Have you ever had your luggage lost or had it delivered few days late by the airline? This is quite a common incident for frequent flyers. It sure is no fun but rather a frustration and annoyance when you don’t have your stuff when you want it. Each year, thousands of air travelers loose their luggage; 25 million pieces of luggage or 3,000 bags every hour of every day in 2009 is more precise! Where do they really go? Does it slip through a hole in time like socks in the dryer? Here are the most frequent reasons how the bags get misplaced by airline/airport crew.
Ways Luggage Gets Lost & Tips To Avoid It
Misplaced Luggages at Airport | (c) Photo By The London Insider
How Your Luggage Gets Lost At Airports
Your Bag Is Loaded on To The Wrong Plane
You make sure your bag is properly tagged and check it in. Then it rides out of your view into a dark conveyor belt. This is where human errors step in. An airport/airline employee may place it on the wrong baggage cart. As a result, it could get loaded on to the wrong plane. You and your bag are now going in different directions and ultimately end up in a different city than you are flying to.
The Attendant Types in The Wrong Destination Code
When you hand over your luggage at the airport counter, the check-in agent may input the wrong destination code by accident. There are so many codes and some are just a matter of one letter. For example, you may off to JFN (Ashtabula airport) while your bag goes to JFK (JFK airport, New York).
You Forget to Pick Up Your Luggage Upon Landing
How many of you really wait patiently for the plane to land so you can make a call or send a text? Well, some of us get distracted by these things and hop into a taxi without realizing there is more than hand luggage. Perhaps you are a bit buzzed from the in-flight drinks. Whichever the reason some travelers walk straight pass carousel and leave the airport without collecting their luggage.
The Routing Label Gets Damaged
There could be times that one of your bags get an oddly printed tag upon check-in, and the agent miss to recognize it. Or the label gets snagged and torn off somehow. This can be a difficult thing for other airport personnel to read and figure out where the bag should go. So remember to fill in the identification card that you get when you buy your luggage.
How To Avoid Luggage Lost When Flying
Make Yourself Known
The key is to ID your bag in multiple places both inside and outside by placing ID cards in various pockets and pouches. Use the paper tags that the airline carrier provides. Be sure to include your name, address and phone numbers.
Share Your Plans
Make a copy of your itinerary and place it in a pocket where it is not too hard to find. In case your luggage gets misplaced, the airline will know where you route your luggage, if they fail to get in touch with you.
Double Check
Double checking is never a bad idea no matter what it is. So ask the flight attendant politely, if you can see the routing information on the tag before the luggage goes down the conveyor belt. This is important if you have connecting flights because the bags are always routed to the final destination.
Document The Evidence
It is a good idea to take pictures or videos of the contents inside your bag. I usually take a few photos with my phone or write a list of what is in the suitcase and place it inside the suitcase. Not only will this help to identify your bag, if it goes missing but it will also help with claim forms if your suitcase is not found.
Arrive Early
I can probably vouch for this reason but if you check a bag withing 30 minutes of your departure time, there is a good chance that it many not actually make it on to the plane. Therefore, be sure to arrive early to avoid such a possible holiday killer.
Style Your Bag
You may not want your luggage to be tied with colorful handle wraps or bright duct tape, but making your bags different from the rest could draw attention of airline employees. It may even help you to identify the bag easily when it comes around the conveyor belt. Another option is to purchase a bag that’s not black or navy like the overwhelming majority.
Remember these common reasons as to how your luggage gets lost and tips to avoid that the next time you go to the airport. Have your any tips of your own? Share with it with the rest of travelers.
My name is Salika Jay, and I'd like to welcome you to my travel blog! Ever since I was a kid, I loved traveling the world. I started this blog to share my journeys around the world and everything travel.
Thanks for the useful tips. We have mostly been OK with no lost luggage so far on our travels. But I guess you need to plan for the one time when your bag is the one which doesn’t arrive!!
Pretraveller recently posted..How to Confidently Change or Cancel Your Trip
You’re welcome. Yes, we never know when it will happen. Usually we lose luggage when we want them the most. Thanks for commenting.
I usually tie up with some ribbons on my luggage so It can be recognized easily
Jessica recently posted..Kuala Lumpur Events and Festivals 2011
That is something I do as well :) Mine are usually bright and something that can be noticed from a far.
Shamis recently posted..Things To Know When Planning Your Trip To India
Luggage can also get lost or delayed when one of your connecting flights gets delayed, especially if the connecting flight involves another airline. The luggage needs to be transferred as well and if it’s not received by the airline at the airport right away, there is a great chance that it can get delayed. My luggage got delayed when I flew back home from Houston to the Philippines. Our connecting flight from Houston to San Francisco got delayed, which was the reason why the luggage of everyone in our flight were left behind in San Francisco. We ended up having to go back to the airport the next day to get it.
Adeline recently posted..Tagaytay Picnic Grove: Great Fun for the Budget Conscious
Great point Adeline! I should add that :) Bags do get lost/delayed when connecting flights get delayed. Don’t they usually deliver it to your place?
Shamis recently posted..Travel Photo: Grand Canyon Arizona
Hi Shamis!
Unfortunately, they don’t. But then again, I could consider it a good thing. Since we need to go back to the airport to pick it up, it makes it easier for us to file a claim just in case something is missing in our luggage. I imagine it will be a lot more difficult if it’s going to be delivered at home since there is the presence of another party and there is always the possibility of personnel in the airport and personnel from the courier service to point fingers if something gets lost.
Adeline recently posted..A Star To Sail Her By
In my case the airline staff delivered the bag but I guess it depends from airline to airline and country to country. Either way it’s nice it worked to how you wanted :)
Shamis recently posted..People Watching, A Fun Travel Activity
I always use a luggage that is easy to notice and will look very unique. Most of my luggage are bright pink in color. I need not to worry about it since I can easily see it.
Using an unusual color for bags sure is a good idea. I’m sure you can easily spot your bright pink bags.
Shamis recently posted..People Watching, A Fun Travel Activity