reply, and when one is worth taking.
Airline Baggage Claim Deadlines: 7 Days, 21 Days, 2 YearsMontreal Convention and DOT baggage deadlines in plain English: 7 days for damage, 21 days for delay, 2 years to sue. Miss one and the airline keeps the money.

Which guide do I need right now?

Start from where you are, not from the rule.

The bag has not come out

The bag came, late or damaged

Working out the number

Writing and answering

How are the guides written?

By Matthew Johan, from the same rule tables the claim engine uses, so the figures on these pages, 1,519 SDR at 1.37 US dollars per SDR, $4,700 under the DOT rule since 22 January 2025, the 7, 21 and 21-day clocks, change in one place when a rule changes. Each guide cites the primary text it rests on: the Convention as deposited with the United Nations, the regulations as published in the Code of Federal Regulations. Each shows the date it was published and the date it was last revised; the most recent revision is 2026-09-24.

Are these legal advice?

No. They explain the rules in plain English and show how a claim is put together, with worked figures rather than adjectives, and they are revised when a rule or a limit changes. Where a guide and an airline page appear to disagree, the airline page describes that airline’s own rule and the guide describes the law; the law wins on an international trip and sets the floor on a domestic one. BagBack prepares the claim you file in your own name; it is not a law firm, and a dispute that needs a lawyer is one we say so about and step back from.