The Montreal Convention caps an airline’s liability for your bag at 1,519 SDR on any international flight, and at 6,303 SDR for losses caused by a delay to you. You must complain in writing within 7 days for damage or 21 days for a delayed bag, and start any court action within two years. Montreal pays proven loss, not a fixed sum.
The limits in force since 28 December 2024
| What it covers | Limit per passenger | Approximate US dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Baggage — destroyed, lost, damaged or delayed | 1,519 SDR | about US$2,080 |
| Damages caused by delay to the passenger | 6,303 SDR | about US$8,650 |
| Death or bodily injury (strict-liability tier) | 151,880 SDR | about US$208,000 |
These figures took effect on 28 December 2024 and replaced the 2019 limits. They came from the fourth review under the Convention’s built-in five-yearly inflation mechanism, so the next revision is due around 28 December 2029 (ICAO). If a page or a letter quotes you the older numbers, it has not been updated.
The dollar column is an approximation. The Convention sets the limits in Special Drawing Rights, an IMF unit of account valued daily from a basket of major currencies. On 4 September 2026 the IMF valued 1 SDR at US$1.371890. Convert at the rate on the date you claim, and quote the SDR figure in your letter rather than a currency amount.
One cap for the whole bag
The 1,519 SDR figure under Montreal Convention, Article 22(2) is a single per-passenger ceiling covering destruction, loss, damage and delay together. It is not 1,519 SDR per incident. The only way to raise it is a special declaration of interest made at check-in at the latest, with a supplementary fee paid at the time — after that, the airline is liable up to the declared sum.
Delay damages under Article 22(1) are not automatic. You have to prove the money you actually lost: receipted replacement clothing, a prepaid booking you missed, a taxi you would not otherwise have taken. No receipts, no claim.
The deadlines are short and hard
| Claim | Written-complaint deadline |
|---|---|
| Damaged checked baggage | 7 days from the date the bag was placed at your disposal |
| Delayed checked baggage | 21 days from the date the bag was placed at your disposal |
| Court action on any Montreal claim | 2 years from arrival, or from when the aircraft should have arrived |
Those periods are set by Articles 31 and 35 of the Convention and restated in the passenger notice annexed to Regulation (EC) No 889/2002.
Miss the 7 or 21 days and the baggage claim is usually gone. File the Property Irregularity Report before you leave the airport, then send a dated written claim — email is fine — inside the window even if you do not yet know the amount. Use the damaged, delayed or lost baggage letter. Run your own dates through the deadlines tool rather than counting on your fingers.
When is a delayed bag treated as lost?
The Convention lets you treat a bag as lost once the carrier admits it, or after 21 days from the date it should have arrived. At that point the claim moves from a delay claim to a loss claim, still under the same 1,519 SDR cap. Keep claiming the interim expenses either way.
Does Montreal apply to my flight?
It applies to international carriage between two states that are both parties to the Convention, and to a return trip that starts and ends in one such state with an agreed stop in another. A US domestic flight is not Montreal: the airline’s liability for a checked bag is set by 14 CFR 254.4, which bars it from limiting liability below $4,700 per passenger. See US passenger rights.
Can I claim EU261 and Montreal for the same flight?
Yes, for different losses. EU261 or UK261 pays a fixed sum for the disruption itself — see the amounts table. Montreal pays your proven out-of-pocket loss on baggage, and proven delay damages beyond that fixed sum. A long delayed international flight with a bag that arrived three days later can produce both, claimed separately and evidenced separately.
What the airline will ask for
The bag tag number, the Property Irregularity Report reference, your booking reference, the flight and date, and itemised receipts. Photograph a damaged bag before it is repaired, and keep the repair quote. If the airline offers a fixed goodwill sum below your evidenced loss, you can say no and restate the claim under Article 22(2), then escalate. Items missing from an opened bag are damage under Article 17(2) too, not a separate category — see the pilfered baggage letter — and a damaged wheelchair or other mobility device follows its own rules rather than the ordinary cap, covered in the mobility equipment claim letter.