What to do when an airline loses your luggage
These practical tips will help you get reunited with your lost bags, and make life a little easier in the meantime...

There’s nothing more infuriating than waiting, and waiting, and waiting at the baggage carousel for your luggage, only to find that it never made it onto the flight in the first place – or, maybe worse, somehow managed to take a different flight!
While most ‘mishandled’ bags are eventually reunited with their owners, managing during the interim is a challenge in itself – especially when your suitcase contains the bulk of your clothing for the days or even weeks ahead.
Little wonder Apple’s AirTags have become the hot new travel accessory among iPhone owners looking to track their luggage, even if only for peace of mind in knowing your bag is on the same plane as you.
On short trips, you can of course avoid the risk of your checked luggage being lost or delayed by travelling with only a carry-on bag.
But that’s not always possible, even with the most efficient packing.
So you haul out your larger piece of luggage, check it in at the airport and hope for the best.
If your luggage does go AWOL, it’s important to remain calm.
Stay calm and carry on
You’re not the first person to lose their bag, and as frustrating and annoying as it is, there’s nothing you can do right now to change that.
Aim to carry a quick easy change of clothes on your carry-on bag, so you’re not caught out.
When filing the obligatory report with the airport’s baggage services staff (and don’t blame them, keep your cool and treat them with courtesy and respect), it helps if you can clearly describe your bag in detail: a “black hard shell four-wheel Samsonite bag” is a lot more useful than the generic “black bag.”
Savvy travellers take a few smartphone photos of their luggage before checking it in at the airport.
If the bag goes missing, showing these photos to the service desk makes it very fast to accurately describe the bag.
When the baggage service office hands you a letter with details of your report, it will contain a 10-character reference number, such as shown below.
What’s not widely known that this number can let you check on the whereabouts of your bag through the international WorldTracer website, a "global baggage tracing and matching system” used by airlines and airports.
Once your lost bag is found, WorldTracer will show its planned ‘route of reconciliation’ – which flight or flights it will be on – and a quick Google search of each flight number should give you an idea of how long it’ll take to reach you.
We also suggest checking your contact details in WorldTracer (just enter your name and baggage reference number on the site).
Your contact details should already have been entered by the baggage service staff, but this small step can pick up if an incorrect address or phone number that will only furthered delay being reunited with your lost luggage.
Making do...
If you need to buy toiletries, basic clothing or other items to tide you over, make sure to keep your receipt in the event that cost can be covered by the airline or your travel insurance company. Just don’t go overboard on your initial shopping excursion without knowing what the limit is.
You’ll also want to make contact with the airline and your travel insurance company to check what you’re entitled to claim – passengers with delayed baggage can normally be reimbursed for the cost of buying necessary clothes, toiletries and supplies up to a reasonable limit.
Note that travel insurance for lost or delayed baggage is often only payable on amounts above what the airline provides.
16 Sep 2024
Total posts 2
When a passenger does not board a plane, their baggage is removed. What is then the procedure of sending their bags, is there additional screening?
08 May 2020
Total posts 53
My tip would be take photos of everything!
Before you flight:
1. Take a photo of your bag before you leave. You only need to do this once and the picture is on your phone forever which you can share with the baggage hunters.
2. Take a photo of your baggage receipts after checking in your bag - it's easy to misplace and it's not always possible to login to an app at your destination to try to find out the details.
After lost:
3. Take a photo of any letters you get when your bag goes missing. Again, so easy to misplace them when you're moving hotels, renting hire cars etc.
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