United Airlines: damaged bag

Collect

• photos of the damage
• bag tag
• file reference number ending in A or D
• repair estimate or receipts
• photo ID

Steps

1. At the airport, report the damage at the Baggage Service Office before you leave. Ask if a replacement bag is available.

2. If you find the damage after leaving the airport, report it by text (BAGS to 32050), chat or phone within 24 hours of arrival (7 days if international). Keep the file reference number ending in A or D.

   PhoneBaggage Recovery Center +1-800-335-2247

3. If the agent directs you to rynnsluggage.com for repair or replacement, submit that claim within 14 days of the damage report.

4. If the agent directs you to claim with United, submit the damaged bag claim within 45 days of arrival (21 days if international).

   FormDamaged bag claim

5. For items missing from the bag, file the missing items claim (report within 24 hours of arrival, 7 days if international).

   FormMissing items claim (items missing from a checked bag)

6. For a damaged wheelchair or assistive device that you could not report on arrival, contact the Assistive Device Desk.

   PhoneAssistive Device Desk (wheelchairs and assistive devices; toll free within the U.S. and Canada) +1-866-261-2395

7. Damage caused during TSA screening is claimed with TSA, not United.

   RegulatorTransportation Security Administration +1-866-289-9673

More contacts for this issue

Facts you can cite

• Deadline

  United's bag help page says to report damaged bags within 24 hours of arrival for travel in the U.S., Guam, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and within 7 days for international travel. A claim to United is due within 45 days of arrival (domestic) or 21 days (international); a claim through rynnsluggage.com is due within 14 days of the damage report.

  Source: united.com, verified 2026-10-12

• Policy

  United is not liable for damage that does not impair the bag's ability to function, such as minor cuts, scratches, scuffs, dents, punctures, marks or soil from normal handling.

  Source: united.com, verified 2026-10-12

• Deadline

  For a lost, damaged or destroyed wheelchair or assistive device, Rule 28 requires a preliminary notice at the airport on arrival; if that is not possible, contact the Assistive Device Desk within 24 hours of arrival for domestic carriage, or within seven calendar days for carriage to or from Canada. For domestic carriage and carriage to or from Canada, the baggage liability limits do not apply to these claims, but the notice and claim requirements do.

  Source: united.com, verified 2026-10-12

Rules in force

• DOT domestic baggage liability limit
  14 CFR part 254 (limit revised by 89 FR 84815, October 24, 2024, effective January 22, 2025)

  On domestic flights, a U.S. airline may not limit its liability for provable direct or consequential damages from lost, damaged or delayed baggage to less than $4,700 per passenger. The limit was raised from $3,800 effective January 22, 2025. It does not apply to wheelchairs and other assistive devices.

  Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  4 citable points

  • Limit

    On flight segments using large aircraft (designed for more than 60 passenger seats), and on any segment on the same ticket as such a segment, a carrier may not limit its liability for provable direct or consequential damages from the loss of, damage to, or delay of a passenger's baggage in its custody to less than $4,700 for each passenger.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    The carrier must give conspicuous written notice on or with the ticket of its liability limit, or the statement "Federal rules require any limit on an airline's baggage liability to be at least $4,700 per passenger."

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    The part 254 limit does not apply to wheelchairs or other assistive devices. Compensation for a lost, damaged or destroyed wheelchair or assistive device is based on the device's original purchase price.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    DOT raised the limit from $3,800 to $4,700 by a rule effective January 22, 2025, and did not enforce the new limit until March 20, 2025.

    Source: federalregister.gov, verified 2026-10-12

• Air Carrier Access Act rules - complaints and wheelchair handling
  14 CFR part 382 (Wheelchair Rule, 89 FR 102398, December 17, 2024)

  Airlines must make a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO) available at every airport they serve, and must answer written disability complaints within 30 days. Under the 2024 Wheelchair Rule, airlines must deliver delayed wheelchairs quickly, repair or replace damaged ones, provide loaners, and pay based on the original purchase price on domestic trips. DOT is not enforcing four of the 2024 provisions until April 30, 2027.

  Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  2 citable points

  • Policy

    When a wheelchair or assistive device is lost, damaged or pilfered, the passenger may have the carrier repair or replace it with a device of equivalent or greater function at the carrier's cost, or use a preferred repair vendor with the carrier paying. The carrier must notify the passenger in writing of these rights, including the right to a loaner and to contact a CRO.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Limit

    For transportation covered by 14 CFR part 254 (domestic), the baggage liability limit does not apply to wheelchairs or other assistive devices, and compensation for a lost, damaged or destroyed device is based on its original purchase price. On international flights, Montreal Convention liability limits apply.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

• Montreal Convention 1999 - baggage liability and claim deadlines
  Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (Montreal, 1999), Articles 17, 19, 22, 31, 35

  For international air travel covered by the Montreal Convention, the airline is liable for lost, damaged or delayed checked baggage up to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) per passenger (revised limit effective 28 December 2024). Written complaints are due within 7 days of receiving a damaged bag and within 21 days after a delayed bag is returned. A lawsuit must be brought within two years.

  Source: icao.int, verified 2026-10-12

  6 citable points

  • Limit

    The baggage liability limit in Article 22, paragraph 2 is 1,519 SDR for each passenger, effective as of 28 December 2024 (revised from 1,288 SDR set in 2019; the original limit was 1,000 SDR).

    Source: icao.int, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    The baggage limit applies to destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage, unless the passenger made a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination when checking the bag and paid any supplementary sum required (Article 22(2)).

    Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    For damage to checked baggage, the passenger must complain to the carrier forthwith after discovering the damage and at the latest within seven days from the date of receipt (Article 31(2)).

    Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, verified 2026-10-12

  • Process

    Every complaint must be made in writing within these times. If no complaint is made in time, no action lies against the carrier, except in case of fraud on its part (Article 31(3) and (4)).

    Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    The right to damages is extinguished if an action is not brought within two years from the date of arrival at the destination, the date the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date the carriage stopped (Article 35(1)).

    Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    Under U.S. disability rules, Montreal Convention liability limits apply to mishandled wheelchairs and other assistive devices on international flights.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

If that fails, escalate

Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.

1. Customer service

   PhoneReservations and customer service, English (1-800-UNITED-1) +1-800-864-8331

2. Written complaint

   FormCustomer Care form (complaints, feedback, reimbursement of disruption expenses)

3. Federal regulator

   RegulatorU.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Aviation Consumer Protection +1-800-778-4838

4. Card or bank dispute

   Fair Credit Billing Act billing-error and purchase-dispute rights (Regulation Z)

   Electronic Fund Transfer Act error resolution and unauthorized-transfer liability (Regulation E)

   Card dispute for a refund United owes but has not paid.

State agencies for this sector: your state’s attorney general. Find yours in the list of state agencies, or as JSON in states/<code>.json (for example states/ny.json).

Watch out

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