How to Deal with Lost Luggage: The 24-Hour PIR Protocol

You land after a 9-hour flight, watch the carousel empty, and realize your checked bag is not coming.

The next 24 hours decide whether you get the bag back, get reimbursed for the essentials, or end up paying for the airline’s mistake out of your own pocket.

Using the same 22-liter bag for months at a time, Tor has run this exact protocol on 3 separate lost-luggage events and reclaimed every dollar of essentials each time.

The fix is the PIR protocol below, written for the traveler standing at the empty carousel: file the Property Irregularity Report at the airport before you leave, ask the agent directly about the interim cash voucher most airlines hand out without prompting, track the bag via World Tracer for daily location updates, and escalate to the formal claim if the bag stays missing past day 21.

The 4 windows are: file PIR before leaving the airport, buy 100 to 250 dollars of essentials with receipts within 48 hours, formally claim within 21 days, then escalate to small claims or DOT complaint past day 30 if unresolved.

The structure walks the exact baggage-service desk conversation, the per-day 100-to-250-dollar essentials cap and how to actually claim it, the 3500 SDR (about 5000 dollar) Montreal Convention reimbursement ceiling, and the 5-item carry-on packing rule that prevents the worst version of the lost-luggage scenario.

The first 4 hours: file the PIR at the airport

• Go to the airline’s baggage-service desk in the arrivals hall before leaving the airport
• Request a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) and get a copy with the file reference number
• Provide the bag tag stub (the sticker the agent gave you at check-in)
• Describe the bag: color, brand, size, distinguishing marks, contents summary
• Confirm the delivery address and phone number for when the bag is found

The PIR is the legal document that triggers airline liability, full stop.

Without it, the airline can and will deny the claim entirely, so file it before leaving the airport even if the line is 40 minutes long and the taxi is waiting outside.

Be as friendly as humanly possible at the baggage-service desk: agents have discretion on the interim voucher amount, and friendly gets friendly back, every single time.

The next 48 hours: essentials kit and receipts

• Most airlines reimburse 100 to 250 dollars per day for essentials (toiletries, underwear, basic outfit)
• Keep every receipt: drugstore, clothing, charger replacements
• Submit receipts via the airline’s app or email within 48 hours of filing the PIR
• Some airlines (Delta, Lufthansa) issue interim cash or store vouchers at the airport counter
• Ask explicitly: “What is the interim allowance and how do I claim it?”

The interim-essentials reimbursement is real but the airlines never advertise it because most travelers never ask, full stop. Ask the agent at the desk by name (Delta and Lufthansa hand vouchers over the counter), save every receipt as a phone photo the moment you buy the item, and submit through the app within 48 hours.

Days 3 to 21: tracking and escalation

• Track the bag via the airline’s World Tracer link (provided in the PIR confirmation)
• Most bags (95 percent) reunite within 48 to 72 hours via courier delivery to the hotel or home
• If bag stays missing past 5 days, send a formal escalation email referencing the PIR number
• By day 21, if no resolution, file the formal lost-luggage claim under the Montreal Convention
• Document everything: PIR copy, receipts, communication timestamps

Per the US DOT lost-baggage guidance, the airline is liable for delayed or lost checked bags up to 3500 SDR (about 5000 dollars) per passenger on international flights under the Montreal Convention.

The carry-on packing strategy that prevents the worst case

• Medications: all daily meds and a 3-day buffer in the carry-on, never checked
• Documents: passport, visa, hotel confirmation, insurance card
• Electronics and chargers: phone, laptop, power bank, all chargers
• One full change of clothes plus underwear (compresses small in a cube)
• Toiletries: travel-size kit including toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant

The carry-on packing rule turns a 5-day lost-luggage event from a trip-ruining disaster into a 100 dollar inconvenience, full stop.

The bag-space tradeoff for 5 items (meds, docs, electronics, one outfit, toiletries) is the cheapest insurance policy in travel, and the only one that pays out instantly when the bag never shows up.

Tor’s variation on the outfit slot: pack the wear-on-plane outfit as the only checked-bag-replacement clothes, then plan to buy fresh local clothes from a Uniqlo (or whatever local equivalent) on day 1, which doubles as the “treat yourself” arrival ritual and saves carry-on space.

Common lost-luggage mistakes that cost reimbursement

• Leaving the airport without filing the PIR (the airline can later deny the entire claim)
• Buying essentials without keeping every receipt (no receipt means no reimbursement)
• Buying a 200 dollar designer shirt for “essentials” when the cap is 100 to 250 dollars per day
• Forgetting to follow up via World Tracer (bags get found and undelivered when contact info is wrong)
• Missing the 21-day formal-claim window (Montreal Convention liability lapses past this)
• Packing all medications in the checked bag (the single worst mistake)

The receipt-keeping rule is the one that catches most travelers off guard, full stop.

Snap a phone photo of every receipt the second you walk out of the drugstore or clothing shop, not at the end of the trip when half are lost in pockets and half are faded thermal-paper ghosts.

The Tor allocation rule applies in reverse here: heaviest items go in the personal item (the sneakiest slot in the system, weighed almost never), so even the carry-on essentials kit can absorb 2 to 3 kg of replacement gear without the gate agent flinching.

The Montreal Convention vs Warsaw Convention difference

• Montreal Convention (most international flights since 2003): 3500 SDR (about 5000 dollars) liability cap per passenger
• Warsaw Convention (older treaties, some routes): much lower 1131 SDR cap per checked bag
• Domestic US flights: capped at 3800 dollars per DOT regulation, no SDR conversion
• Codeshare flights: liability tied to the operating airline, not the marketing carrier
• Travel insurance often covers the gap above these caps if declared at the time of purchase

The convention that applies depends on the flight route, not the airline. International flights between Montreal Convention countries (137 member states as of 2026) get the higher 3500 SDR cap automatically, while older Warsaw-only routes default to roughly 1131 SDR per bag.

Pin this so you’re ready if your luggage ever goes missing.