When a checked bag disappears, create a record before you leave the airport. Report the problem to the right party, keep the baggage tag and boarding pass, and save every report number, message, receipt, photograph, and status update.

If the bag held case files, lab material, a device, or another sensitive item, tell the person responsible for it immediately. The airline compensation claim and the evidence-handling issue are separate. A missing bag doesn't automatically make its contents inadmissible, and a custody gap doesn't automatically end a case. The result depends on the item, the records and testimony available, and the rules of the court handling the matter.

Which rule applies?

Loss during TSA screening

TSA says to use its claim process if property is lost or damaged during screening. Keep the screening location, approximate time, inspection notice, and a description of the property. The TSA security-screening guidance directs travelers to contact the airline when the loss or damage occurred during transport to the plane or baggage claim.

A TSA inspection record can help show when the property was last seen. It isn't a forensic chain-of-custody log and doesn't establish that the contents were untouched.

Loss during airline handling

Go to the airline's baggage office before leaving the airport, if one is available. Ask for a Property Irregularity Report, usually called a PIR, or the carrier's equivalent report. If the desk is closed or unavailable, report the problem through the airline's online or telephone system and save the confirmation.

A PIR proves that you gave notice. It may not be the formal compensation claim required by the airline, the applicable convention, or a domestic rule.

For an international itinerary, the French government's English baggage guidance says the Montreal Convention or Warsaw Convention may apply, depending on the itinerary and carrier. Check the ticket, booking terms, and airline contract of carriage rather than assuming which convention controls.

A U.S. domestic trip is different. Don't automatically apply the Montreal Convention's international liability limit or deadlines to it. Domestic baggage claims generally turn on the carrier's rules and applicable U.S. requirements.

Insurance

Travel, homeowners, and renters insurance are separate contracts from the airline's liability. Check each policy for exclusions, deductibles, valuation rules, notice requirements, and delayed-baggage coverage. Notify the insurer promptly even while the airline is still tracing the bag.

What to do at the airport

1. Report the missing bag. Ask the airline for a PIR or equivalent reference number. If you report online or by phone, save the confirmation and note the time.
2. Photograph the baggage records. Keep the baggage receipt or tag, boarding pass, itinerary, and any claim sticker. Record the flight number, connections, bag description, delivery address, and every reference number.
3. Start the inventory now. List each item, brand, model, serial number, approximate purchase date, and replacement cost. Add receipts, photographs, and other proof of ownership. A baggage tag usually shows that a bag was checked; it doesn't prove what was inside.
4. Write to the airline. State when you last had the bag, when it failed to arrive, and what you want the carrier to do. Ask for the tracing status and the next step in writing.
5. Save tracker evidence. Screenshot Bluetooth or GPS location data and send it to the airline. A tracker may show where a device is, but it doesn't prove who has the bag or what condition its contents are in. Don't trespass or confront anyone based only on a tracker signal.
6. Report specific signs of theft or tampering. An opened bag, broken seal, or other concrete fact may justify contacting airport or local law enforcement. A delayed bag or inconsistent status message, by itself, doesn't establish criminal conduct.

Deadlines for baggage claims

Deadlines depend on the route and the type of claim. These are commonly associated with the Montreal Convention; they aren't universal deadlines for every U.S. domestic flight.

The European Consumer Centre's baggage guidance describes the 21-day threshold for treating baggage as lost and the two-year period for an action against an airline under the Montreal Convention. Citizens Advice also describes the seven-day and 21-day international deadlines. Its domestic information is UK-focused, though, and isn't U.S. law.

Get the PIR, but don't assume it meets every written-claim requirement. Submit the formal claim through the required channel and before the applicable deadline. Waiting for the airline's search doesn't necessarily stop a legal time limit.

How much might the airline owe?

For baggage on a trip covered by the Montreal Convention, the liability ceiling is 1,519 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) per passenger. Consumer guidance places that figure at roughly EUR 1,900, but the value in euros or dollars changes with exchange rates. Older pages may still list the former 1,288-SDR figure.

The ceiling is a maximum, not an automatic payment. You generally must show that the baggage was lost, damaged, or delayed and support the amount claimed with records. The limit applies per passenger, not as a guaranteed amount for each bag or item.

Sentimental value, the value of evidence to an investigation, a lost business opportunity, or the cost of rebuilding a case may not be treated as ordinary baggage value. Ask the airline and insurer how they handle those categories before accepting a settlement.

A carrier may offer a special declaration or excess valuation for unusually valuable checked baggage. If you use that option, arrange it before check-in, pay any required charge, and retain the completed form and receipt. It may change the liability ceiling. It won't make irreplaceable evidence replaceable or create a forensic custody record.

When the missing contents are evidence

Airline tracking and forensic custody answer different questions.

Baggage tags, scan histories, routing records, and delivery records can show where a bag traveled and which handling points appear in the carrier's system. They don't, by themselves, prove that a sealed package stayed intact, a sample avoided contamination, or a phone or laptop was never accessed.

If the bag turns up, don't decide on your own how to return the contents to the case. The investigating agency, prosecutor, lawyer, laboratory, or evidence custodian should document the bag's condition and direct the next custody step.

For a bag connected to an investigation:

• Notify the case owner immediately. Give the agency, prosecutor, lawyer, laboratory, or custodian the last confirmed custody point and the airline report number.
• Build a timeline. Record who packed, sealed, checked, tracked, searched for, and discussed the bag. Include dates, times, names, and reference numbers.
• Ask the airline to preserve records. Request baggage scans, routing and transfer information, inspection notices, delivery attempts, and available surveillance. Releasing some records may require a formal legal request.
• Leave recovered sealed material unopened. Photograph the outside, record the bag's condition and seal numbers, and follow the evidence procedure. Don't clean, repackage, or discard the original packaging.
• Protect missing devices. Use the device's location and account-security tools if appropriate. Don't remotely erase a phone or computer that may be evidence without first consulting the investigating agency or lawyer.
• Use an approved transport method in future. Controlled substances, seized property, and regulated samples shouldn't go into ordinary passenger baggage. Ask the responsible agency or laboratory about authorized hand-carry or courier procedures. Carry-on luggage is still subject to TSA and airline restrictions.

Whether a custody gap affects a case is a decision for the court handling it. A court may admit an item when other evidence supports its identity and integrity, or it may exclude or give less weight to the item when the gap can't be explained.

Assemble the claim file

Keep these records together:

• the PIR or online report confirmation;
• the baggage-tag number, boarding pass, itinerary, and connection details;
• an itemized inventory with receipts, photographs, and serial numbers;
• proof of declared value or excess valuation, if applicable;
• airline messages, call logs, and status updates;
• tracker screenshots and inspection notices;
• a police report number if theft or tampering was reported;
• receipts for reasonable emergency purchases during a delay; and
• the amount requested, with the calculation behind it.

Describe the contents accurately. Don't label the loss theft without supporting facts, and don't hide prohibited or regulated contents from the relevant authority. Give the airline enough property information to trace the bag, but don't send original case material to a claims address unless the agency or lawyer tells you to.

If the airline doesn't resolve the loss

Start with the airline's baggage department. If the search ends without recovery, use the carrier's formal customer-relations or written-complaint channel and ask for its final position in writing.

The next route depends on what happened:

• TSA screening: use the TSA claim process.
• Airline transportation: pursue the airline claim under the applicable convention or domestic rules.
• Suspected theft or tampering: notify law enforcement and the evidence custodian.
• Insurance coverage: notify the insurer and provide the airline file.
• Unresolved U.S. airline complaint: check the Department of Transportation's current complaint process and any deadline tied to the itinerary.

Don't wait for the airline's investigation before protecting a legal deadline. The two-year period commonly associated with Montreal claims doesn't govern every domestic or insurance dispute. If the contents are valuable or case-critical, get jurisdiction-specific help promptly.

Mistakes that can weaken the claim

• Waiting to report the bag because the Montreal Convention gives 21 days for a delayed-baggage claim.
• Treating the PIR as the same thing as a formal written compensation claim.
• Treating the Montreal limit as a guaranteed EUR 1,900 payment.
• Assuming a tracker proves custody, theft, or the contents' condition.
• Saying that a chain-of-custody gap automatically makes evidence inadmissible.
• Using news reports about valuables in unclaimed luggage as precedent for a particular claim.
• Checking irreplaceable evidence without confirming an approved transport procedure.

If the bag is still missing, send the airline report number and the last confirmed custody point to the person responsible for the evidence today. Then calendar the written-claim deadline that applies to the itinerary.