Problems with baggage

If you have not found your baggage after the baggage reclaim has ended, please report this immediately. At most airports you can do this preferably online and also at the baggage tracing desk.

After reporting your delayed baggage, you will receive a written confirmation with a reference number (PIR number, e.g. FRALH12345) by email. We recommend that you remain at the airport until your details have been successfully transmitted and your reference number has been issued.  Please retain this together with your flight documents, especially your boarding pass and the baggage receipt. Your baggage will be forwarded as quickly as possible and delivered to you.  You can access the current status of your Delayed Baggage Report at any time on the baggage status webpage.

Make sure that you also subscribe to baggage status updates when you create a Delayed Baggage Report to receive these directly via email.  If you don’t receive any baggage status updates, you can also activate these retrospectively on the baggage status webpage.

You can check the progress made in tracing your baggage online with the help of your reference number (PIR number, e.g. FRALH12345), and also update your contact details. In particular, if the delivery address is incorrect or has changed, please update this here. We need this to deliver the baggage.

If you are unable to get the information you require using the link provided or cannot amend your details, you will find a contact telephone number on the written confirmation receipt of your Delayed Baggage Report that you will receive at the baggage tracing desk or attached to the confirmation email after you have reported your delayed baggage online.

At certain times of the year, for example the peak travel season, there may be delays with delivery; however, we will make every effort to ensure speedy processing and ask for your understanding.

In the rare case that your baggage cannot be found within five days of reporting the delay, we will require a detailed description of your baggage and its contents to initiate a detailed search.  This compares the information you entered, including the list of contents, with the information we collected to find your baggage among baggage that has not yet been identified. 

To do this, please fill out the list of contents on our baggage status webpage which you will be able to access automatically five days after reporting your delayed baggage.

If your baggage arrives late at your destination, you can purchase necessary things such as toiletries and clothes and submit the receipts for reimbursement. Please keep all receipts so that you can later make your claims.  After you have reported the delay of your baggage (at the airport or online), please request a refund of verified costs by using this form to request a refund of expenses in the event of baggage irregularities.

Important:

• We recommend that valuables such as jewellery, money or medication are taken with you in your carry-on baggage.
• You are required to keep the expenses connected to the purchasing of replacement articles in the event of a baggage delay as low as possible (duty to mitigate damages).  Lufthansa will contribute subject to proportionality.
• Replacement purchases after arrival at home are also considered for reimbursement.  However, each passenger is particularly subject to the duty to mitigate damages here.  Reimbursement for replacement purchases that likely were available at the home location may be refused.
• Items that you can continue to use (e.g. clothing) will be reimbursed at 50% whilst hygiene items or items for one-time use will be reimbursed at 100%.*

*Exceptions apply to the USA and Canada due to local legislation (US DOT and CTA).

You can apply for reimbursement of the expenses for replacement purchases within 2 years after your flight provided you have reported your baggage as delayed.

You are entitled to compensation for the loss of your item of baggage if you reported your baggage as delayed (at the airport or online) within the reporting deadlines, if you completed the contents list on the baggage status webpage, and if your baggage has been delayed for more than 21 days.  If this is the case, you must make a claim for your compensation for the loss of your baggage within two years. Please use this form to request a refund of expenses

The maximum amount that can be refunded in the event of complete loss of your baggage is based on the Montreal Convention.

Important:

• We recommend that valuables such as jewellery, money or medication be taken with you in your carry-on baggage. 
• The responsibility for your carry-on baggage lies with you.

The liability of airlines for baggage is regulated by law.  The compensation entitlement is granted according to the Montreal Convention.  The compensation itself is specified in Special Drawing Rights (SDR). The Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an artificial accounting unit created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  Currently, the maximum liability amount is 1,288 SDRs which currently equates to approx. €1,500.  This amount is subject to exchange rate fluctuations and may therefore change.  

The Montreal Convention only applies if the following parameters are fulfilled:

The law applies both to domestic and international carriage between the contracting states.  In the case of checked baggage, the airline is liable, regardless of fault, for the delayed baggage.  The right applies only if the Delayed Baggage Report and the claim for compensation have been submitted within the time limits specified in the agreement.