Airline Baggage Liability Limits: $4,700 Cap and Montreal Convention

Airline baggage liability limits set the ceiling on what a carrier must pay when your checked bag is lost, damaged, or delayed. On flights within the United States, federal law requires airlines to cover up to $4,700 per passenger. On international itineraries, the Montreal Convention caps liability at 1,288 Special Drawing Rights, roughly $1,764 based on April 2026 exchange rates.¹² These are maximums, not guaranteed payouts, and tight deadlines control whether you can collect at all.

The Domestic Cap of $4,700

Federal regulation 14 CFR Part 254 governs baggage liability on flights within the United States. Airlines cannot cap their liability below $4,700 per passenger for provable direct or consequential damages when checked bags are lost, damaged, or delayed.³ The rule applies to any flight segment using aircraft with more than 60 seats, or any segment ticketed alongside one that does.

The word doing the heavy lifting is “provable.” The $4,700 figure is the maximum an airline must offer, not what every passenger walks away with. You have to demonstrate the actual value of what was inside the bag. Airlines typically pay depreciated value rather than replacement cost, so a laptop bought three years ago will not fetch its original price. Without documentation, expect a low offer regardless of what the ceiling allows.

The International Cap Under the Montreal Convention

International routes fall under the Montreal Convention, which uses Special Drawing Rights, an IMF currency unit, to set a uniform global limit. The current cap is 1,288 SDR per passenger for checked baggage that is destroyed, lost, damaged, or delayed.¹ Because SDR values shift daily against the dollar, the exact payout in U.S. currency depends on when the airline processes your claim.

One point catches travelers off guard: the Montreal Convention covers your entire itinerary, including domestic connecting legs of an international trip. A regional flight from a small airport to a major hub that connects to an overseas destination is treated as part of the international journey. The lower international cap, not the $4,700 domestic figure, governs the whole trip. When different carriers operate different segments on one ticket, you can file with either the airline you booked or the airline that operated the leg where the problem occurred.

Deadlines That Can Wipe Out Your Claim

This is where most claims fall apart. The Montreal Convention sets hard reporting windows for international flights, and missing them eliminates your right to sue.⁴

Damaged baggage: written complaint to the airline within 7 days of receiving the bag.
Delayed baggage: written complaint within 21 days from the date the bag is finally delivered.
Lost baggage: a bag is generally considered lost once the airline admits it or 21 days have passed since the scheduled arrival.

The treaty is blunt: if no written complaint reaches the carrier inside those windows, no legal action can proceed unless the airline committed fraud. Written means written. A verbal complaint at the baggage counter does not count. Use email, the airline’s online claim form, or certified mail so you have a dated record.

Domestic flights do not have equivalent statutory day counts. The Department of Transportation still advises reporting problems before you leave the airport and making the airline create a report on the spot.⁵ Waiting days or weeks gives the airline room to argue the damage happened after you left the airport.

Getting Expenses Covered While a Bag Is Delayed

When a checked bag does not arrive with you, the airline must reimburse reasonable, verifiable, actual incidental expenses you incur while waiting. Toiletries, a change of clothes, a charging cable for a business trip all qualify.⁵

Airlines cannot impose arbitrary flat daily caps on these reimbursements. A carrier cannot tell you the policy is “$50 per day, take it or leave it.” The DOT has found that practice to violate federal rules, because a flat daily limit can reduce liability below the required minimum.⁶ If an agent quotes you a per-day figure, push back and cite this.

Keep every receipt. Federal rules do not define “reasonable” with precision, but the standard is common sense: essentials are reimbursable, a designer wardrobe is not. Interim expenses count against the same overall cap ($4,700 domestic or 1,288 SDR international) that covers the contents themselves.

Items the Airline Does Not Cover

Each airline’s contract of carriage lists categories of items for which the carrier accepts no responsibility, even when the total claim is well under the cap. Common exclusions include electronics, jewelry, cash, gift cards, glassware, and perishables such as food and flowers.⁷ Pack a laptop in checked luggage and lose it, and the airline can point to the contract to decline.

The exclusions work differently on international routes. On domestic flights, airlines can enforce whatever exclusions their contract lists. On flights governed by the Montreal Convention, the carrier is liable for excluded items if it accepted the bag for transport, even if you never declared the contents.⁵ The treaty effectively overrides the contract of carriage internationally.

Regardless of route, airlines cannot disclaim liability for damage to the structural parts of the suitcase itself. Broken wheels, torn handles, and ripped straps remain the airline’s problem. Keep genuine valuables in your carry-on when you can.

Wheelchairs and Other Assistive Devices

Wheelchairs, scooters, and other assistive devices receive stronger protection than ordinary luggage. Federal disability rules under 14 CFR Part 382 take these items out of the standard baggage framework. The $4,700 domestic cap does not apply to assistive devices, and airlines cannot require passengers to sign liability waivers before checking one.⁸

Compensation for a lost or destroyed device is calculated from the original purchase price, not depreciated value. For a custom power wheelchair that cost $30,000 new, that is a meaningful difference from how a suitcase of clothing would be valued. The airline must also repair or replace a damaged device promptly with equivalent or better function, at the carrier’s expense.⁹

The regulation creates a rebuttable presumption that the airline mishandled the device if it comes back in worse condition than it went in. The airline cannot overcome that presumption by blaming weather, turbulence, or other circumstances outside its control. The only valid defenses are proof that the damage happened before check-in, after return, or that the claim is fraudulent.⁹ On international flights the Montreal Convention’s 1,288 SDR ceiling does apply to assistive devices, which can leave a gap for costly equipment.

What to Document Before You Leave the Airport

The strength of a claim is almost entirely a function of what you can prove. Start collecting evidence at the terminal.

Property Irregularity Report: insist the airline create one at the baggage office before you leave. The report assigns a reference number that tracks your case.⁵
Baggage identification tags: the barcode labels attached at check-in. Hold onto these until your bags are safely in hand.
Boarding passes: proof you were on the flight and the bag was checked to a specific destination.
Proof of value: original receipts, credit card statements, or bank records for the contents. Photos of items packed before the trip help.

On the airline’s claim form, itemize every lost or damaged item with a description, approximate age, and original price. Vague entries like “miscellaneous clothing” invite low offers. Something concrete such as “navy wool overcoat, purchased January 2024, $350” gives the adjuster a specific number to work from.

Filing and Escalating to the DOT

Most airlines have an online portal for claim submission, which is the fastest route. If you want a verifiable paper trail, send the packet by certified mail with return receipt. Keep a full copy of everything you submit either way.

Federal rules require airlines to acknowledge consumer complaints within 30 days and provide a written response within 60 days.¹⁰ In practice, complicated claims with high-value contents or disputed depreciation can run longer. The first settlement offer is rarely the last word; a counteroffer with better documentation often produces a better result.

If the airline denies the claim or stops responding, escalate to the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection through the online form at airconsumer.dot.gov.¹⁰ Include booking details, flight numbers, dates, and a copy of the complaint you already sent the airline. The DOT forwards the complaint to the carrier and requires a direct response to you. The office does not investigate every case, but a DOT complaint on file tends to draw airline attention that a fourth follow-up email does not.

1
Federal Register. Inflation Adjustments to Liability Limits Governed by the Montreal Convention
2
International Monetary Fund. SDRs per Currency Unit
3
eCFR. 14 CFR Part 254 – Domestic Baggage Liability
4
U.S. Department of State Archive. Montreal Convention
5
U.S. Department of Transportation. Lost, Delayed, or Damaged Baggage
6
U.S. Department of Transportation. Consent Order 2012-1-15
7
United Airlines. Contract of Carriage – Section: Rule 28 Additional Liability Limitations
8
eCFR. Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel – 14 CFR Part 382
9
eCFR. 14 CFR 382.130
10
U.S. Department of Transportation. File a Consumer Complaint