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Luggage/Baggage Information
Luggage Allowances and Charges
Excess Baggage / Excess Luggage
Baggage Charges / Luggage Charges
Delayed Luggage (less than 21 days)
Delayed Luggage (more than 21 days)
Lost Luggage / Lost Baggage
Hold Luggage
Many airlines give passengers a free allowance for baggage checked into the hold. Details of airlines' baggage / luggage allowances will be on their website. Or you should be able to find out from your confirmation invoice or from your travel agent.
For hold luggage, there are two types of allowance. You will either have a "weight" allowance or a "piece" allowance. A weight allowance will typically range from 15kg to 60kg per person, depending on the airline or class of travel. A piece allowance will usually restrict you to two pieces of hold luggage. These tend to be more generous allowances because they typically allow up to 32kg per piece. Both weight and piece allowances will also have limits on the maximum size of your luggage as well as the weight limits.
If you are on connecting flights, the baggage allowance can be different for each sector depending on the airline or even aircraft. Check before you pack.
Hand luggage
For baggage / hand luggage you take with you into the aircraft cabin, the allowance is usually a combination of maximum weight, number of pieces, and maximum size per piece. Some airlines encourage passengers to take their baggage in the cabin rather than in the hold and therefore have generous cabin baggage / hand luggage policies, so it is worth checking these, as it may save you some time waiting at the carousel.
On the other hand, be careful not to try to take too much into the cabin. If your cabin bag / hand luggage is too big, you could be asked to check it in by airline staff, even just before you board the aircraft. And you may even have to pay excess baggage charges (see below). If this does happen, make sure you take out your valuables and any medicines - an airline won't consider they are liable for them even if its staff made you check-in the bag in.
Excess Baggage
If your hold baggage is more than the allowance, the airline is entitled to charge an excess baggage charge. This could be in addition to any charge you had to pay (for example, if your airlines does not give free hold baggage allowances).
If your cabin baggage / hand luggage is overweight or too big, you might be asked to check it in to the hold. If doing so takes your hold luggage above your hold baggage allowance, you might have to pay excess baggage charges.
Excess baggage charges can vary considerably. Some airlines have a set rate per extra kilo. Others base their charges on a percentage of the full one-way economy fare. These rates are typically 1-1.5% of the fare per extra kilo. On a long-haul flight this can soon add up to a considerable sum.
The airline can decide whether or not to charge, and very often they do not do so if the baggage is only slightly overweight. But just because an airline does not charge on the outbound leg does not mean that it cannot charge it on the return trip. And if you are taking a series of flights there may be different excess baggage charge policies depending on the aircraft type or the airline.
Baggage charges
Some airlines no longer give free allowances for baggage checked into the hold. If you want to check in your bag, you will have to pay for it. Charges are typically on a "per bag" basis. And they are less if you pay in advance rather than wait until you get to check-in.
You may find that if your airline charges for checked luggage, it compensates by giving a bigger allowance for cabin baggage. So you may be able to avoid the charges by packing carefully. But, if you do, beware (see Excess Baggage below).
Many airlines also charge for carrying certain types of baggage such as sports equipment or large musical instruments. This charge can usually be prepaid.
Some airlines allow the pooling of hold luggage - this is when the shortfall between the actual weight of a passenger's bag and their allowance be be used by a travelling companion in addition to their own baggage allowance. But some airlines do not. So check before you go.
There will be some things that you will not be allowed to take with you because they are classified as "dangerous goods" or are considered a security risk. Check the airline's website for examples of such items.
Unfortunately, baggage does not always arrive at its intended destination. Or, if it does, it might turn up damaged or with something missing. When this happens, an airline is liable for the damage under the Montreal Convention. But the Convention puts a maximum limit on the airline's liability of 1,000 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) per passenger. The Montreal Convention sets out airlines’ liabilities for passengers and their baggage. It applies to international travel only. But many countries have similar legislation for domestic travel. And it applies for any journey within the EU (including domestic journeys within a single Member State), because its provisions have been replicated in EU legislation.
Most journeys starting in the UK will come under the Montreal Convention, but there may be some journeys where different liability regimes apply. The Montreal Convention covers liability for: death or injury to passengers, delay, and baggage (loss, damage or delay).
A Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an international unit of account defined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is commonly used in international legislation and can be converted into national currency in the same way as other foreign currency conversion. SDR exchange rates are published daily in many UK national newspapers and on the IMF website.
On 13 March 2009, one pound sterling was equivalent to 0.9502 SDR. Based on this the limits for baggage and delays were just over £1052 (1,000 SDRs) and £4414 (4,150 SDRs) respectively.
For more information choose from the index below and to find out how to make a claim
for your mishandled baggage and the time limits within which you claim, look at our
section on "Making a claim".
- Delayed Luggage (less than 21 days)
- Delayed Luggage (more than 21 days)
- Lost Luggage
- Damaged Luggage
- Lost or stolen items
- Limited Release Tags
- Cabin baggage
- Connecting flights
Delayed Luggage (less than 21 days) / Baggage
The reference to 21 days is taken from the Montreal Convention, and is the period of delay after which an airline must treat a bag as lost. Generally speaking, this makes a difference to how airlines settle claims. There are no set rules for how airlines must assess baggage claims. For delayed baggage, some airlines offer immediate one-off payments at a set amount to cover emergency purchases (such as toiletries or underwear). Some will pay a set amount per day up to a maximum of days. Others will not make cash payments at the time, but prefer to reimburse expenditure on essential items on seeing the receipts. But the general principle is to cover essential expenditure resulting from the delay to delivery of the baggage. Airlines generally do not accept any liability for inconvenience, stress or any consequential losses arising from the delay, unless they are required to do so as a result of court action.
Delayed Luggage (more than 21 days) / Baggage
If your bag has still not been returned to you more than 21 days after your flight, the airline should treat it as lost and settle your claim on that basis (see “lost luggage” below)
Lost Luggage / Baggage
The Montreal Convention requires airlines to treat a bag as lost after 21 days. In assessing your claim, an airline may well ask for a list of the items that were in the missing bag, and possibly for original receipts. In doing this, they are behaving like insurance companies. Like insurers, their offer of compensation will be unlikely to match a claim in full. In particular, they will probably reduce the payment because of depreciation. And remember that the airline's maximum liability is 1,000 SDRs (see above). You may find you can get a better settlement from your travel or home contents insurance, even after allowing for any excess on the policy. If you claim on an insurance policy, it is likely that your insurer will re-claim the money from your airline or its insurer.
Damaged Luggage / Baggage
The Montreal Convention states that claims for damaged baggage must be made within seven days from the receipts of bags. In assessing claims for damaged baggage, most airlines make a payment based on the value of the damaged bag or on any of its contents that were also damaged. They may ask for receipts, and they will probably apply a scale of depreciation to any payment. If it is just the bag or suitcase that is damaged some airlines simply offer a new one from their store cupboard.
Lost or Stolen Items from Luggage
Where individual items are missing from baggage it is very difficult to get any compensation from an airline - because it is difficult to prove that the items were there in the first place. This is another reason to us only good quality luggage, not to put valuables in baggage checked into the hold, and always to have travel insurance.
Most airlines have a clause in their terms and conditions saying that they do not accept responsibility for perishable or valuable items (such as cameras, camcorders, mobile phones, documents or jewellery). It is arguable whether such exclusions are compatible with the provisions of the Montreal Convention in all circumstances. But remember that an airline is liable only for items that it has agreed to carry. If you packed items in your luggage that were listed as "items unacceptable as baggage" in the airline's conditions of carriage, you may not be able to claim against the airline if they go missing.
Limited Release Tags
When you check in certain items, some airlines attach a Limited Release Tag (LRT). Such items might include musical instruments, sporting equipment (bikes and surfboards etc) or even prams and buggies. These items are checked in on a limited release basis, where a carrier will attempt to remove its liability should the baggage be lost or damaged. Therefore you may find that the airline refuses your claim. However, our view is that if any airline accepts an item as checked baggage, it must accept liability for it as set out in the Montreal Convention.
Cabin Luggage
The Montreal Convention says that an airline is liable for cabin luggage only if the airline is to blame for what happens. So take care of your personal belongings - take the same precautions as you would in any other public place
Connecting Flights
If your journey involves connecting between more than one airline, you may be able to check in your bag for the entire journey at the first point of check-in. If you do, and something happens to your luggage, you can claim against any of the airlines that carried it. However, airlines generally expect passengers to submit their claim to the final airline. And sometimes an airline will try to blame the other airline and refuse to handle the claim. In either case, they are in breach of the Montreal Convention.
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