A bag damaged on an international flight makes the airline liable up to 1,519 SDR per passenger — approximately US$2,080 at the IMF rate of 4 September 2026 — but Article 31(2) of the Montreal Convention gives you only seven days from receiving the bag to complain in writing. That deadline defeats more claims than any argument about the damage.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Baggage Claims
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Damaged baggage claim, Montreal Convention 1999, Article 17(2)
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
PIR reference [PIR reference]
Booking reference [Booking reference]
Bag tag number [Bag tag number]
Dear Sir or Madam,
My checked bag arrived damaged on flight [Flight number] into
[Final destination airport] on [Date you landed]. The damage is as
follows: [Description of the damage]. I reported it
[at the airport on arrival / within seven days of receiving the bag],
and photographs are enclosed.
Under Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention 1999 the carrier is liable
for damage to checked baggage where the event that caused it took place
on board the aircraft or while the baggage was in the carrier's charge.
This letter is sent within the seven-day period in Article 31(2).
I claim [the cost of repair / the replacement value]:
Bag, repair or replacement [Currency] [Repair or replacement cost]
Damaged contents [Currency] [Item value]
Total [Currency] [Total]
A repair quotation and receipts or photographs for the contents are
enclosed. The claim is within the per-passenger limit in Article 22(2) as
revised with effect from 28 December 2024.
Please settle [Currency] [Total] within 14 days to: [Payment details].
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Report it at the baggage desk before you leave the airport and get the Property Irregularity Report number.
- Photograph the bag from several angles, the tag still attached, and the damaged contents, before any repair.
- Get one written repair quotation. It converts an argument about value into a number the airline can pay.
- Send the letter within seven days of receiving the bag, even if the quotation has to follow.
- Keep the bag. Airlines sometimes ask to inspect it or to collect it for repair.
Seven days, not twenty-one. Article 31(2) requires a written complaint about damaged checked baggage at the latest within seven days of receiving it, and Article 31(4) bars any action if no complaint is made in time. Delay gets 21 days; damage gets 7. If you are already outside the window, write anyway and say so — the bar is a defence the airline has to raise.
What evidence actually settles a damage claim?
Five things, in this order: the PIR from the airport, dated photographs of the damage with the bag tag visible, the bag tag stub or its number, a written repair quotation from a bag repairer, and receipts for the damaged contents. Claims fail on missing photographs far more often than on the law.
Repair or replacement — which should I ask for?
Ask for repair where it is economical, and say so; airlines settle those quickly. Where the shell is cracked or the frame is bent, ask for replacement value and expect a deduction for age and use. State the bag’s age and what it cost, so the depreciation is argued from your numbers rather than theirs.
The airline says scuffs and minor marks are excluded
That is usually in the conditions of carriage and it is a common first answer. Focus the claim on functional damage — wheels, handles, zips, the shell, the frame — and on contents that no longer work. Protruding parts, fragile items and normal wear are the exclusions most carriers rely on, so do not spend the letter arguing about a scratch.
Items are missing from the bag, not damaged
That is still damage under Article 17(2) — theft or pilferage from a bag in the carrier’s custody counts, and the same seven-day deadline applies. Use the pilfered baggage letter instead, with an itemised list of what is gone.
On a domestic US itinerary the Convention does not apply at all: the carrier’s tariff governs, with a minimum liability set by 14 CFR 254.4, currently $4,700 per passenger — see US passenger rights. If the bag was late rather than broken, use the delayed baggage letter. A damaged wheelchair or other mobility equipment follows its own rules rather than the ordinary baggage cap — see the mobility equipment claim letter. The limits and deadlines are explained in the Montreal Convention baggage guide, and if the airline refuses, escalate.