It now seems that airlines are being told that they cannot be too cheap when it comes to losing customers’ bags. Many people have have already fell victim to the small reimbursement money that many airlines give passengers for their bags. Now the Department of Transportation said that airlines cannot arbitrarily limit reimbursement for travelers who will have to replace necessities when bags are delayed or lost.

The Department of Transportation went on to note that many airlines have policies that say they will only reimburse passengers for necessities that were purchased more then 24 hours after they arrived without their baggage. On top of this, they also limit the payments to outbound trips. This means that customers have to take on the bill for replacing items lost on the flight back home.

The Department of Transportation went on to note that these policies actually violate federal rules requiring airlines to cover all expenses caused by lost or delayed baggage. Airlines are required to cover up to $3,300 per passenger on domestic flights.

The department also said that it was going to monitor the situation over the next 90 days and then take enforcement action against airlines that do not comply with the rules. Just last month the agency said that it would fine Spirit Airlines up to $375,000 for a number of violations that it committed due to delaying payments for lost bags and for only paying for bags lost on outbound flights on round trips. However, there were other things noted by the Department of Transportation that they will fine Spirit Airlines for, as well as other airlines if they do not comply.