# What to Do If You Lost Luggage > Lost luggage at the airport? File a PIR at lost & found, take the tracking number, and know the Montreal Convention limit, the 21-day rule and where insurance fits. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/shcho-robyty-yakscho-zahubyly-bahazh/ - Language: en - Published: 2026-09-25 - Categories: Travel, Leisure, Hotels, Tours, Ukraine, Events --- If you have **lost luggage** at the airport, the first and most important rule is simple: do not leave the baggage hall until you have filed a report on the missing bag. That document is called a PIR (Property Irregularity Report), you file it at the lost & found desk in the arrivals area, and without it the airline formally owes you nothing. Walk out through the glass doors empty-handed and unsigned, and proving the loss later becomes a serious uphill battle. The reassuring part is that in the vast majority of cases the bag is not gone for good. It is just delayed: it flew on the next flight, got stuck during a connection, or rolled off onto the wrong belt. Airline figures have held steady for years, roughly six or seven bags mishandled per thousand passengers, and nearly all of them turn up within a few days. So panic is a poor advisor here, while a clear sequence of steps saves both your nerves and your money. ## What do you do right now, at the belt? While you are still airside, every card is in your hand. This is not the moment to waste. - **Go to the lost & found desk** (sometimes labelled Baggage Service or by the name of the ground-handling company). It sits inside the baggage hall, before customs, so you do not need to exit anywhere. - **File the PIR.** You will need your boarding pass, the baggage tag (the barcoded sticker they attach at check-in) and your passport. Describe the bag: colour, size, brand, distinctive features, and roughly what is inside. - **Take the tracking number.** It is a five-digit code in the AAA12345 format from the WorldTracer system, and it lets you follow the search online. Photograph the report and the tag, and note the code separately in your phone. - **Ask who pays for essential purchases** and where the bag will be delivered once found. Delivery to your home or hotel is normally free, which is standard practice. If the desk is empty or already closed (it happens on night flights), look for a handling agent near the exit or the service phone number on the information board. Filing online the next day is possible too, but it is a weaker option: fixing everything on the spot is far better. ## Delay versus a real loss: the difference Legally these are two different states, and they decide both the sum and your rights. **Delayed baggage** is by far the most common scenario. The bag exists, it is simply in transit. The airline runs the search and reimburses reasonable spending on essentials while you are without your things. Most bags come back within one to three days. Permanently **lost luggage** is a different matter. Under the Montreal Convention, if the bag is not found within **21 days** of the date it should have arrived, it is officially considered lost. From that point you are entitled to claim full compensation for the contents, not just day-to-day expenses. ## How much will the airline pay? Here the Montreal Convention of 1999 applies, and it covers most international flights. It caps the carrier's liability for baggage at roughly **1288 SDR** per passenger. SDR is the IMF's notional accounting unit, and converted it comes to somewhere around 1600 US dollars or close to 1500 euros. The SDR rate floats, so verify the exact figure on the day you file. A few important points about that sum: - The limit is counted **per passenger, not per bag**. Two of you flew and checked two bags, so the ceiling doubles. - They reimburse the real value of what was lost, up to the limit, not the maximum automatically. That is why receipts for expensive items inside the bag are your best argument. - Cheap domestic flights within a single country may fall under local law rather than the convention, and the limits there differ. - Valuables (electronics, documents, medication, jewellery) should not go into checked baggage at all. Airlines are in no hurry to pay for a laptop lost from a huge suitcase, and under the conditions of carriage they often do not have to. SituationTimeframeWhat you are entitled toBaggage delayed1-21 daysreimbursement for essential purchases against receiptsBaggage damagedclaim within 7 daysrepair or the value of the bag and itemsBaggage never foundover 21 daysfull compensation for contents up to ~1288 SDR## Essential purchases: what you may spend While the bag is off travelling somewhere, you are entitled to buy the basics and ask for reimbursement. This means everyday items: a toothbrush, toiletries, underwear, a T-shirt, a charger, and if needed a change of clothes for a meeting or work. The key word here is **reasonable**. A designer coat to replace a lost jacket is unlikely to be covered, whereas a sensible replacement at local prices usually is. The rules are simple, yet easy to break in the heat of the moment: - **Keep every receipt.** Without them there is no conversation about money. Photograph them as backup, since paper ones fade. - Do not sweep half the shop into your basket. They cover what you need for the length of the delay, not a wardrobe refresh. - Some carriers pay a fixed daily allowance for essentials, others reimburse strictly against receipts. Ask about the format right at the desk. - If you are at home rather than travelling, the essentials logic barely applies: the assumption is that you can find a toothbrush. This rule is for people stranded far from home. ## Where insurance ends and the airline begins These are separate wallets, and they do not cancel each other out. The carrier's liability is capped by the convention and covers the baseline. A good **travel insurance** policy with a baggage option often works more flexibly: faster payouts, cover from the first hour of delay, and sometimes a sum above your actual losses. Many policies include a fixed payout for baggage delayed beyond four to six hours, and the same PIR is enough to trigger it. The practical approach is this: always file the airport report, because both the airline and the insurer need it. Then see which terms serve you better. You cannot collect twice for the same bag, since insurers cross-check against the carrier's payments, but choosing the better route is entirely realistic. Before the trip, reread what exactly your policy counts as baggage and what the exclusions are, because electronics and cash are insured separately or not at all. ## How to pack so you avoid this story The best compensation is the one you never had to claim. A few habits noticeably lower the risk: - **Carry-on saves the day.** Medication, documents, chargers, a change of underwear and your most valuable items belong in the cabin. Even if the checked bag lags behind, you get through without drama. - **Avoid tight connections.** A 40 to 50 minute transfer is the leading reason a bag misses the second plane. Leave a buffer, especially across different terminals. - **Strip off old tags** from previous flights. Scanners sometimes latch onto a stray barcode and send the bag the wrong way. - **Label your bag inside and out.** A tag with your name and phone number costs next to nothing, and a found bag carrying one comes back faster. A photo of the contents on your phone also helps with the report. - Make the bag recognisable: a bright strap, a sticker, a belt. There are dozens of identical black suitcases on the belt, and nobody has abolished the wrong hand grabbing yours. ## The short version If you have **lost luggage**, sequence is what saves you: file the PIR at the lost & found desk before you leave the airport, take the tracking number, keep receipts for essential purchases, and hold on to the 21-day mark, after which the bag is deemed permanently lost. The airline is liable within the Montreal Convention, insurance tops up the rest, and a sensibly packed carry-on turns the whole episode into a minor inconvenience. Exact sums, limits and carrier rules change, so verify the current figures before you travel.