How to Get a Baggage Receipt from Your Airline

If you have paid for baggage on your flight, you may need a receipt for a variety of reasons, including:

• Baggage claims for lost luggage
• Expense reports
• Tax deductions
• Insurance claims

In this post, we’ll discuss some of the ways that you can retrieve your baggage receipt from your airlines.

We’ll also explain how to obtain your receipt, step-by step, from the following airlines:

• American Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• JetBlue
• United Airlines

Also, we’ll provide some handy tips to help you get your receipt easily and quickly.

How to Get a Copy of Your Baggage Receipt

In this section, we will discuss the many ways in which you can obtain a copy of your baggage receipt.

Some airlines may not be able to supply a receipt for bookings or baggage purchases made through a third-party travel agency.

In such cases, you will need to contact your travel agency to obtain a receipt.

Check Your Email

The simplest way to obtain your baggage receipt is to check your email for a confirmation message from your airline.

Most airlines will send you an email with your e-ticket itinerary and receipt as a PDF attachment when you book your flight online. This email will include a breakdown of the fees you paid for your ticket, including any checked baggage fees. You can print or save this email as your receipt.

If you can’t find the email in your inbox, check in your spam or junk folder. You can also search for the name of your airline in your email app.

If you purchased your baggage through a travel agency, try searching for their business name, such as “Expedia” or “Priceline.”

Check Your Boarding Pass

When you check in at the airport, most airlines will print your checked baggage receipt on your boarding pass or attach it as a separate document. You can find this receipt either at the bottom or on the back of your boarding pass. It will typically have a barcode, a bag tag number, and the amount you paid for your checked baggage.

Visit Your Airline’s Website

If you didn’t receive an email confirmation or it has been deleted, you can find your receipt on the airline’s website or app. You can either log in to your airline account, if you have one, or enter your booking details. To access your booking details, you typically need to provide your last name and your confirmation or ticket number.

Once you have accessed your booking, look for a section called “Receipts”, “Purchases”, “Baggage”, or something similar. You should be able to view, download, or print your receipts from there. It is important to note that this option is only available to you while your reservation is considered active.

Your reservation is active from the time of booking up to usually 24 to 48 hours after the end of your last flight, but this varies widely from airline to airline. If your reservation is no longer active, you will be notified of this when you try to access your booking. If that is the case, you can try one of the other methods below to retrieve your baggage receipt.

Visit Your Airline’s Receipts or Tax Invoice Page

Some airlines have a dedicated page on their website where you can retrieve copies of receipts and/or tax invoices for airline purchases up to two years later.

In the following tables, we have included links to the website receipt pages of select airlines:

U.S. Airlines

Canadian Airlines

Other Airlines

Contact Your Airline’s Customer Service

If you can’t find or access your baggage receipt online, you may need to contact your airline’s customer service by phone, email, or chat and request a copy of your receipt. You will need to provide some information about your flight, such as your name, confirmation number, ticket number, date of travel, destination, and amount paid for checked baggage.

Hot Tip: Before contacting your airline, collect all the information that you will need to provide them. If you will be contacting the airline’s customer service by online chat, type out all the information in a document on your computer before making contact. You can then copy and paste the information into the chat window when the airline agent requests it.

Depending on the airline, they may be able to email you the receipt or mail it to you by post.

How to Get a Baggage Receipt from Specific Airlines

Now that we’ve discussed how to get a copy of your baggage receipt from an airline, let’s have a look at some specific examples:

Alaska Airlines

The method to obtain a baggage receipt from Alaska Airlines depends on how long after your flight you’re making the request:

Up to the End of Your Trip

While your reservation is active, you can get a baggage receipt by accessing your booking from the Manage Reservation page. You will need to provide your last name and your booking confirmation code or e-ticket number.

Your confirmation code can be found in your reservation email. The code will contain 6 letters.

Your e-ticket number can be found in your reservation receipt email, boarding pass, and credit card statement (if you paid for your baggage by credit card). It will contain either 10 or 13 numbers.

Within 48 Hours since Your Flight Ended

If your flight ended less than 48 hours ago, you can get a baggage receipt by logging into your Alaska Airlines account. You will need to provide your User ID or Mileage Plan number and password.

If you already have a Mileage Plan number but don’t have an Alaska Airlines account, you can create an account here.

If you don’t have a Mileage Plan number, you can contact Alaska Airlines’ customer service (see next step).

Within 12 Months since Your Trip Ended

If your trip has ended within the last 12 months, you can obtain a copy of your baggage receipt by contacting Alaska Airlines’ customer service at 1-800-654-5669.

Between 12 to 18 Months since the End of Your Trip

If your trip concluded from 12 to 18 months ago, you can request a copy of your baggage receipt by completing the airline’s Ticket Copy Request Form. You will also have to pay a $20 “research fee.”

You will have to download and print the form before filling it out. Once completed, you can send it to Alaska Airlines by mail or fax. The form can’t be submitted online.

Longer than 18 Months Ago

If your flight was over 18 months ago, your reservation details may no longer be available. You can contact Alaska Airlines’ customer service for further information.

American Airlines

For American Airlines flights, you can obtain your baggage receipts in the following ways:

Date of Booking up to 24 Hours after the End of Your Flight

You can retrieve your baggage receipt by logging into your reservation on American Airlines’ website.

You will need to provide your last name and either your record locator (confirmation code) or ticket number.

Your record locator can be found in your reservation email from American Airlines. The code will be in the form of 6 letters.

Your ticket number can be found in your reservation receipt, boarding pass, and credit card statement (if you paid for your baggage by credit card). Your ticket number is 13 letters long, beginning with “0012.”

24 Hours after the End of Your Flight up to 18 Months

To obtain your baggage receipt later than 24 hours after the end of your flight, you can log into American Airlines’ Your Receipts online tool. You will need to supply your ticket number and last name.

Delta Air Lines

The method to obtain a baggage receipt from Delta Air Lines depends on when your trip took place:

Up to 24 Hours after the End of Your Trip

While your reservation is active, you can get a baggage receipt by accessing your booking from the Find Your Trip page.

You can search for your reservation in 3 ways:

• By Confirmation Number: Enter your confirmation number, first and last name. Your confirmation number can be found in your reservation email. Although it’s called a number, it’s actually a 6-letter code (e.g. ABCDEF).
• By Credit Card: Enter your credit card number, first and last name.
• By Ticket Number: Enter your e-ticket number, first and last name. Your e-ticket number can be found in your reservation receipt email, boarding pass, and credit card statement (if you paid for your baggage by credit card). The number is 13 digits beginning with “006.”

Between 48 Hours and 24 Months since Your Trip Ended

If you have a Delta Air Lines account, you can retrieve your baggage receipt by logging into My Receipts. You will need to provide your SkyMiles number or User ID, and password.

If you don’t have a Delta Air Lines account, you can contact the airline by email at [email protected]. You will need to include the following information:

• Your name (as was printed on your boarding pass),
• Your ticket number,
• Which brand of credit card used (e.g. VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover). DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER,
• The specific information that you’re requesting (e.g. all baggage receipts).

If you don’t have access to your ticket number, you will need to provide details of your flight instead:

• Your name (as was printed on your boarding pass),
• The date of your flight,
• The airport that you flew from
• Which brand of credit card used (e.g. VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover). DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER,
• The specific information that you’re requesting (e.g. all baggage receipts).

JetBlue

To obtain a baggage receipt from JetBlue, you can do the following:

Up to the End of Your Flight

If your trip hasn’t concluded, you can get your baggage receipt, by logging into Manage Trips on JetBlue’s website.

You will need to provide your last name and confirmation code or ticket number.

Your confirmation code can be found in your JetBlue booking email confirmation. The code will have 6 letters.

Your ticket number can be found in your booking receipt email, boarding pass, and credit card statement (if you paid for your bag by credit card). The ticket number will have 13 numerical characters beginning with “279.”

Up to 13 Months after the End of Your Flight

For trips that have concluded, you can retrieve your baggage receipt by using JetBlue’s Request a Receipt form.

You will have to supply the following information:

• Your first and last name,
• The date of your flight,
• Your confirmation code,
• Your email address.

United Airlines

To retrieve your United Airlines baggage receipt, you have the following options available to you:

Log In to Your Booking

The first method you should use to get your baggage receipt is to log in to your booking on United’s My Trips page.

You can log in by confirmation number or MileagePlus number:

• Log In Using Your Confirmation Number: You will also need to provide your last name. Your confirmation number can be found in your reservation confirmation email from United. Although the airline calls it a number, it’s actually a 6-letter code.
• Log In Using Your MileagePlus Number: You will need to enter your MileagePlus membership number and password.

If your reservation is no longer available, you can use the following method.

Request a Receipt

You can use United’s Search Receipt online tool to retrieve your baggage receipt.

You can search by credit card number, confirmation number, or e-ticket number:

• Search by card number: You will need to supply your first and last name, the last 4 numbers of the credit card used to make the purchase, and your travel start date and end date.
• Search by confirmation number or e-ticket number: You can enter either number to conduct a search. You will also need to provide your first and last name. Your e-ticket number can be found in your booking receipt email from United, boarding pass, and credit card statement (if the bag was paid for using a credit card). United Airlines ticket numbers are 13-characters long, typically beginning with “016.”

You will be able to retrieve your receipts up to 12 months after the end of your trip.

Travel Agency or Third-Party Purchases

If you booked your flight through a travel agency, such as Expedia or Priceline, you may have paid for your checked baggage through them as well. In that case, you will need to contact them directly for your receipt.

They may have sent you an email confirmation with your receipt attached or embedded, or they may have a section on their website or app where you can access your receipt. If not, you can contact their customer service department.

Tips and Tricks

We have collected some useful tips and tricks to help make retrieving baggage receipts from your airline easier. Additionally, we have included tips on how to manage your receipts so that they are easy to find.

Label Your Confirmation Emails and Receipts with Easy to Remember Names

To make it easier to find your receipts later, label them with descriptive names or keywords, such as “baggage receipt United 1234 08/17/2023”.

Use an App to Manage Your Travel Expenses

If you want to save time and inconvenience, you can use a third-party app or service that can automatically track and store your receipts for baggage.

Some examples are Expensify and TripIt.

These services can sync with your email, scan your receipts, and organize them by category, date, amount, and other criteria. You can also export or share your receipts with others easily.

Be Prepared with Information

Before contacting your airline or travel agency to request a baggage receipt, collect the information together that you might need to provide, including:

• Booking Reference Number / e-Ticket Number
• Flight Details: Your flight number, departure and arrival cities, and travel dates.
• Baggage Tag Numbers: These numbers are found on the baggage tags attached to your checked luggage.

Use Online Tools

Whenever possible, opt for online retrieval as it’s usually the most convenient and efficient method. Before contacting your airline’s customer service, check your email and your airline’s website first.

Take Photos of Your Receipts

To avoid losing or forgetting your receipts, take a photo of them with your phone or scan them with an app as soon as you get them.

You can also email them to yourself or upload them to a cloud service for backup.

Call During Non-Peak Hours

If you’re using the customer service hotline, try calling during non-peak hours to reduce wait times.

Be Polite and Patient

Whether you’re interacting with an airline or travel agency representative in person or over the phone, remember that a polite and patient approach can go a long way in ensuring a smooth process.

Final Thoughts

Getting a baggage receipt from your airline is not difficult if you know where to look and what information to provide. It can become a little more tedious, depending on how long before the purchase was made.

In the case of Alaska Airlines, it can be expensive as well. If you request a receipt between 12 and 18 months after your flight, you will have to pay a $20 “research fee”.

Recapping, to get a baggage receipt from your airline, you have the following options available to you (I would tackle them in order):

1. Check your email inbox for your baggage receipt.
2. Check your boarding pass (if you still have it).
3. Access your flight booking on your airline’s website.
4. Visit your airline’s receipts/tax invoice page, if available.
5. Contact your airline’s customer service.
6. If your baggage purchase was made through a travel agency, contact them instead.