Baggage claim value
See the federal liability cap for lost or damaged bags and what you can claim.
This applies the federal rule to the facts you give it and shows you the working. It does not predict what an airline will pay, and it is not advice about your situation.
The rule makes your checked-bag fee refundable. This is the money almost nobody claims, because almost nobody knows the rule exists.
How that follows
- Hours since your last flight landed: 12.
- The threshold for this itinerary is 12 hours.
- 12 is at or above 12, so the bag is "significantly delayed".
What this cannot tell you
- Separately, if the bag is lost rather than delayed, an airline may not cap liability for the contents below $4,700 per passenger on a domestic itinerary. You have to document what was in it, and the airline pays depreciated value.
- International itineraries fall under the Montreal Convention, which uses a different limit.
This is what 14 CFR 260.2 provides. It is not advice about your situation, and not a prediction of what an airline will pay.
The thresholds this tool applies
The same thresholds, laid out to read. Every one is taken from the regulation named below and is what the tool above applies.
- Domestic itinerary
- Bag not delivered within 12 hours of arrival is "significantly delayed"
- International, longest segment 12 hours or less
- 15 hours
- International, longest segment over 12 hours
- 30 hours
- Once past the threshold
- The checked-bag fee is refundable
- If the bag is lost rather than delayed
- Liability may not be capped below $4,700 per passenger on a domestic itinerary, under 14 CFR 254.4. A ceiling on a documented claim, not a payment.
“12 hours of the last flight segment’s arrival for domestic itineraries, within 15 hours … for international itineraries with a non-stop flight segment … 12 hours or less in duration, and within 30 hours … more than 12 hours in duration”
What this tool is not
It is a rule lookup with your numbers in it. It cannot tell you what an airline will actually pay, because that depends on your fare, on facts the airline holds, and on how the airline chooses to respond. Where it shows a dollar figure, that figure is a federal ceiling and is labelled as one.
Row30 is not a law firm. Our standards for every number we publish are on the editorial guidelines page.
Row30 provides data journalism and education, not legal advice. We are not a law firm and do not represent passengers in legal proceedings. For advice about your own situation, consult an attorney.