How to write a baggage claim letter an airline will pay

By Matthew Johan · Published 2026-09-16 · Updated 2026-09-24

The 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.

The phone call and the airport report are not the claim. The written claim is. It needs to reach the airline within the deadline for your trip, and it needs to contain enough that the airline cannot bounce it back for “more information”.

• Your name, the flight, the date, and the file reference from the airport report.
• What happened: lost, delayed and returned on a date, damaged, or items missing.
• An itemized list of contents with what you paid, how old each item is, and a replacement cost where it is higher.
• Interim purchases with dates and amounts, receipts attached.
• The amount demanded, the legal basis in one sentence (Montreal Convention or the DOT rule), and the bag fee if it applies.
• A deadline for their answer and a statement that you want money, not vouchers or miles.

The two things that change how the airline responds: citing the rule that applies with the correct current limit, and arguing your list up to the cap rather than accepting the airline’s depreciation table. A claim that shows its arithmetic gets handled by someone who can approve it.

Build your letter → Two minutes to your amount and deadlines.

What does a claim letter that gets paid look like?

Short, dated, itemized, and citing the rule. Here is the shape of one for a lost bag on an international trip, with the numbers a claim of that kind typically carries: the reference line with flight, date and file reference; one paragraph of facts; one paragraph naming the Montreal Convention, Article 17(2) for the loss, Article 22(2) for the 1,519 SDR limit at 1.37 US dollars per SDR; the contents at replacement cost, $2,745 across six lines, with the schedule attached; the interim purchases, $251, receipts attached; the total claimed under the liability provisions, $2,081, because the documented loss exceeds the limit; the bag fee, $75, refunded on top under the DOT refund rule; and a demand for payment within 30 days, by bank transfer, not vouchers.

Which mistakes make an airline stall?

• A round number with no list. “About $2,000 of clothes” is an invitation to offer $400.
• Quoting the wrong limit. The old 1,288 SDR figure or the old $3,800 domestic figure tells the reader you copied a page from 2023.
• Asking for “compensation”. Ask for the documented amount under the named provision; leave the airline no vague word to negotiate with.
• Accepting the airline’s depreciation table. Nothing in the rules imposes one; argue each item.
• No deadline. A claim with no date for the answer is answered when the airline gets around to it.

Email, web form or post?

Whatever the airline’s baggage page accepts, and most US airlines now accept only their own web form. The form usually has a comments box: paste the letter there in full and copy the amounts into the form’s own fields. Where the airline publishes a claims email, send the letter as the body with the schedule and receipts attached. Where only a postal address exists, use tracked mail and keep the receipt as proof of the claim date. Your airline’s page on this site lists what a person has verified for it.

What should the follow-up say if there is no answer?

On the day after the deadline you set: one paragraph restating the claim, the date it was sent, the date the answer was due, and a new date seven days out, with a sentence that a complaint to the Department of Transportation follows if that date passes. That letter changes who reads the file.

Can I see one before I write mine?

Yes. Enter a trip in the claim builder and the letter for it appears as you type, addressed to your airline with the current limits and your deadlines filled in, before anything is signed.