Delayed baggage: what to buy and how to claim the cost back
Reviewed by José Romero Lara
EU261 aviation lawyer — 5+ years as in-house legal counsel at international airlines
Your flight landed, but your suitcase didn’t. While the airline tracks it down, you have to get by with what you’re wearing: buying clothes, toiletries or a charger. The good news is that those costs, if reasonable and backed by receipts, can be claimed back from the airline. This guide explains what you can buy, what won’t be accepted, how it depends on whether you’re away from home or back at your own place, and how to claim it in time.
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Check my claim1What counts as an essential expense
These are the purchases you can’t put off because your checked bag hasn’t arrived with you: a change of clothes, toiletries, a charger. The Montreal Convention requires the airline to refund that money if the expense was reasonable and you can back it up.
Don’t confuse this with delay assistance
The meals and hotel an airline owes you when your flight is delayed or cancelled (Art. 9 of Regulation 261/2004) is a separate right and has nothing to do with your bag. Expenses for baggage that hasn’t arrived fall under the Montreal Convention, not Regulation 261/2004.
2Delayed baggage away from home or at your place of residence
Before you buy anything, work out where you are: what really decides how much gets refunded isn’t just how many days you wait, but whether the delay catches you away from home or just as you arrive there.
Away from your place of residence
You’re travelling, on holiday or in transit: you have no clothes or toiletries anywhere. Reasonable purchases in proportion to the days you wait are refundable with little argument.
Bag delayed on arrival at your home
The airline usually argues you already have clothes and toiletries at home, so what’s refundable is limited to what you need immediately and can’t wait to get back from the bag, such as work clothes for the next day.
Always state in your claim whether you were at home or away: it’s the detail the airline uses to decide how much to pay without arguing.
3What you can buy while you wait
Only buy what you genuinely need for the days left to wait, keep every receipt, and stay proportionate: the longer you wait, the more items you can justify.
Underwear and a basic change of clothes for each day you wait.
Toiletries: toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, a razor.
A phone charger if yours was in the checked bag.
A shirt or work clothes if you’re travelling for business and need them the next day.
Renting equipment you had checked in and can’t easily replace, such as ski or diving gear.
4What won’t be accepted
Luxury purchases: expensive perfume, jewellery, high-end electronics.
A whole new wardrobe, instead of the minimum for the days you wait.
Replacing things you could reasonably wait to get back, like souvenirs or non-essential electronics.
5What proof you need to keep
No proof, no refund. Keep everything from the first minute:
Original, itemised receipts for every purchase, not just the card slip.
Your bank or card statement as backup if you lose a receipt.
Photos of the empty bag or what was inside it, if you have them.
The PIR reference number on every message you send the airline.
6How to claim these expenses, step by step
The Montreal Convention requires a written claim within the deadline, or you lose the right.
- 1
Count 21 days from when you get your bag back
That’s the Art. 31 deadline to claim in writing for delayed baggage. Miss it and the airline can reject the claim on that basis alone.
- 2
Write in, quoting your PIR number
Include the Property Irregularity Report reference in the subject and body of your message, along with the flight number and date.
- 3
Attach the receipts and ask for the exact amount
List each essential expense and add up the total; don’t let the airline offer a fixed amount without looking at your receipts.
- 4
Keep a copy with proof of delivery
A read-receipt email or a registered letter is evidence of when you claimed, if you ever need to prove it.
- 5
If there’s no reply or it’s rejected, don’t go to AESA
AESA doesn’t handle baggage claims. If the airline has joined consumer arbitration, ask for the free arbitration board; otherwise it’s the courts, with a 2-year deadline from the flight to sue (Art. 35) that cannot be paused.
7If the airline offers you a kit or a voucher
It’s common for an airline to offer an amenity kit or a shopping voucher, at the airport or by email, while you wait for your bag. Accept it: it covers your first costs.
Accepting the kit doesn’t close your claim
A courtesy kit or a voucher doesn’t replace the full refund of your proven expenses. Never sign anything worded as a "full and final settlement" or "no further claim": doing so can cost you the right to claim the rest.
AviFly claims your baggage expenses
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Start my claimFrequently asked questions
I’m worried about losing my bag: how does cover for lost or delayed baggage work, and what limits usually apply?
The Montreal Convention requires the airline to compensate loss, damage or delay of checked baggage. It’s not an automatic payment: you recover what you can prove with receipts, up to a combined limit of 1,519 SDR per passenger (about €1,800) that covers loss, damage and essential expenses from the delay together.
Do I claim the same whether I’m travelling or arriving home?
No. Away from home the need is obvious and almost any reasonable expense is accepted. Arriving at your own home, the airline usually argues you already have clothes and toiletries there, so it only accepts what you needed immediately.
Can AESA help if the airline won’t pay these expenses?
No. AESA handles delays, cancellations and denied boarding under Regulation 261/2004, but excludes baggage claims, which fall under the Montreal Convention. If the airline doesn’t pay, the next step is consumer arbitration (if it has joined) or the courts.
Can I claim if I don’t have every receipt?
You can provide bank or card statements as backup, but the less proof you have, the easier it is for the airline to reject or cut the expense. Always keep the original and, where possible, ask for an itemised one.
What if the bag turns up after I’ve already bought new clothes?
You don’t lose the right to be refunded for what you already reasonably spent while you were waiting, even if the bag eventually turns up.