MIAAirport Guide

Lost something at MIA: how to get it back

Airport, airline, TSA, rental car or taxi: where your lost item goes at Miami airport, how to report it, how long it's kept and what you need to collect it.

A phone and sunglasses left on an empty gate seat
Left behind at the gate

Items found in the terminal, garages or drive areas go to MIA’s Lost and Found in North Terminal D, Level 4, open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., where they’re kept for 30 days. Anything left on the plane belongs to your airline, not the airport. Filing a report with MIA is free.

Find the right desk first

Where you lost it Who has it How to report it
Terminal, gate area, garage, curb MIA Lost and Found Online Lost Item Claim form, or phone 1-888-335-0690
On the plane Your airline The airline’s own lost-and-found report
At a TSA checkpoint MIA Lost and Found, the next business day MIA’s claim form
Rental Car Center Rental Car Center Phone 1-888-761-8227
Taxi, limo or jitney Miami-Dade County The county’s online lost-item report
Uber or Lyft The ride company Through the app
Metrorail, Metrobus, Metromover Miami-Dade Transportation and Public Works Online request, or 786-469-5564

If you aren’t sure where it went, report it to both the airport and your airline.

Report it to MIA

Use the Lost Item Claim form on MIA’s lost and found page. You get a reference number, which you’ll need for every follow-up.

Describe the item in detail: brand, color, what’s inside, any marks or stickers, and where and when you last had it.

MIA’s Lost and Found isn’t linked to any company or website that charges to search. If a site asks you to pay to search MIA’s lost property, it isn’t the airport.

If you think the item was stolen rather than lost, MIA suggests filing a report with the Miami-Dade Airport Police as well.

Left it at security

Don’t wait at the checkpoint for something you left in a bin. File MIA’s claim form, since that’s where the item ends up. An item TSA took from you because it isn’t allowed through security is different: TSA doesn’t send confiscated items to Lost and Found.

Left it on the plane

Contact your airline. MIA’s Lost and Found doesn’t handle items left on aircraft. American, for example, has its own online report, searches for up to 30 days and sends email updates. Find your airline’s desk on our airlines page.

A checked bag that didn’t arrive is a separate process. You report it at your airline’s baggage office at the airport, not to Lost and Found. Our baggage claim page lists each airline’s baggage office by door.

Collect it

When MIA finds a match, you can get the item back in two ways:

  1. In person at the office. Bring a photo ID and your claim number. You’ll need to describe the item and show it’s yours.
  2. By shipping. You pay all shipping costs, and for an address outside the US that includes taxes, customs duties and import fees.

Outside office hours, the airport’s information counters handle lost items. The main counter is in Central Terminal E, Level 2, and the counters are open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Lost it on the way to or from the airport

For a taxi, limo or jitney, Miami-Dade County says its online report is the quickest route, and it contacts you if the item turns up. It doesn’t handle Uber or Lyft cars, so those go through the app.

Transit is a separate county department. Its phone line, 786-469-5564, answers Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and an online request gets you a case number. Transportation and Public Works holds unclaimed items for 90 days and contacts you to book a pickup appointment if it finds a match.

If you need to leave bags somewhere safe while you sort things out, our luggage storage page covers the counters before security in Concourses E and H.

Sources