If your baggage is damaged, or items are missing, what recourse do you have? If your baggage is damaged upon arrival at your final destination, you usually have to report the damage in person to the airline.
If your baggage is damaged upon arrival at your final destination, you usually have to report the damage in person to the airline. That will mean going back to the airport and standing in line again, unless you notice the damage immediately on arrival and have the time to report it then. Generally speaking, if you were traveling on a domestic flight when the damage occurred, you must report the damage within 24 hours of arrival; if you arrived on an international flight you have 7 days to report the damage.
If you do go back to the airport to report damage, in addition to the actual bag, be sure to take with you your photo id, your ticket receipt or boarding pass and your bag tag claim number. The bag tag claim is the sticky label attached to your ticket receipt that has a barcode and a six digit number alongside it. If your luggage is lost, you will also be asked to provide the bag tag number.
The airline you flew on probably has a baggage office at the airport, so you would normally go there to report a damaged bag rather than to the ticket counter. Smaller airlines may have their baggage issues handled by a larger airline or by an independent baggage management service.
Check with your airline what their policy is for liability covering damaged or missing items. The amount of liability is covered under the Warsaw Convention and may be determined by the weight of your bag rather than the actual value of the bag and items. The airline may not compensate you at all if they feel the damage to items in your bag was caused by the items not being packed properly. The same thing applies to bags that have been over packed to the point of coming open.
Liability doesn't extend to items that are particularly valuable or perishable. If you are carrying items particularly valuable or fragile, you can usually purchase extra insurance for your luggage before you travel - check the cost of additional coverage with your airline or travel agent. You can generally find rules on liability on your airline's web site.
Your airline is not going to be responsible for what they call everyday wear and tear - minor scratches and marks. Nor are they usually responsible for damage to parts of the bag which might normally be damaged such as wheels, straps and retractable handles. Always make sure you have your handle retracted when checking your bag, and remove any looses straps.
If your bag is damaged when you retrieve it from the carousel on arrival, the damage could have occurred at any point from when you checked in. If you believe your baggage was damaged when it was inspected at security you should report the damage to the TSA.
Liability from your airline does not cover items missing from, or damage caused to carry on bags, by the way. And if you have a laptop computer, be particularly careful when using it in an airport - the airline isn't responsible for that either.
