United Airlines: delayed bag

Collect

• bag tag
• file reference number ending in M
• confirmation number
• itinerary
• dated receipts
• photo ID

Steps

1. Report the bag before you leave the airport, online, by text (BAGS to 32050) or by phone. Domestic trips within 24 hours of arrival; international trips within 21 days. Keep the file reference number that ends in M.

   FormReport a delayed bag online (schedule pickup or free delivery)

2. If you cannot report online (for example a green-tagged gate-checked bag), call the Baggage Recovery Center.

   PhoneBaggage Recovery Center +1-800-335-2247

3. Follow the bag in the bag tracker. Report delays only at the final destination, not at a connection.

   OnlineBag tracker

4. Submit the interim expenses claim with dated receipts within 45 days of arrival (21 days if international).

   FormDelayed bag interim expenses claim (clothes and toiletries)

5. If the bag arrived more than 12 hours late on a domestic flight, check that the bag fee was refunded automatically; if not, request it.

   FormRefund form (tickets, bag fees, Wi-Fi and other purchases)

6. If the bag is still missing 5 days after arrival, file a lost bag claim (see lost_baggage).

   FormLost bag claim

7. If United does not respond, file a complaint with the U.S. DOT.

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

More contacts for this issue

Facts you can cite

• Deadline

  United's bag help page says to report delayed bags within 24 hours of arrival for travel in the U.S., Guam, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and within 21 days of arrival for international travel. Submit the reimbursement claim within 45 days of arrival (domestic) or 21 days (international).

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

• Deadline

  Contract of Carriage Rule 28 (domestic carriage) requires a preliminary notice of claim within twenty-four hours after arrival of the flight for loss of, damage to or delay of baggage, and the completed written claim form must be received by United's System Tracing Center within 45 days after the flight date. Without either, absent extraordinary circumstances, no action lies against United.

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

• Deadline

  For international carriage under the Warsaw or Montreal Convention, Rule 28 says a complaint must be made within seven calendar days for damage to baggage and 21 calendar days for delay, and an action for damages must be brought within two years.

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

• Compensation

  United automatically refunds bag fees if a bag is delayed over 12 hours on a domestic flight, over 15 hours on an international flight of less than 12 hours, or over 30 hours on an international flight longer than 12 hours.

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

• Policy

  United covers reasonable and necessary purchases of clothing and toiletries while a bag is delayed and you are away from home. Dated receipts showing the items and costs are required.

  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

  2 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

    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

  1 citable point

  • Deadline

    A delayed checked wheelchair or assistive device must be delivered within 24 hours of the passenger's arrival for domestic flights, and within 30 hours of arrival for long international flights (more than 12 hours).

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

• DOT automatic refund rule for airline tickets and ancillary fees (2024)
  14 CFR part 260 and 14 CFR part 262 (89 FR 32760, April 26, 2024; amended 89 FR 65534, August 12, 2024)

  Airlines operating to, from or within the U.S. must give a full cash refund (to the original form of payment) when they cancel or significantly change a flight and the passenger does not accept the alternative. Refunds are due within 7 business days (credit card) or 20 calendar days (other payment). Airlines must also refund checked bag fees for significantly delayed bags and fees for paid extras that were not provided. Until July 7, 2027, DOT does not enforce the rule in one narrow case: a flight that is only renumbered, with no significant change or delay.

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

  2 citable points

  • Deadline

    A checked bag is "significantly delayed" if it is not delivered or picked up within 12 hours of the last flight segment's arrival for domestic itineraries; within 15 hours for international itineraries whose non-stop segment to or from the U.S. is 12 hours or less; or within 30 hours when that segment is more than 12 hours. The 15- and 30-hour standards also apply to domestic segments of international itineraries.

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

  • Policy

    The carrier must refund the checked bag fee for a lost or significantly delayed bag. The passenger must first file a Mishandled Baggage Report with the carrier that operated the flight (or the last segment of a multi-carrier itinerary). No refund is due if the delay was caused by the passenger, for example by not rechecking the bag at the first U.S. entry point for customs.

    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

  5 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 delay, the complaint must be made at the latest within twenty-one days from the date on which the baggage was placed at the passenger's disposal (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

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

Related

• Delayed bag at other companies
• How United Airlines complaints actually go (dossier, checked 2026-10-12)
• Airlines — how complaints work
• United Airlines: flight cancelled or significantly changed
• United Airlines: long delay
• United Airlines: lost bag
• United Airlines: damaged bag
• United Airlines: bumped or denied boarding
• United Airlines: paid extra and did not get it