Delayed baggage compensation: what airlines pay per day

Before leaving the airport

Go to the airline or ground handler's baggage desk as soon as the carousel stops and your bag has not appeared. Ask them to create a Property Irregularity Report, usually called a PIR. This records the baggage disruption and gives you a file reference for tracing.

A PIR is important evidence, but it is not normally the same thing as a written compensation claim. Keep the report, your baggage tag, boarding pass or booking confirmation and any message showing the expected delivery time. Take a screenshot of the tracking page if its status changes.

• Check that your name, flight, bag tag number and delivery address are correct on the PIR.
• Photograph the baggage tag and paper report in case either is lost.
• Ask which airline portal or form must receive the later expense claim.

What counts as a reasonable essential purchase?

The purpose of an expense claim is to document the loss caused by the delay, not to create a shopping allowance. What is reasonable depends on where you are, how long the delay lasts, what was inside the bag and whether you are away from home.

Basic toiletries, underwear and a simple change of clothes are easier to explain than premium replacements. A winter coat may be necessary after landing in cold weather, while the same purchase could be difficult to justify on a warm trip. If the airline gives you an amenity kit or an allowance, record that too.

• Choose practical replacements that match the expected length and purpose of the trip.
• Keep itemised receipts showing the seller, date, currency and individual products.
• Write one short sentence explaining why any unusual or higher-value item was needed.
• Do not include items bought before the disruption or purchases unrelated to the missing bag.

What airlines publish as a daily amount

Most searches for delayed baggage compensation are really asking one question: how much will the airline pay for each day without the bag? Some carriers answer it on their own baggage pages. The figures differ widely, and so do the conditions attached to them, which is why it is worth reading the operating airline's page before the first purchase rather than after it.

These are the amounts four carriers publish, quoted from their own pages:

• Aer Lingus: a guide of EUR 100 as a first-needs payment for day 1, then an average of EUR 50 a day for days 2 to 3, EUR 40 for days 4 to 8 and EUR 20 for days 8 to 21. The airline states that these values are guidance only and are not a daily limit or cap.
• Eurowings: if the bag cannot be delivered on the day of arrival, up to EUR 30 per person per day for a maximum of three days, EUR 90 in total. This does not apply at your home destination, and the receipts are due within 21 days of arrival.
• easyJet: once you are away from home and the bag has been delayed for 24 hours or more, essential items up to GBP 75 per person, claimed with receipts on its online form within 21 days of the flight. The delay has to be registered on its Baggage Portal within 24 hours of arrival.
• Thai Airways: after a delay of more than 24 hours, a reference figure of USD 100 per person per case on international routes and USD 25 on domestic routes, paid against documentation. A delay on the trip home may not be covered.

A daily figure is guidance, not your legal limit

On an international journey, the carrier's liability for a delayed bag comes from the Montreal Convention, not from the airline's own table. Article 19 makes the carrier liable for damage caused by delay in the carriage of baggage, unless it proves it took all reasonably required measures to avoid the damage. Article 22(2) limits liability for destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage per passenger, and ICAO's revision set that limit at 1,519 Special Drawing Rights from 28 December 2024. Article 26 makes any contractual provision that fixes a lower limit than the Convention null and void.

In practice that means a published daily amount can tell you what the airline usually approves without argument, but it cannot by itself reduce what you are owed for a proven, reasonable loss inside the Convention limit. It works the other way too: a daily amount is not an allowance to spend. Aer Lingus says it reviews receipts item by item, Thai says it pays only an actual and proven financial loss, and Eurowings reminds passengers of their duty to keep the costs as low as possible.

If the airline offers less than you spent, answer with the receipts and one sentence per item explaining why it was needed on that trip. A claim built that way is easier to approve than a request for the daily figure multiplied by the number of days.

When the bag comes back

Record the delivery date and time because the complaint period for delayed baggage runs from the date the bag is returned. Your Europe states that a written complaint for delayed baggage should be made within 21 days after receiving it.

Inspect the suitcase before the courier leaves if possible. Photograph any new damage immediately. A delay claim and a damage claim use different evidence and time limits, so do not assume that mentioning damage in an expense claim is enough.

Build a claim the reviewer can follow

Put the facts in chronological order: the scheduled arrival, the missing bag report, each necessary purchase, the delivery and the total requested amount. Use the operating airline's official baggage claim route and keep a copy of the submission confirmation.

The Montreal Convention liability limit is not an automatic payout. ICAO increased the baggage limit to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger from 28 December 2024. The amount actually recoverable depends on proven loss, the applicable rules and the circumstances of the journey.

• PIR or baggage tracing reference
• baggage tag and travel confirmation
• delivery confirmation or tracking history
• itemised receipts and a short necessity explanation
• a clear expense total in the original currencies