What happens if airline damages your bag?

Airlines are responsible for repairing or reimbursing a passenger for damaged baggage and/or its contents when the damage occurs while the bag is under the airline's control, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection division.



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Airlines are required to compensate you if your bag is damaged during transit while in the airline's control. You're entitled to either a repaired bag or compensation based on the depreciated value of the bag.

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Head to the baggage claim office immediately if possible.
You have up to 24 hours to report a claim for domestic flights and seven days for international flights on most carriers, though policies vary by airline.

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Under DOT regulations (for domestic travel) and international treaties (for international travel), airlines are required to compensate passengers if their bags are damaged, delayed, or lost.

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According to the Department of Transportation, airlines are liable for up to $3,800 for lost, damaged or delayed bags. International flights fall under different rules; the maximum baggage liability is about $1,780. (Airlines can pay you more than that, but they're not required to by law.)

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When it came to airlines that lost the most baggage, that same study found that Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines came in ninth out of 17 major airlines. “Of all national airlines, American Airlines lost the most bags in 2022, losing 850 bags per 100,000.

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Steps to Consider if Airline Damaged Your Luggage Send the airline a formal complaint letter. 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 damaged luggage by an airline.

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This depends very much on the price of your bag. The more expensive your luggage is, the more likely it is to be worth repairing it. While less expensive bags may be cheaper to just replace. The cost does also depend on the repair, some things are more expensive to replace or fix than others.

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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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Looking at airlines, American Airlines (AAL) - Get Free Report topped the list of those most likely to lose or damage one's baggage. For every 1,000 suitcases, the airline mishandles 5.34 — the 5% rate is the highest out of all the airlines looked at in the study.

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WEST PALM BEACH-The American Civil Liberties Union today announced an unprecedented settlement in a racial profiling lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that will-for the first time ever-require an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to substantially alter its policies ...

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Thanks to the continued hard work of AFGE TSA Council 100, the historic raise and expanded rights became a reality. On Thursday, Dec. 29, President Biden signed into law the 2023 omnibus government funding bill that funds the pay hike for TSOs, giving the severely underpaid workforce an average 30% raise.

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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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