With flight cancellations and delays being the new normal, your luggage is more at risk of being mismanaged than ever before. In fact, the American Department of Transportation recently released an alarming statistic in April – over 200 000 pieces of luggage didn’t go where they should have! That’s 0.55% of checked-in luggage, compared with 0.33% over the same time last year.
This number may seem insignificant, but the inconvenience of stray luggage certainly is not. No one relishes the thought of this distracting and time-consuming disruption to their trip, but fortunately, there are ways to minimise this happening:
- Remove all old and dated tags from your suitcases: These labels confuse the optical scanning devices that try to direct your bag to the correct flight.
- Clearly mark your luggage tags with your name and mobile number for quick identification.
- Don’t overfill your luggage: Weighty baggage becomes caught on the belts and can cause the system to misdirect the bag.
- Avoid travelling with unusual-shaped luggage like round bags or backpacks with loose straps. Check this luggage in as fragile if it’s unavoidable.
- Remove redundant ornamental bag tags, strings, or bows that could get stuck or caught somewhere in the system.
- If you have a carry-on bag, be first in line to board: Airlines limit the luggage onboard, and all bags over the allowed number get checked in with cargo.
- Avoid packing valuables in your checked luggage.
- Pack a spare set of clothing in your carry-on at all times.
- Install a locating device on your luggage so you don’t have to wait for an agent to tell you where it is.
- If self-checking your bags (fastening the tag yourself), make sure it’s tied to the bag’s handle correctly or ask for help.