The belt stops and your bag hasn't appeared. What you do in the next twenty minutes determines whether you get it back quickly and recover your costs, or spend six months arguing by email. The good news is that 97% of delayed luggage turns up; the bad news is that the paperwork doesn't forgive first-hour mistakes.
First: don't leave the baggage hall
This is the mistake that costs most. Once you walk through customs, claiming gets far harder: the airline can argue you received your luggage correctly, and the burden shifts to you to prove otherwise.
Find the baggage services or “lost & found” desk — it's always inside the reclaim area — and file the report before you leave. Even if there's a queue. Even if someone is waiting for you outside.
The PIR report: the document that decides everything
PIR stands for Property Irregularity Report. It's the official document that opens the case, and without it your claim doesn't exist. When you file it you'll get a ten-character reference code (something like MADIB12345) to track the search.
Before signing, check these details are right:
- The bag description: brand, exact colour, material and distinguishing marks. “Black suitcase” is useless; “hard-shell black suitcase with a red sticker on the lid” is not.
- Your delivery address, which must be where you'll actually be, not your home address if you're travelling. If you change hotel, tell them.
- A phone with roaming active and an email you'll check. Many deliveries fail simply because the passenger can't be reached.
- Your flight number and the bag tag number — that adhesive stub they stick to your boarding pass at check-in.
Before you fly: photograph your suitcase closed, and its contents as you pack. It sounds excessive right up until the day someone asks you to prove what was inside.
The legal deadlines you can't miss
Luggage is governed by the Montreal Convention, which sets short, strict deadlines:
| Situation | Deadline to claim | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Damaged baggage | 7 days | Delivery of the bag |
| Delayed baggage | 21 days | Actual delivery |
| Baggage declared lost | 2 years | The flight's arrival date |
A bag is officially considered lost after 21 days without turning up. Until then it's “delayed”, and the airline is obliged to search for it and cover your essential expenses in the meantime.
What you can spend while it's missing
You're entitled to buy essentials and be reimbursed. There's no fixed list, but the test applied by airlines and courts is “reasonable and proportionate expenses”:
- Underwear, socks and a basic change of clothes.
- Toiletries.
- Clothing appropriate to the climate or the purpose of your trip. If you're going to a wedding and your suit was in the bag, a suit falls within reasonable.
- Chargers and adapters if they were checked in.
Keep every original receipt and pay by card where you can, so you have two records. Avoid luxury purchases: a €400 shirt will be rejected even if it is your size.
How much you can ultimately be paid
The Montreal Convention caps airline liability at roughly €1,600 per passenger (technically 1,288 SDR, an IMF accounting unit revised every five years). That ceiling covers everything: delay, damage and loss combined.
If you're carrying higher-value items, there's a mechanism called a special declaration of value: you make it at check-in, it costs extra, and it raises the limit. Almost nobody uses it, but it's the only way to be covered above that figure.
Which is why the oldest advice is still the best: valuables, medication, documents and expensive electronics never go in checked baggage. No compensation gives you back the time spent replacing them.
The five mistakes that leave people unpaid
- Leaving the airport without a PIR. Number one, by a distance.
- Describing the bag generically, which stops the global tracing system from matching it to any of the thousands of unclaimed bags.
- Throwing away receipts for emergency purchases.
- Letting the 7 or 21 days lapse while waiting for the airline to reply. The clock runs regardless.
- Accepting the first offer without checking it covers what you actually spent.
If the bag arrives damaged
Same procedure, with one important difference: you only have 7 days, and it's best to file the report at the airport itself even if the damage looks minor. Photograph the bag before you leave the reclaim hall, with the tag visible in the same shot.
Airlines typically exclude normal wear, wheels and handles — which is exactly what breaks most — so documenting the prior condition with the photo you took at check-in makes all the difference.
How we handle it
Our baggage assistance service files the PIR at the right airport and within the deadline, follows up with the airline, submits the expense claim and chases the response through to the end. You send us the photos and receipts on WhatsApp and never have to call anyone again.