If you paid a fee to check a bag, the airline must automatically refund that fee when the bag is significantly delayed and you file a mishandled baggage report. For domestic itineraries, the threshold is 12 hours. For international itineraries, it is 15 hours when the nonstop segment between the United States and a foreign point is 12 hours or less, or 30 hours when that segment is longer than 12 hours. The refund covers the fee charged to transport the delayed bag. Reimbursement for necessities bought while the bag was delayed is a separate claim.
| Itinerary | Bag is significantly delayed when it is not delivered or collected within | Which flight time controls |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic itinerary | 12 hours | The last flight segment’s arrival at the final destination |
| International itinerary with a nonstop United States to foreign-point segment lasting 12 hours or less | 15 hours | The nonstop segment between the United States and the foreign point |
| International itinerary with a nonstop United States to foreign-point segment lasting more than 12 hours | 30 hours | The longer nonstop international segment |
These rules apply to scheduled flights to, from or within the United States operated by covered United States and foreign airlines. They also apply to the domestic legs of an international itinerary. A fee must also be refunded if the airline declares the checked bag lost.
How the delayed-bag deadline works
The delay clock begins when you are given the opportunity to leave the aircraft at your final destination airport. It does not begin when the plane touches down or when you reach the baggage carousel. On a connecting itinerary, the relevant arrival is normally the last flight segment on the itinerary.
The clock ends when either of these happens:
- You, or someone authorized to act for you, picks up the bag at the final destination airport.
- The airline delivers the bag to a location agreed with you, such as a home or hotel.
Keep a record of the arrival time, the approximate time passengers were allowed to leave the aircraft and the time the bag was delivered or collected. Delivery messages, emails and photographs may help document when the delay ended.
A personal tracker can provide useful supporting information, but it does not replace the airline’s mishandled-baggage report. Travelers using one can review whether an AirTag can go in checked luggage.
Report the bag before leaving the airport
To qualify for the automatic refund, file a mishandled baggage report with the airline that operated your flight. For an itinerary involving more than one airline, file it with the airline that operated the last segment. Do this as soon as you know the bag did not arrive, preferably before leaving the airport.
- Confirm that the bag has not arrived. Check nearby carousels and the airline’s baggage-tracking tool. Do not assume the airline has automatically recorded the problem.
- File the report. Visit the baggage-service office or use the airline’s approved online reporting process if available.
- Save the reference number. Keep the report confirmation, claim number and baggage-tag number.
- Confirm delivery details. Give the airline an accurate address, telephone number and, if relevant, hotel departure date.
- Keep travel and payment records. Retain boarding passes, the itinerary, bag-tag receipt, baggage-fee receipt and payment statement.
- Save delay evidence. Keep tracking screenshots and the final delivery or collection record.
Once the report is filed and the delay reaches the applicable threshold, the bag-fee refund is meant to be automatic. You should not have to submit a separate refund application. If a different airline collected the fee, the airline that received your report must notify the carrier responsible for the refund.
Airfare refunds for a cancelled or significantly changed flight are governed by different rules. See when an airline changes your flight for those requirements.
Bag-fee refunds and expense claims are separate
The automatic refund returns the amount charged to transport the delayed bag. It does not compensate you for the inconvenience, the bag’s contents or replacement purchases. If the bag was checked free of charge, there is no bag fee to return. However, a fee charged to transport the bag, such as an oversize, overweight or special-item charge, can fall within the refund requirement.
The definition of a checked bag includes a gate-checked or valet-checked bag, as well as special items and sports equipment accepted for transport in the cargo compartment. A complimentary gate check does not create a refund entitlement because no transport fee was paid.
When several bags were checked and only one was delayed, the refund concerns that bag. If the airline uses an escalating price scale and cannot link the delayed bag to a particular fee, it must refund the highest per-bag fee charged for the bags checked by that passenger.
Necessary purchases require a separate claim. Airlines must compensate passengers for reasonable, verifiable and actual incidental expenses caused by a baggage delay, subject to the applicable domestic liability limit or international treaty limit. You do not need to wait 12, 15 or 30 hours before buying items that are genuinely necessary.
Reasonable expenses can include:
- Basic toiletries and personal-care items
- Underwear and limited essential clothing
- Necessary laundry services
- Other modest purchases appropriate for the purpose and length of the trip
Keep itemized receipts. A card statement may prove payment, but it may not show what you bought. Airlines may assess whether an expense was necessary and reasonable, but they may not apply an arbitrary daily reimbursement cap. Submit the expense claim promptly under the airline’s stated process, because documentation requirements and deadlines can differ, particularly for international travel.
Exceptions and multi-airline trips
An airline may be exempt from refunding a significantly delayed bag fee when the delay resulted from the passenger’s actions. The limited exceptions include:
- Not collecting and rechecking the bag at the first international entry point into the United States when U.S. Customs and Border Protection required it.
- Failing to collect a bag that arrived on time at the ticketed final destination, where the airline documents that the passenger was at fault.
- Voluntarily agreeing to travel without the bag because of late check-in or standby travel, with a newly agreed delivery date and location.
In the voluntary-separation situation, the airline cannot require you to waive all baggage rights. You retain rights relating to a lost, damaged or pilfered bag, and to incidental expenses caused by a delay beyond the newly agreed delivery date.
For a multi-airline itinerary, the airline shown on your card or bank statement as the merchant of record is generally responsible for the refund. If a ticket agent was the merchant of record for the bag fee, the airline that operated the flight is responsible; on a multi-airline itinerary, that is the airline operating the last segment.
What to do when the refund does not arrive
A refund due under the rule must be issued in the original form of payment unless you agree to a different cash-equivalent payment. A voucher or travel credit is not the default. For credit-card payments, a prompt refund is generally due within seven business days after the baggage-delivery deadline expires. For debit cards, cash, checks and other payment methods, it is generally due within 20 calendar days. If you filed the mishandled baggage report only after the deadline had already passed, the timing generally runs from the report date.
If that period passes, contact the airline in writing. Include the mishandled-baggage reference, bag-tag number, itinerary, baggage-fee receipt, payment record, arrival time and delivery or collection time. State clearly that you are requesting a refund of the checked-baggage fee for a significantly delayed bag under Department of Transportation rules. Keep that request separate from any claim for incidental expenses.
If the airline does not resolve the matter, first make a written complaint through the airline’s consumer office. You can then file an air-travel service complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation and attach the report, receipts, delivery evidence and correspondence. Check the original card or payment account as well as the airline app, since a properly issued refund may appear in the payment account first.
