Baggage issues
Although we work closely with our ground handling partners, an item of baggage may be delayed in arriving at the destination airport or arrive damaged. We will of course make every effort to recover your baggage as quickly as possible or to compensate you for the damage to your item of baggage.
If one or more of your items of baggage cannot be found, please report this immediately online and retain all flight documents, especially your boarding pass and the baggage tag.
You can report delayed baggage online up to four days after your flight using the following link:
If you do not manage to report the delay until five days or later after your flight, please use our contact form. The statutory reporting period lasts for 21 days after your flight.
After reporting, you will receive confirmation and a reference number via email (PIR number, e.g. FRA4Y12345). It is essential that you retain these in order to receive information about the status of the search for your baggage. Alternatively, you can report the baggage delay to the baggage tracing desk at your destination or transfer airport.
The vast majority of missing items of baggage are found within 24 hours. We will contact you as soon as your baggage arrives at the destination airport to arrange the delivery with you.
In rare cases, an item of baggage may not be found within the 5-day period. Also in this case, we will contact you and ask you to complete a list of contents for your delayed item of baggage. The list of contents you fill out will be used to carry out an in-depth extensive search your luggage. This extensive search enables us to allocate the majority of delayed items of baggage. For this reason, we ask you to fill out the list of contents in as much detail as possible, including all the information about your item of luggage.
Applying for compensation
If there is a delay in your baggage arriving at the destination, you can purchase necessary items such as hygiene products and clothing and submit the receipts to Discover Airlines for reimbursement. Please keep all evidence in order to substantiate your claims. After you have reported your delayed luggage (at the airport or online), you can use our contact form to request that your proven costs be reimbursed.
Please note:
- Please transport valuables such as jewelry, money and medication in your carry-on baggage.
- In the event of a baggage delay, you are obligated to ensure that the costs of replacement items are kept as low as possible (duty to mitigate damages). Discover Airlines will contribute to the costs, taking into account the principle of proportionality.
- The purchasing of replacements after you arrive home will also be considered for a refund. However, all passengers have a particular duty to mitigate damages. Reimbursements for replacement purchases that in all likelihood would have been available at the home location may be refused.
- Items that you can continue to use (e.g. clothing) will be reimbursed at a rate of 50%, while hygiene products or single-use items will be reimbursed at a rate of 100%. Exceptions apply in the USA and Canada due to local legislation (US DOT and CTA).
After your flight, you can request reimbursement for the cost of replacement purchases within 2 years if you have reported your baggage as being delayed.
Lost baggage
Under the following conditions, you are entitled to compensation for the loss of your item of baggage:
- You have reported your baggage as being delayed (at the airport or online) within the reporting deadlines;
- You have completed the list of contents on the baggage status page and;
- Your baggage is delayed by over 21 days
If this is the case, you must submit an application for compensation for the loss of your baggage within two years. Please use our contact form to do this.
The liability of the airlines for travel baggage is regulated by law. The claim for compensation is granted in accordance with the Montreal Convention. The compensation itself is determined using what is referred to as special drawing rights (SDRs). The special drawing right (SDRs) are an artificial reserve asset established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The current maximum liability limit is 1,288 SDRs, which currently corresponds to around 1,500 euros. This amount is subject to exchange rate fluctuations and therefore may change.
The Montreal Convention only applies if the following criteria are met: The law applies to both domestic and international transportation between the contracting states. Once baggage is checked in, the airline is liable for the baggage delay regardless of fault. This right only applies if the reporting of the baggage delay and the claim for compensation are submitted within the deadlines as specified in the contract.
If your baggage is damaged after the flight, please report this immediately online or to the baggage drop at the airport so that we can take care of your issue as soon as possible. Please retain all flight documents, in particularly your boarding pass and baggage tag.
You can report damaged baggage online up to four days after your flight using the following link:
If you do not notice the damage until five days after your flight or later, please use our contact form. The statutory reporting period is seven days after your flight. You must also prove that the damage has occurred while the baggage was in the care of the relevant airline.
After you have reported the damage to your baggage, you will receive an email confirmation with a reference number (e.g. FRA4Y12345), which you should keep in a safe place. The confirmation lists all other the other steps you need to take.
The damage report is then checked by our partner Dolfi and the damage is assessed in accordance with our guidelines. Dolfi will then contact you regarding any potential compensation or take care of repairing or replacing your luggage.
You will normally be contacted within a few working days. Please be patient if it takes a little more time to respond. Please rest assured that once your damaged baggage has been reported, we will be actively working towards a resolution for the issue.
Provided you report your damaged baggage in good time, you are entitled to compensation in accordance with the Montreal Convention. To settle the damage, we need an expert opinion regarding the value of and damage to the baggage item, or a purchase receipt for the damaged item of baggage. The current value is always taken into consideration when determining the reimbursement amount. For each year of use that has commenced, 15 percent of the value is deducted.
With all the holiday excitement, personal items can easily be forgotten on board the plane, but there’s no need to worry! Our crews drop off all items left behind at the Lost and Found Office in the airport at the corresponding destination. These objects are stored there for three months.
Lost property at Frankfurt Airport or on flights to Frankfurt:
Please use the lost property request form at Frankfurt Airport to report your loss. Alternatively, you can also contact the Lost and Found Office directly. It is located on Terminal 1, area A, level 0 and is open Monday to Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
