These Are the Airlines Most and Least Likely to Lose Your Luggage

U.S. airlines are getting better at handling your checked bags, but they still lost or mishandled nearly 700,000 pieces of luggage in the first six months of 2021 alone.

Luggage storage company LuggageHero dug into its data from 17 airlines based in the U.S. to determine which are the best — and worst — when it comes to handling bags.

The winner for the third year in a row? Allegiant Air. The airline, which flies between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, lost or mishandled just 0.15% of bags in the first half of the year — the equivalent of one in every 650 checked bags.

A bag is considered mishandled when it is delayed, damaged, or stolen.

Hawaiian Airlines came in second place on LuggageHero's list of safest luggage handlers, with two mishandled bags per 1,000 checked items. Frontier Airlines rounded out the top three, with about three mishandled bags for every 1,000 checked pieces.

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Meanwhile, regional airline Envoy Air was most likely to lose or mishandle a bag. It lost or mishandled nearly nine out of every 1,000 checked bags. American Airlines, which owns Envoy, fared only slightly better. The airline lost or mishandled seven of every 1,000 bags checked on its flights.

Travel + Leisure reader favorite JetBlue came in near the middle, with just over four mishandled bags per 1,000 checked items. United Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines lost or mishandled between three and four bags of every 1,000 checked pieces.

Across the board, the chance of an airline losing a suitcase — at least for a little while — is around 0.4%, according to LuggageHero. That's about one in every 250 bags.

Meena Thiruvengadam is a Travel + Leisure contributor who has visited 50 countries on six continents and 47 U.S. states. She loves historic plaques, wandering new streets and walking on beaches. Find her on Facebook and Instagram.