Baggage problems

If you have not received your bag by the time the baggage reclaim has ended, please report this immediately before leaving the airport. At most airports this can be done online or at the baggage tracing desk.

Once you have reported your delayed bag, you will receive written confirmation by email with a reference number (PIR no., e.g. VIEOS12345). We recommend that you remain at the airport until your details have been successfully transmitted and you have received a reference number. Please retain this together with your flight documents, in particular your boarding pass and the baggage receipt. Your bag will be sent on and delivered to you as quickly as possible. You can check the current status of your delayed baggage report at any time with our ​Chat AssistantThe link will be opened in a new browser tab.

Make sure that you also subscribe to baggage status updates when you create a delayed baggage report to receive these directly via email. If you do not receive any baggage status updates, you can also activate these later via our ​Chat AssistantThe link will be opened in a new browser tab.

You can check the progress in tracing your baggage via our ​Chat AssistantThe link will be opened in a new browser tab using your reference number (PIR no., e.g. FRALH12345). You can also amend your contact details. It’s especially important that you update them here if the delivery address is incorrect or has changed. We need this to deliver the bag.

If you are unable to get the information you require using the link provided, or you cannot amend your details, you will find a contact telephone number on the written confirmation receipt of your delayed baggage report. (You will receive the written confirmation of your delayed baggage report at the baggage tracing desk or attached to the confirmation email after you have reported your delayed bag online.)

At certain times of the year, such as during the peak travel season, there may be delays with delivery. However, we will make every effort to ensure speedy processing and ask for your understanding.

In the rare case that your bag cannot be found within five days of reporting the delay, we will require a detailed description of your bag and its contents to initiate a detailed search. The information you provide will help us find your bag among the bags that have not yet been identified and we can forward it to you as quickly as possible.

Please complete the list of contents on our baggage status page to do so. You will be able to access this automatically five days after reporting your delayed bag.

If your bag arrives late at your destination, you can purchase essential items such as toiletries and clothes, and submit the receipts for a refund. Please keep all the receipts to support your claim later.

Please send us the following documents:

• original loss report;
• original purchase receipts for replacement items; and
• your bank details (for overseas transfers incl. IBAN and BIC).

The fastest way to send them is via our contact form by clicking on the button and then scrolling to the “Baggage delay” section.

Alternatively, you can send your documents to the following address:

Austrian Airlines
Feedback Management
P.O. box 33
A-1300 Vienna Airport

Please note:

• We recommend that you carry valuables such as jewellery, money or medicines in your hand luggage.
• You are obliged to keep the expenses for the purchase of replacement items as low as possible in the event of a baggage delay (“duty to mitigate damages”). Austrian Airlines will contribute to the costs subject to proportionality.
• Expenses for replacement purchases made after your arrival back home will also be considered for a refund. Please note that you as the passenger are especially obliged to behave in a manner that minimises any claims here. Expenses for replacement purchases that can be assumed to be available at your home will not be refunded.
• Items that you can continue to use (e.g. clothes) will be refunded at a rate of 50%, while toiletries or single-use items will be refunded at 100%*.

* Exceptions apply to the USA and Canada due to local legislation (US DOT and CTA).

You can apply for a refund of the expenses for replacement items within two years after your flight, providing you have reported your bag as delayed.

You are entitled to compensation for the loss of your bag providing you have reported your bag as delayed within the reporting deadlines (at the airport or online), completed the contents list on the baggage status page, and your bag has been delayed for more than 21 days. If this is the case, you must submit your claim for compensation for the loss of your baggage within two years. Please contact Austrian Airlines Feedback Management in this case.

The fastest way to send them is via our contact form by clicking on the button and then scrolling to the “Baggage delay” section.

Alternatively, you can send your documents to the following address:

Austrian Airlines
Feedback Management
P.O. box 33
A-1300 Vienna Airport

The maximum amount that can be refunded in the event of the complete loss of your bag is regulated by the Montreal Convention.

Please note:

• We recommend that you carry valuables such as jewellery, money or medicines in your hand luggage.
• You are responsible for your hand luggage.

The liability of airlines for travel baggage is regulated by law. The compensation entitlement is granted according to the Montreal Convention. The compensation itself is specified in so-called Special Drawing Rights (SDR). The Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an artificial accounting unit created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The maximum liability is 1,288 SDRs at present, which is currently equivalent to approx. EUR 1,500. This amount is subject to exchange rate fluctuations and may therefore change.

The Montreal Convention only applies if the following conditions are met:

The law applies both to domestic and international carriage between the contracting states. For checked baggage, the airline is liable for the delayed bag, irrespective of fault. This right only applies if the baggage delay report and the claim for compensation are submitted within the deadlines specified in the contract.

If you have reported your baggage as delayed but it has since been retrieved (e.g. the bag arrived on the baggage carousel after you reported it), you can close the report using our ​Chat Assistant. 

When prompted by the Chat Assistant, please enter your reference number and your family name. This information is important so that the Chat Assistant can locate your report. If your report is eligible for closure based on its current status (i.e. processing or delivery has not yet started), the report will be closed and we will stop all tracing activities for your delayed baggage.