Your flight has landed and the carousel has stopped, but your suitcase is missing. The immediate priority is to record the problem and establish how you will receive updates. Before leaving baggage reclaim, take time to check the details and gather your documents. A clear record now makes later conversations easier.
Delayed, lost or damaged?
A suitcase missing from the carousel is not necessarily officially lost. It may be delayed and under investigation; ask the carrier to confirm its status. A suitcase that arrives with a broken wheel presents a damage issue. Missing contents should be described separately. If a delayed bag eventually arrives damaged, report that additional problem too.
Your arrival checklist
- Check the carousel shown for your flight. Ask whether your bag could be at the oversized baggage collection point. Match the tag before taking any similar-looking suitcase.
- Find the baggage service handling your flight. AZAL’s official baggage guidance instructs passengers with missing or damaged baggage to contact Lost and Found immediately and complete a Property Irregularity Report, or PIR.
- Have your boarding pass, baggage tag receipt and itinerary ready. Describe the suitcase clearly, including its colour, size, brand and distinctive features.
- Obtain a copy of the PIR and its reference number. AZAL identifies this as the number used to track the bag. Check your name, contact details and the recorded problem.
- Ask how to get updates and what happens next. Explain any upcoming change of hotel or city. Confirm how to update the delivery address rather than assuming a new message has been received.
Keep one organised evidence folder
Save copies of the report, tag, ticket, boarding pass and correspondence together. Keep the paper originals too. Add any existing photographs of the suitcase. If several bags are missing, check that every relevant tag number appears in the report. Clear file names help distinguish different passengers’ bags on a family trip.
Keep a brief timeline with your arrival time, the desk you visited, instructions received and subsequent contact dates. Include the existing reference in follow-up messages. Ask whether a separate written expense claim is required: do not assume that opening a tracing report also submits a financial claim.
Record essential purchases carefully
If you need replacement essentials while waiting, record what you bought, when, how much it cost and why it was needed. Photograph readable receipts before they get lost. Basic toiletries or a simple change of clothes may be practical purchases. Before buying an expensive replacement, ask the airline about the conditions that apply.
Turkish Airlines’ delayed baggage guidance explains the supporting expense documents to retain for an application. This is not a promise that every purchase will be reimbursed by every airline. Check the submission requirements and deadline for your own case promptly.
When the bag comes back
Record the delivery date and inspect the suitcase and contents. Photograph damage or missing-item evidence and notify the airline using the existing reference. Keep receipts and correspondence until the outstanding issues are resolved.
Do not post your passport, full PIR, booking code, baggage tag or address publicly. Use verified official channels for requested documents. For your next trip, see Avia.az’s Azerbaijani-language cabin baggage guide. This checklist is practical guidance, not individual legal advice.
Sources checked: 6 November 2026.