Last updated: 31 October 2026.
What Singapore Airlines owes you for injury, delay and baggage is set by its Conditions of Carriage together with the Montreal Convention (the Warsaw Convention on some older routes) and any other law covering your trip.
1,519 SDRlimit for baggage loss, damage or delay under the Montreal Convention
6,303 SDRlimit for delay to a passenger's journey
72 hoursonline report window for damaged baggage; after that, use the webform within 7 days
2 yearstime limit to bring a court action
Limits
Death or injury
- Montreal Convention
- No financial limit; the airline may pay part up front for urgent needs
- Warsaw Convention
- No defence apart from contributory negligence up to 100,000 SDR (about EUR 120,000); above that the airline must prove it did everything needed or could not act
Checked baggage lost, damaged or delayed
- Montreal Convention
- 1,519 SDR (about EUR 1,900), one limit for checked and cabin bags
- Warsaw Convention
- 17 SDR (about EUR 20) per kilogram
Unchecked (cabin) baggage
- Montreal Convention
- Part of the same 1,519 SDR
- Warsaw Convention
- 332 SDR (about EUR 400) per passenger
Delay to the journey
- Montreal Convention
- 6,303 SDR (about EUR 7,700)
- Warsaw Convention
- Up to 16,600 SDR may apply to damage caused by delay
- If your bag is worth more than the limit, tell the airline at check-in or insure it before you travel.
- Where the law of the journey sets other limits, those limits apply.
- Where more than one airline carries you, the airline that issued the ticket, or the first carrier, is generally the one to claim from; the Conditions explain how.
Delayed baggage
- File a report online or with the airport's Lost and Found desk where you landed, and keep your copy.
- You get a 10-character file reference number.
- Email updates continue for up to seven days, and you can follow the case on the baggage portal. If the bag is not found after seven days, ask the local Lost and Found office for a claim form, or claim on travel insurance.
- This applies only when Singapore Airlines operates the last flight; otherwise report to the operating airline.
- For things forgotten on a plane that arrived in Singapore or in a Changi lounge, send a request to SATS Lost and Found. Elsewhere, ask the local Lost and Found office.
- On US routes, its stated aim is to hand back a mishandled bag within 15 hours when the non-stop sector lasts up to 12 hours, and within 30 hours when it is longer.
Damaged baggage
- Report damage at the airport straight away. If your last Singapore Airlines landing was under 72 hours ago, report online; after that, use the webform within 7 days of arrival.
- Treated as ordinary wear, so not paid: marks, scuffs, scrapes and dents; harm to protruding parts (straps, pockets, handles, hooks, wheels, outside locks, security straps, zip pulls); harm from weak or overfilled packing; and bags taken under a Limited Release Tag, including contents handled by airport or security staff.
- Keep valuables, key papers, cash, breakables and perishables out of the hold.
Time limits
- Going to court for damages is possible only in the two years after arrival, or after the date the aircraft was due.
- Warsaw and Montreal figures are in Special Drawing Rights, and the euro equivalents are approximate.
Questions travellers ask us
What is the most paid for a lost bag?
Up to 1,519 SDR under the Montreal Convention, or 17 SDR per kilogram under Warsaw.
When must damage be reported?
Report at the airport; online within 72 hours of arrival, or by webform within 7 days.
Is there a limit for injury?
Not under the Montreal Convention.
Baggage Allowance is an independent information site and is not part of Singapore Airlines. Check the airline's own pages before you travel.
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