Problems with your baggage

If your baggage appears to be lost, please keep all your flight documents, especially your boarding pass and the baggage claim tag. Please wait until all the baggage has been delivered at baggage reclaim. This can take up to one hour and, in rare cases, even longer. If one or more of your baggage items still cannot be found, please report this immediately so that an official report can be made.

You can report your loss as follows:

• at the Lufthansa baggage tracing desk at the airport or
  
• online via ​Delayed baggage service
  

You will then be given written confirmation as well as a reference number (PIR number, e.g. FRALH12345). It is essential that you keep this.

We search for your baggage using an international baggage tracing system, WorldTracer, to which several hundred airlines are connected.

You can check the progress made in tracing your baggage online with the help of your reference number (PIR number, e.g. FRALH12345), and you can also change your details. Most importantly, if the delivery address or your contact details are incorrect or if they have changed, please amend them here.

If you are unable to get the information you require or cannot amend your details using the link provided, you will find a contact telephone number on your written confirmation receipt of your missing baggage report.

The majority of missing items of baggage are found within the first 24 hours. As soon as your baggage turns up at your destination airport, we will contact you to set up a delivery time. It sometimes happens – in rare cases – that a baggage item cannot be found within five days. In this case too, Lufthansa will contact you by phone and ask you to make a list of the contents* of your delayed baggage item.

We will use this list of contents to carry out an intensive search for the contents of your baggage. This search for baggage contents enables us to match most items of delayed baggage with their respective owners. For this reason, please make your list of contents as detailed as possible, providing all the information about your baggage you can think of, but after five days have elapsed.

* To view the document correctly, please use Adobe Acrobat Reader

If one or more of your baggage items are damaged on arrival, please report this immediately so that an official report can be made. You will then be given written confirmation as well as a reference number (PIR number, e.g. FRALH12345). It is essential that you keep this.

You can report the damage as follows:

• at the Lufthansa baggage tracing desk at the airport or
  
• at the Lufthansa service counter at the airport

In the event that you don’t notice the damage until you have arrived home or at your hotel, you must report it in writing within the legally stipulated period of seven days after your flight. You must also provide proof that the damage was caused while your baggage was under the care of the airline concerned. Once we have received your complete damage report, you will be given confirmation in writing with a reference number.

If you have left something behind on board on one of our aircrafts or in one of our Lufthansa lounges, please report this straight away on arrival either:

• at the Lufthansa baggage tracing desk at the airport or
• at the Lufthansa service counter at the airport.
  

With the help of your detailed description, we will carry out an intensive search and endeavour to locate this item as quickly as possible. As soon as we have found it, we will contact you to arrange how to return it to you.

If individual items or the entire contents of your baggage are missing, you should report this immediately upon arrival:

• at the Lufthansa baggage tracing desk at the airport or
• at the Lufthansa service counter at the airport
  

Reporting the loss at a later date can only be accepted if this is made in writing online within seven days.

If you have to purchase replacement items because your baggage is delayed, we will, of course, reimburse you for any necessary expenses in accordance with legal requirements. We will reimburse up to 50 per cent of the cost of outer clothing, shoes and other items that have a long-term use. The cost of replacement underwear and cosmetics will be reimbursed in full. In this case, please retain all your receipts so that you can make your claim later.  After you have reported the damage of your baggage (at the airport or online), please contact Lufthansa ​Customer Relations for a refund of your verified costs.

On proof of evidence (proofs of purchase, receipts), compensation can be paid up to approx. €1,336* (maximum amount laid down in the Montreal Convention). Liability applies to international and German domestic flights in the event of damage, destruction, loss or partial loss as well as delayed delivery of baggage per journey and traveller.

In general, you are responsible for your carry-on baggage and any personal belongings yourself. We always recommend booking a baggage insurance.

Lufthansa is not liable for normal wear and tear, such as scratches and dents, or for damage to cases that have been overfilled or to breakable objects that have not been properly packaged.

* Compensation is specified in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR). The Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an artificial accounting unit created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDR 1,131 is currently equivalent to approx. €1,336. This sum is subject to currency fluctuations and therefore may change. Please note that the maximum liability sum after 28.12.2019 will be SDR 1,288.

You should report any loss or damage of your baggage at the Lufthansa baggage tracing desk, at the Lufthansa service counter at the airport or online immediately upon arrival.

A subsequent report in writing can be made within the legally stipulated time period, but in this case the burden of proof is reversed and you must provide evidence that the problem occurred during air transportation.

Please note that the postmark or automatic date of receipt in the case of fax or email notification is the determining factor for compliance with reporting deadlines.