US DOT $What a US airline can be made to pay for a lost or delayed bag

Checked 15 Sep 2026·6 min read

$4,700 per passenger is the lowest baggage liability limit a US airline may set for a domestic flight on an aircraft with more than 60 seats. That figure is a floor under the carrier’s own liability, not a payout owed automatically, and which rule reaches your bag at all depends on the itinerary, not the airline. The cross-regime picture sits on the lost and delayed baggage guide; this page follows one figure and what it is not.

#US DOT $How low can a US airline set its baggage liability limit?

$4,700 per passenger is the floor 14 CFR 254.4 sets under a US airline’s baggage liability, on aircraft with more than 60 seats: no domestic carrier may write its own limit any lower. DOT raised the figure from $3,800 in the rule at 89 FR 84815, effective 22 January 2025.

Source: 14 CFR 254.4 - ecfr.gov; 14 CFR 250.5(e) - ecfr.gov; 89 FR 84815 - federalregister.gov, checked 2026-09-15.

A floor is not a payout. Section 254.4 stops the tariff from going lower than $4,700; it does not hand every passenger that sum. What a passenger actually receives is proven loss, up to whatever ceiling the carrier’s own tariff states, which may sit exactly at the floor, or above it. Wheelchairs are the exception: on a domestic flight one is valued at its original purchase price, with no $4,700 cap (flying with a disability).

The figure is not fixed for good. It was last raised by 89 FR 84815, the rule that revises denied-boarding compensation and domestic baggage liability together, and the denied-boarding side of that cycle runs every two years against the July Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers under 14 CFR 250.5(e). No 2026 adjustment had been published in the eCFR text when it was checked on 15 September 2026, so read 14 CFR 254.4 again on the day you file, not from this page.

A suitcase valued at $6,200 and proven with receipts is still capped at the floor if the tariff states no higher figure: $4,700 is the most you can recover, not the full $6,200, unless its own tariff promises more.

Quote “$4,700 under 14 CFR 254.4” in your claim letter, and re-check the eCFR figure before you send it.

#Which rule covers your bag: the US domestic floor or the Convention?

International, not domestic, is the test that actually matters: 14 CFR Part 254 sets the US floor only for domestic itineraries. An international itinerary is governed by the Montreal Convention instead, where article 22(2) caps a baggage claim in Special Drawing Rights, not dollars.

Source: 14 CFR 254.4 - ecfr.gov; Montreal Convention 1999 art. 22(2) - eur-lex.europa.eu; DOT Fly Rights (international itineraries) - transportation.gov, checked 2026-09-15.

Ask the itinerary the question, not the airline. 14 CFR Part 254 uses the word “domestic”, and DOT’s own Fly Rights points a passenger on an “international” itinerary to the Montreal Convention. Which word actually describes your trip is what decides the limit, not which airline operated it.

The consequence is sharp. Under Part 254, the floor is a dollar figure a domestic carrier cannot undercut. Under article 22(2) of the Convention, the ceiling is a figure in Special Drawing Rights, and this site states it only on the Montreal Convention guide — never converted into dollars, because a converted figure is not a legal amount.

Chicago to Dallas, with no international segment anywhere on the ticket, is domestic under Part 254. Chicago to Frankfurt is the itinerary DOT’s own guidance sends to the Convention instead. Between those two ends, read the ticket itself, not a guess about the airline’s usual routes.

Check whether your ticket reads “domestic” or “international” before you decide which page’s figure applies to your case.

#What the US federal rules do not do for a mishandled bag

14 CFR Part 254 and Part 260 do two narrow jobs and stop there: 254 sets a liability floor for proven loss, and 260 refunds a bag fee once a report is filed. Neither pays for the days you spent without your belongings, and neither is delay compensation.

Source: DOT Fly Rights (no federal requirement for a delayed flight) - transportation.gov; 14 CFR 259.7(c) - ecfr.gov; 14 CFR 260.5(b) - ecfr.gov, checked 2026-09-15.

DOT’s own guidance for a delayed flight is direct: “there are no federal requirements” forcing a US airline to pay a passenger for the time lost, and that absence carries over to the bag the same way — nothing in Part 254 or Part 260 pays for time itself, only for the loss, or the fee.

Three related questions live on other pages, not this one: the fee-refund table and its Mishandled Baggage Report condition sit on bag fees and extras, what the airport report itself does sits on the report you file at the airport, and federal rules for the delayed flight itself, not the bag, sit on the delayed and canceled flight guide.

Complain about a mishandled bag and DOT directs the airline to respond to you, with a copy sent to DOT — it does not investigate every case, or set a payment itself. File with the airline first, then use the DOT complaint route.

Not your situation? A flight out of an EU or UK airport, or one covered by Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, has its own rules: see EU261, UK261 or Canada APPR. The which-law-covers-my-flight guide sorts mixed itineraries, and the transatlantic flight compensation guide covers EU261 and UK261 on flights between Europe and the US.

Read the eCFR figure again before you file, and send the flight-delay question to its own page.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the US Department of Transportation, the Canadian Transportation Agency or Citizens Advice.

#Sources

All sources checked 2026-09-15.

• 14 CFR 254.4 - ecfr.gov
• 14 CFR 250.5(e) - ecfr.gov
• Montreal Convention 1999, art. 22(2) - eur-lex.europa.eu
• 14 CFR 260.2, 260.5 - ecfr.gov
• 14 CFR 259.7 - ecfr.gov
• US DOT, 89 FR 84815 (2024) - federalregister.gov
• DOT, Fly Rights - transportation.gov
• DOT, File a consumer complaint - transportation.gov

#FAQ

What is the US domestic baggage liability limit?

$4,700 per passenger is the floor a US airline's baggage liability may not go below, on domestic flights with aircraft of more than 60 seats, under 14 CFR 254.4. DOT raised it from $3,800 in the rule at 89 FR 84815, effective 22 January 2025.

Is the limit the same on an international flight from the US?

14 CFR Part 254 sets the US domestic floor only, and does not reach an international itinerary. There the Montreal Convention governs, and article 22(2) caps a baggage claim in Special Drawing Rights, not dollars. The figure is stated on the Montreal Convention guide. DOT's own Fly Rights points international passengers to the Convention.