What do you do if the airline loses your luggage?

Lost luggage is a surprisingly common phenomenon. Nowadays most airlines electronically tag all bags, and even if they get put on the wrong flight, they'll usually find their way to your hotel in 24 hours. In most cases, once it does arrive, a courier service will deliver it from the arrival airport to you at your hotel with delivery charges paid by the airline.

The first thing to do when your luggage doesn't turn up on the carousel is to find an airline representative or the lost baggage desk and tell them. They'll fill in a lost baggage report - sometimes known as a Property Irregularity Report. Try to give them as much information about your bag and be accurate with your forwarding address.

You must get a lost luggage report if you plan to make a claim, and this document normally carries the contact details so that you can check the progress of the finding your luggage. (Try to use a local landline when checking on progress as call costs aren't covered by the policy).

Making a claim for essential items
Once your luggage has been lost for more than 10 hours, you may be able to claim for the cost of any essential articles such as basic clothing and toiletries. When considering what is essential, we suggest you be sensible and keep that $4,000 Gucci suit and a Dior toothbrush purchase for another time as its unlikely TID will consider that a necessity... and it may blow your benefit limit. Benefit limits vary between plans, so check your plan's limits for Emergency Luggage before you start spending.

Remember, keep your expenses to a minimum and get receipts for all your purchases if you plan to make a claim, as you will need to provide these when you lodge a claim. 

This is a brief summary of cover only and does not include the full terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions. Read the PDS before purchasing.