My bag went missing on a connection and arrived four days later, by which point I had bought a replacement wardrobe and learned considerably more about the process than I wanted to.
Most of what I know now would have made those four days much easier, and almost all of it is preparation rather than reaction.
Report it before leaving the airport
The single most important thing and the one people get wrong because they are tired and want to go.
The claim must be filed at the airport, with the airline or their handling agent, before you leave the baggage area. Leaving and calling later complicates everything and in some cases forfeits the claim.
You receive a reference number. Keep it, photograph it, and use it for every subsequent contact.
Also ask specifically what the airline will reimburse for interim purchases and what evidence they require, and write down the answer with the name of the person who gave it.
Delayed, damaged and lost are three different things
Which matters because the entitlements differ.
Delayed baggage generally attracts reimbursement for reasonable essential purchases while you wait. What counts as reasonable is defined by the airline and is usually less than you would like.
A bag becomes officially lost after a period, commonly around three weeks, at which point a compensation process begins, based on weight or on a stated limit rather than on the value of the contents.
Damage must be reported within a short window, often seven days, and photographed.
The limits are set by international convention for international travel and they are lower than most people assume. A bag of expensive contents is substantially uninsured by the airline.
What I bought and what was reimbursed
I bought clothes, toiletries and a pair of shoes over four days, kept every receipt, and claimed.
The airline reimbursed most of it, at a level they described as reasonable, which excluded the shoes on the basis that I had a pair on my feet.
What made it work: itemised receipts, the reference number on every communication, and buying modestly. A claim for expensive replacements would have been reduced.
What I would do differently: ask for the daily limit in writing at the point of reporting, which I did not, and which left the assessment entirely to them.
What now goes in the cabin bag
The list, built from what I actually missed.
Medication, all of it, always. This is the one that genuinely matters and the one people leave in the hold.
A change of clothes and underwear. Two days' worth if there is room.
Anything valuable or irreplaceable. Documents, electronics, chargers.
Basic toiletries within the liquid rules, particularly anything you use daily that is specific to you.
And the thing I had not thought of: whatever you need for the first commitment of the trip. If there is a meeting, an event or a wedding, what you need for it does not go in the hold.
Making the bag findable
Practical measures that have a real effect.
A tag with a phone number and email, and a second copy of the same information inside the bag, because external tags come off.
A photograph of the bag and of its contents, taken before departure. This makes both the search and the claim considerably easier and takes thirty seconds.
Removing old tags from previous flights, which genuinely cause misrouting.
And a tracking device inside, which several airlines now accept as evidence of location and which has meaningfully changed how these cases are resolved. Mine was in the bag and told me where it was on day two, which the airline could not.
Where insurance fits
Travel insurance frequently covers baggage delay with a fixed payment after a stated number of hours, which is separate from and in addition to the airline's reimbursement.
It typically requires evidence from the airline, which is another reason the reference number matters.
Some payment cards used to buy the ticket include similar cover, which people routinely forget they have.
All of these have limits per item that are lower than the value of most electronics, which is the practical argument for not putting those in the hold at all.
The odds
Mishandled baggage is uncommon and it is not rare. The rate rises sharply with connections, with short connection times, and with itineraries involving more than one airline.
Which means the mitigation is partly in how you book. A direct flight, or a longer connection, reduces the probability considerably.
And the ultimate mitigation is not checking a bag at all, which I have done for every trip under a fortnight since, and which has removed the entire category of problem along with the waiting.
The four days themselves
Practically, what worked was buying the minimum and treating it as temporary rather than replacing the wardrobe.
Two changes of clothes, basic toiletries, and nothing else. I kept expecting the bag the next day, which is the standard experience, and buying incrementally was cheaper than the alternative.
What I would advise anybody in the same position is to contact the airline once daily, in writing, referencing the file number. The written trail is what the claim rests on and phone calls leave no record.
Mine arrived on the fourth evening, delivered to the accommodation, with no explanation of where it had been.