How long can luggage be lost for?

Lost Baggage Most airlines will declare a bag lost between five and fourteen days after the flight, but this can vary from one airline to another.



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Airlines may have different policies to determine when a bag is officially lost. Most airlines will declare a bag lost between five and fourteen days after the flight, but this can vary from one airline to another.

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100 days: All bags cycle out of the WorldTracer system. After 100 days, your bags are likely lost forever and can't be tracked. Luckily, only about 2% of lost luggage is missing forever.

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According to the Air Travel Consumer Report issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation, you face less than a 1 percent chance that a major airline will misplace your bags; in 2022, there were only about 7 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.

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Some legal experts and consumer advocates say that while airlines never had the authority to dispose of lost baggage, passengers' use of tracking devices could become a new test of the legal soundness of that practice.

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Bags that are lost forever At this point, passengers can claim compensation for their bags, and the bag, technically at least, becomes the property of the airline. Of course, the airline doesn't really want a bag full of your dirty laundry and holiday souvenirs, so these unclaimed and untraceable bags are passed along.

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Once an airline determines that your bag is lost, the airline is responsible for compensating you for your bags' contents - subject to depreciation and maximum liability limits.

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The leading cause of lost luggage is the mishandling of the bags between flights or from the sorting office to your airplane. Depending on the airport you fly out of, the actual sorting of luggage is done by a robot or workers.

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Ask for compensation In general, most luggage will end up being found, so they get classified as “delayed” and not “lost.” But in that immediate time when you're without your belongings, there should be some level of compensation, depending on the exact nature of your situation.

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9 Steps to Take When Your Luggage Is Lost
  1. Contact the airline. ...
  2. Request delivery to your home or accommodation. ...
  3. Request checked baggage fee reimbursement. ...
  4. Submit a claim to the airline. ...
  5. Keep receipts of incidental expenses. ...
  6. Check your credit card benefits. ...
  7. Consider travel insurance and homeowner's insurance claims.


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Consider filing a lawsuit against the airline in small claims court. Small claims courts handle a wide variety of property-related lawsuits which include lawsuits for lost luggage by an airline. Small claims court is also an affordable and user-friendly way for you to sue an airline for lost or delayed luggage.

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Once an airline determines that your bag is lost, the airline is responsible for compensating you for your bags' contents - subject to depreciation and maximum liability limits.

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Here's the ranking of US airlines from MOST complaints in May 2022 to LEAST complaints in May 2022:
  • American Airlines (575 complaints)
  • United Airlines (400 complaints)
  • Frontier Airlines (301 complaints)
  • Delta Air Lines (281 complaints)
  • Spirit Airlines (269 complaints)
  • JetBlue Airways (244 complaints)


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Add a baggage tag on the outside of your suitcase with that information (and one inside in case the outside tag falls off or gets lost). If you want to take it a step further, consider putting your business card and/or boarding pass inside your suitcase for extra validation.

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Passengers may return to the airport to pick up their item or may approve someone else, in writing, to do so. Items can be shipped back to the owner at the owner's expense.

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Travelers who suspect they were a victim of stolen luggage should immediately notify their airline of the situation. A stolen luggage report can also be filed with the airport police, in the event your property is recovered on baggage handlers or other employees.

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Mishaps on airlines can result in severe emotional distress for passengers, even when they don't suffer physical injuries. When passengers fear for their lives due to some type of airline mishap, they can sue an airline for emotional distress to receive compensation.

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According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, you are entitled to compensation for reasonable incidental expenses you incur because of your delayed baggage, up to the maximum liability limits, set by statute. For U.S. domestic flights, this is $3,800 per passenger.

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Air travel isn't always fun. Things go wrong. And while you're unlikely to get compensated because a summer thunderstorm made your plane late, it's often worth complaining to the airlines and seeing what you can get for your travel inconveniences.

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If an airline is not honoring its refund policies or the airline's refund policies seem unfair or deceptive consider suing the airline in small claims court. In small claims court, the judge will be the ultimate decider of whether an airline's refund terms are fair or enforceable.

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