What are the chances of your luggage getting lost?
Across the board, the chance of an airline losing a suitcase — at least for a little while — is around 0.4%, according to LuggageHero. That's about one in every 250 bags.
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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.
Most eventually turned up—one recent study by industry group SITA found only about 5 percent of lost bags disappear permanently—but with so much luggage temporarily vanishing, airlines knew they had a problem.
During the first three months of 2023, over 721,000 bags checked on domestic flights were mishandled out of 113 million checked bags in total—an average of 0.64 bags per 100 checked bags, per the U.S. Department of Transportation. That's up from 2019, when 0.59 bags were mishandled per 100 checked bags.
Tracking the lost luggage down with your airline can be time-consuming, but if bags aren't claimed within 21 days, they're considered lost and go to auction. In the UK, the London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted), Manchester and Glasgow airports use auction houses to sell unclaimed lost luggage.
Filing a Lost Luggage Report Probably Won't HelpIf this is a simple issue of delayed baggage, it should show up in the next three days. FAA data shows that delayed baggage usually arrives within 3-7 days. However, if the bag is truly lost, your chances of finding lost luggage after 30 days are cut in half.
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.
You will probably get your luggage back; when you do, be sure to give it a thorough check for damage, and missing items. If items are found damaged or missing, the airline should repair them or replace them.
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.
While airline policies on delayed versus lost baggage can vary, in most cases, bags that don't arrive with you at your destination are considered delayed until the airline officially declares them lost, which typically occurs between five and 14 days after arrival.
American Airlines is the number one worst airline for losing or damaging your luggage, with 5.34 incidents per 1,000 bags. Although it's a low percentage compared to the total number of bags checked, American Airlines still takes the dubious distinction of being the airline most likely to lose your luggage.
Allegiant AirFinally, Allegiant Air is the carrier least likely to lose, damage, delay, or pilfer its customers' luggage. In October 2021, it only mishandled 877 bags or 1.96 per 1,000 enplaned, which was very close to the previous year's statistic of only 1.20 per 1,000 checked bags.
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.
If you would lose the money you paid for your flights, accommodations, rental car, or activities if you had to cancel or go home early, travel insurance that specifically includes trip cancellation and trip interruption is probably a good idea.