Lost Luggage, Damaged or Delayed Baggage: The Complete Compensation Guide
Short answer: The Montreal Convention obliges every airline on an international flight to compensate for lost, damaged or delayed baggage — up to about €1,900 (1,519 SDR) per passenger, based on proven damages. The critical condition: written notice within 7 days for damage, 21 days for delay. Latebird (latebird.ai) is an AI flight-compensation service that handles baggage claims too — free until we win.
Lost luggage, damage or delay — three different cases
Before anything else, work out which case you are in, because the deadline and the payout differ:
- Lost luggage (permanent loss): the bag never arrived and, after 21 days without tracing it, most airlines declare it lost. This is the most valuable case — the claim covers the full proven value of the contents up to the cap.
- Delayed baggage: the bag did arrive, but days late. The claim covers the reasonable expenses you had while waiting.
- Damaged baggage: damage to the suitcase itself — a broken wheel, a torn-off handle, a split shell — or ruined contents. This one carries the shortest deadline: seven days.
Note the timing: luggage is not officially "lost" on the day it fails to appear on the belt. Until the airline declares it, the file is classified as delayed — so open the report immediately rather than waiting to see what happens.
Your suitcase was damaged in transit — what do you do?
This is the most common case and it carries the tightest deadline, so it is worth four clear steps. A cracked, split or torn suitcase counts as damage even if it still closes:
- Do not leave the airport before you report it. Baggage damage is recorded at the ground-handling desk, where the PIR is opened. Once you walk out of the hall it becomes very hard to prove the damage happened in transit rather than afterwards.
- Photograph everything before you touch it. The bag from every side, the damage close up, the bag tag and your boarding pass. A time-stamped photo is the strongest evidence you can have.
- Send a written claim within seven days. That is the Montreal Convention deadline for damage, counted from the day you received the bag. Miss it and the right is lost, however justified the claim.
- Do not throw the damaged bag away. Airlines routinely ask to inspect it or to send it for repair; a bag that has been binned is a claim that is hard to prove.
The same steps apply when the damage is to the contents — a laptop that cracked, a bottle that leaked, sports gear that bent. Only the evidence changes: there you also need proof of the item's value.
The first, critical step: a PIR form at the airport
Before leaving the airport, go to the ground-handling desk (Lost & Found) and file a PIR (Property Irregularity Report). It opens your case and is your strongest piece of evidence. Forgot? Some airlines accept late filings online — but don't count on it.
The deadlines — where most passengers lose
| What happened | Written-notice deadline |
|---|---|
| Bag damaged | 7 days |
| Bag delayed | 21 days |
| Bag lost entirely | Usually declared lost after 21 days — then a loss claim opens |
Miss the deadline and in most cases the right is gone — even if the claim is entirely justified. Don't "wait and see".
The Montreal Convention — the treaty behind every baggage claim
Baggage rights do not come from EC261. They come from the Montreal Convention of 1999, a treaty in force in some 140 states — Israel among them — that governs international carriage by air. It makes the airline liable for a bag that was delayed, damaged or lost between check-in and the moment it is handed back to you, including anything the ground handler did in between.
Three things about it decide most claims. Liability is capped, not fixed: 1,519 SDR — roughly €1,900 per passenger since the December 2024 revision — is the ceiling, and beneath it you are paid the loss you can prove. The notice deadlines are written into the treaty itself, which is why seven days for damage and twenty-one for delay are not an airline policy you can argue with. And the Convention also covers a delayed flight, but only for real out-of-pocket damages, up to 6,303 SDR — a separate track from the fixed EC261 sum, and the two can be claimed for the same flight.
One more deadline sits further out: a lawsuit under the Convention must be brought within two years of the day the aircraft arrived, or should have arrived. The written claim to the airline comes long before that — and should.
Delayed baggage under the Montreal Convention — what you can claim
A bag that arrives late is a separate claim from a lost one, and under the Montreal Convention it is the airline's responsibility unless it shows it took every reasonable measure to avoid the delay. What you claim is the real cost the delay caused you: the clothes, toiletries and essentials you had to buy while you waited, a taxi back to the airport to collect the bag, equipment you had to rent because yours was missing. There is no fixed sum per day — the ceiling is the same 1,519 SDR (roughly €1,900) per passenger, and beneath it you are paid what the receipts prove.
The deadline is the part people miss: the written complaint must reach the airline within 21 days of the day the bag was handed back to you — not from the day of the flight. And if the bag is still missing 21 days after it should have arrived, you no longer have to wait: the Convention lets you treat it as lost and claim the value of the contents instead. In both cases, keep the PIR reference, the bag tag and every receipt, and describe what you bought and why it was needed.
How much can you claim?
Up to 1,519 SDR — roughly €1,900 per passenger (the cap was raised in December 2024). Unlike flight compensation, baggage liability is based on proven damages: the value of lost contents, repair or replacement of the bag, and what you had to buy while waiting (clothes, toiletries). So the rule is receipts, receipts, receipts — both for what was inside (old invoices, order screenshots) and for what you bought in the meantime.
Which flights are covered?
Any international flight between states party to the Convention — which is most of the world, including Israel, the EU and the US. The airline is liable even if the damage happened at its ground-handling contractor. Mobility equipment (strollers, wheelchairs) is covered, as are consequential costs of a delayed bag — like ski gear you had to rent because yours never showed.
What a winning baggage claim looks like
- At the airport: PIR form + photos of the bag and damage + keep the bag tag.
- In the following days: a written demand to the airline within the deadlines, with an itemized contents list and receipts.
- When the airline responds: first offers tend to be low, based on internal "depreciation tables" — that's an opening position, not something you must accept.
- Or the short way: upload everything to Latebird and we run it like a flight claim — reasoned demand, negotiation, escalation if needed. First claim free; afterwards 15%, success-based only.
FAQ
I didn't file a PIR at the airport. Is the claim dead?
Not necessarily. Some airlines accept reports filed later online, and as long as your written notice met the 7/21-day deadlines the right is preserved. The more alternative documentation you have (photos, correspondence), the better your odds.
My bag arrived four days into my trip and I bought clothes. Who pays?
The airline. Reasonable expenses caused by the baggage delay — clothing, toiletries, essentials — are covered by the Montreal Convention up to the cap. Keep every receipt and give written notice within 21 days of receiving the bag.
I had expensive items in the bag — a camera, jewellery. Are they covered?
Up to the overall cap (~€1,900), provided you can prove the value. For unusually valuable items, declare them at check-in in advance (for a fee, the cap rises) — or simply carry them in the cabin.
What does the Montreal Convention pay for lost luggage?
For lost luggage the Montreal Convention caps the airline's liability at 1,519 SDR — roughly €1,900 per passenger — and pays the proven value of the contents rather than a fixed sum. Most airlines declare a bag lost after 21 days without tracing it; until then it counts as delayed. Your written claim must still reach the airline within the deadlines, or the right is lost regardless of the merits.
How much compensation is paid for baggage damage?
Baggage damage is paid on actual loss rather than a fixed sum: the cost of repair, or — where repair is uneconomic — the cost of an equivalent suitcase, less wear and tear. The cap is around €1,900 (1,519 SDR) per passenger, but a broken-suitcase claim in practice usually settles in the low hundreds of euros. Airlines open with a figure from an internal depreciation table; treat that as a negotiating position, not the final amount. Either way, the precondition is a written report within seven days.
What is the Montreal Convention baggage limit?
1,519 SDR per passenger — roughly €1,900 — since the revision that took effect on 28 December 2024. SDR is an IMF unit of account, so the euro figure drifts a little with exchange rates. The number is a ceiling rather than an entitlement: beneath it you are paid what you can prove, which for a damaged suitcase is usually a few hundred euros, and for a bag lost with its contents can approach the cap.
Does the Montreal Convention cover flight delays too, or only baggage?
Both, on different terms. For a delayed flight it covers proven out-of-pocket damages — a hotel night you paid for, a connection you had to rebook — up to 6,303 SDR per passenger, and never a fixed sum. Fixed compensation for the delay itself comes from EC261 or from Israel’s Aviation Services Law, and the two tracks can be claimed for the same flight.
How long do I have to claim for delayed baggage under the Montreal Convention?
Twenty-one days from the day the bag was handed back to you — the written complaint must reach the airline within that window, or the claim is lost. If the bag has still not arrived 21 days after it should have, you can treat it as lost and claim the value of the contents instead, up to 1,519 SDR (roughly €1,900) per passenger.
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