Delayed baggage compensation is not a check that shows up on its own. Domestic flights are covered by a federal ceiling of $4,700 per passenger. That number is a maximum an airline can be forced to pay.
It is not a payout you simply receive. International itineraries fall under a different rule, the Montreal Convention, with a lower cap. Whichever regime applies, you have to prove what the bag and its contents were worth.
The airline will then subtract depreciation before it writes a check.
The domestic limit: a ceiling, not a payout
Under DOT rules for domestic flights, an airline cannot cap its own liability below $4,700 per passenger. That covers a lost, damaged, or delayed bag. The figure is set in federal regulation and gets revised for inflation, so confirm it is still current before you rely on it.
The mistake most travelers make is assuming $4,700 is what they will receive. It is the outer limit of what the airline can be made to pay. It is not the amount owed for one missing duffel bag.
You still have to itemize the contents. You have to show what they cost. You have to account for how much use they already had.
The Montreal Convention limit for international trips
International itineraries are not covered by the domestic $4,700 rule at all. They fall under the Montreal Convention, which currently caps liability at 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger. That is roughly 2,175 US dollars at recent exchange rates.
Special Drawing Rights are an International Monetary Fund unit. Their dollar value floats daily, and the SDR figure itself gets revised every few years. Check the current numbers on the DOT baggage liability page before you plan around them.
That international ceiling is lower than the domestic one. Travelers often assume international flights carry more protection. The opposite is true here.
Mixed itineraries: the rules do not stack
A common question is what happens on one ticket that covers a domestic connection into an international flight, say Denver to Chicago to London. The two liability regimes do not add together. You do not get to pick whichever one is higher.
The Montreal Convention defines a journey with an international segment on a single contract of carriage as international carriage for its full length. That includes the domestic leg. In practice, the lower international limit governs the whole trip once any segment crosses a border on the same ticket.
If the domestic segment was booked as a fully separate ticket, it can fall back under the domestic $4,700 rule on its own. The ticketing structure decides which regime applies, not just the route on a map.
Delayed versus lost, and what a carrier owes you while you wait
A delayed bag is not the same claim as a lost one. While your bag is missing, the airline must reimburse reasonable, verifiable, and actual expenses tied to not having it: a toothbrush, a change of clothes, essentials for a small child. Carriers cannot set an arbitrary daily cap on those interim expenses.
A community search of traveler reports backs this up. One flyer whose bag was delayed a few hours got approval to spend around 300 dollars on toiletries and replacement clothing, submitted receipts, and was reimbursed in cash at the airport counter. A family whose luggage missed a ski trip connection got a check for items under 100 dollars and a hotel night voucher, which they considered fair even though it did nothing for the lost ski day.
That is the shape of delayed baggage compensation in practice. It covers what you had to buy. It does not cover the disruption to your trip.
Delayed baggage compensation: when a delayed bag becomes a lost bag
There is no single federal cutoff for when delayed turns into lost. Most airlines make that call somewhere between five and fourteen days after the flight. The exact window varies by carrier and by whether the trip was domestic or international.
Once a carrier declares a bag officially lost, the claim shifts. It moves from interim expense reimbursement to a full loss claim, valued against the applicable liability limit and reduced by depreciation. Ask the airline directly what its own threshold is when you file the initial report.
Depreciation: the part that surprises everyone
Airlines do not reimburse the original purchase price of your belongings. They pay depreciated value. A two year old winter coat is worth a fraction of what you paid, not the receipt total.
This is the single biggest source of disappointment with lost luggage compensation, because people expect replacement cost and get a used goods valuation instead. Airlines negotiate the deduction case by case, based on an item’s age and condition rather than a published table.
The practical takeaway: newer, well documented items settle closer to what you paid. Old, heavily worn clothing settles well below its original price no matter how the claim is argued.
What is excluded before depreciation even applies
Every airline writes exclusions into its conditions of carriage, regardless of the dollar limit. The usual list covers cash, jewelry, electronics, and fragile or perishable items. For domestic travel these exclusions generally hold and the airline can decline the claim outright.
For international travel under the Montreal Convention, the rule shifts. If the airline knowingly accepted an excluded item for transport, it can still be held liable even though its own contract of carriage lists that category as excluded.
The safer move is never to check anything on the excluded list. Electronics, documents, medication, and anything irreplaceable belong in a carry-on. Our guide to carry-on rules covers what fits in the cabin.
Proof: why receipts decide the claim
An airline will not take your word for what was in the bag. You need receipts, or at minimum credit card statements and photos, for anything you want compensated above a token amount. Undocumented claims are the ones most often reduced or denied.
- Photograph the packed bag and its contents before you check it, especially anything valuable.
- Keep receipts for the original purchases when you can, and for every interim expense while the bag is missing.
- File the loss report at the airport before you leave. A claim without an official report number rarely goes anywhere.
If you are trying to estimate what a checked bag is actually worth carrying versus paying to check, our baggage cost tool is a useful gut check before the trip even starts.
Escalation: the DOT complaint route and small claims
If an airline denies a valid claim or offers far less than the documented loss, the next step is a formal complaint to the Department of Transportation, not another round of phone calls. DOT complaints go on the airline’s public record and can prompt a response that customer service alone did not.
Small claims court is also a real option, because the liability limits are ceilings, not the airline’s final word. If your receipts support a loss the airline is refusing to pay up to the applicable limit, small claims is built for exactly that dispute without needing a lawyer.
Our broader page on lost, delayed, and damaged baggage covers damage claims and other scenarios beyond a bag that never arrives. If you are also curious how checked baggage rules interact with fees and weight limits, that guide covers the basics before anything goes wrong.
One more layer worth knowing about: some credit cards carry their own baggage delay and loss benefits that pay on top of the airline’s liability. That is a separate topic covered on our baggage fees hub rather than here.
Common questions
Is the airline responsible for lost luggage?
Yes, within the liability limits set by federal rule or the Montreal Convention. The airline must pay for provable, documented loss up to that ceiling. It can still dispute the value you claim and will apply depreciation.
Can you sue airlines for lost luggage?
Yes, small claims court is a normal path when an airline denies or lowballs a documented claim. You are limited to the applicable liability ceiling, but within that ceiling the airline has to defend its offer.
How do airlines compensate for lost luggage?
They pay the depreciated value of documented contents, up to the domestic or international liability limit. Compensation is not the full replacement cost, and it is not the liability limit itself unless your actual losses reach it.
What is the DOT rule on delayed baggage compensation for domestic flights?
Airlines must reimburse reasonable, verifiable, actual expenses incurred because a bag has not arrived. They cannot impose a flat daily cap on that reimbursement, and this interim rule applies before a bag is formally declared lost.
Does the Montreal Convention cover checked and carry-on items?
It covers baggage in the airline’s custody, which for a lost or delayed claim means checked baggage. Items you carry on and keep with you are not part of this claims process, since the airline never took custody of them.
What should I do the moment I realize my bag did not arrive?
File a report at the airline’s baggage desk before leaving the airport and get a claim reference number. Keep every receipt from that point forward, and ask the agent directly when the airline considers a bag officially lost.