Problems with baggage

If you have not received your baggage by the time the baggage reclaim has ended, please report this immediately. At most airports it is best to do this online as well as at the baggage tracing desk.

Once you have reported your delayed baggage, you will receive written confirmation by email with a reference number (PIR no., e.g. FRALH12345). We recommend that you remain at the airport until your details have been successfully transmitted and you have received a reference number. Please retain this together with your flight documents, in particular your boarding pass and the baggage receipt. Your baggage will be sent on and delivered to you as quickly as possible. You can access the current status of your delayed baggage report at any time on the baggage status page.

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 do not receive any baggage status updates, you can also activate these later on the baggage status page.

You can check the progress in tracing your baggage online using your reference number (PIR no., e.g. FRALH12345). You can also amend your contact details. In particular, if the delivery address is incorrect or has changed, please be sure to update it here. We need this to deliver your baggage.

If you are unable to get the information you require or cannot amend your details using the link provided, you will find a contact telephone number on the written confirmation receipt of your missing baggage report. (You will receive the written confirmation of your delayed baggage report 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, such as during 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 will compare 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.

Please complete the list of contents on our baggage status page. You will be able to access this automatically five days after reporting your delayed baggage.

If your baggage arrives late at your destination, you can purchase essential items such as toiletries and clothes, and submit the receipts for reimbursement. Please keep all the receipts to support your claim later. After you have reported your delayed baggage (at the airport or online), please request a refund of verified costs by using this form to request reimbursement in the event of baggage irregularities.

Important:

• We recommend that you carry valuables such as jewellery, money or medicines in your carry-on baggage.
• You are obliged to keep the cost of replacement items as low as possible in the event of a baggage delay (“duty to mitigate damages”). Lufthansa will contribute to the costs subject to proportionality.
• Expenses for replacement purchases made after your arrival back home may be considered for reimbursement. Please note that as a passenger, you are particularly obligated here to behave in a way that mitigates damages. Expenses for replacement purchases that can be assumed to be present at home will not be reimbursed.
• Items that you can continue to use (e.g. clothes) will be reimbursed at a rate of 50%, while toiletries or single-use items 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 costs of replacement items within two years of your flight, providing you have reported your baggage as delayed.

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

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

Important:

• We recommend that you carry valuables such as jewellery, money or medicines in your carry-on baggage. 
• You are responsible for your carry-on baggage.

The liability of airlines for travel baggage is regulated by law. The compensation entitlement is granted according to the Montreal Convention. The compensation itself is specified in so-called 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 conditions are met:

The law applies both to domestic and international carriage between the contracting states. For checked baggage, the airline is liable for the baggage delay, irrespective of fault. This right only applies if the baggage delay report and the claim for compensation are submitted within the deadlines specified in the contract.