You've booked your flights, shopped for your trip and the day has arrived for you to take-off to your destination. Of course you want to avoid losing your luggage. Ideally, carrying everything onto the plane with you would be great. But, you have to check your luggage in, whether you do it curbside or at the check-in counter, it's the first step once you arrive at the airport. Our CheapOair-Experts have come up with some tips to help you avoid lost luggage.
Know the Airline you Booked Flights with Be sure to do your research; hit the airlines website you are traveling with and find out about their lost luggage policies. Additionally, by browsing forums and other sites, you can find out about how the airline handled lost luggage situations, as well as the frequency with which luggage was lost. By visiting forums, you can also interact with former passengers. Don’t forget to visit travel review sites for supplementary recommendations.
Get to the Airport on Time One of the most common causes of lost baggage is due to delayed check-in. Even though waiting on a long line can be tedious, it’s one of those things you have to do. The airlines, on a daily basis coordinate thousands of travelers, trips, connections, baggage, employees, and countless other responsibilities. So, if you check in 15 minutes before take-off, and barely make it to your seat, there is higher risk of losing your luggage than if you’d arrived at the airport early.
Get to the airport early, check your bags, go to the gate, and relax.
Tag your Luggage Properly Having your name and contact information on your luggage tag is important. Proper tagging on the baggage, both inside and out is ideal. This way, you'll be able to get your bag back, even if your tag falls off during transport. Additionally, you should make sure to always check the sticker your airline agent places on your bag to make sure that your destination is correct. Any mistake on this and your luggage might be on its way to a different destination altogether.
Use Distinct Identification Mark your luggage in unique ways to distinguish your bag in a sea of other bags. Consider adding bright ribbons to the handles. Apply stickers, so that your bag stands – anything that differentiates your luggage from everyone else’s. Take a photo of your bags with your identifiers, to ensure that even if you bag is misplaced; you would have something to show to the baggage agent. This will easily illustrate the brand, shape, color and distinctive markings so your bag will be easier to identify and recover.
Use Approved Locks on your Luggage All checked baggage is subject to inspection. If you are using a regular luggage lock, you might find it cut off when you reach your destination. The broken lock will be placed in your bag with an informational card explaining that your bag was chosen for inspection, and they needed to remove the lock with bolt cutters.
To avoid replacing your lock every time you fly, invest in a TSA approved luggage lock. The TSA has a “skeleton key” for these approved locks.
If the airline needs to cut your luggage lock in order to properly screen it, you might be increasing your chances of lost luggage. You can find these approved locks at a number of local retailers. The airlines have a master key to open them and then re-secure them.
Don’t Leave Anything Valuable in your Checked Bags Instead of tempting fate, as the saying goes, in the event your luggage is lost, you certainly don’t want to lose your valuables. While our advice is that you travel with as few valuables as possible, if you need to carry anything valuable, don’t pack it. Pack it in your carry-on bag.
Ship your Bags to your Destination
This is a new and popular trend amongst travelers. There are several companies that specialize in shipping baggage. They will pick it up, take care of transport, and have your bags waiting at your destination.
They charge a modest fee for this and it’s definitely worth it
It saves you the time and pain of the baggage check-in lines, so you can breeze through without much hassle.
You can save on the extra baggage fees and porter tips, as most of the airlines charge for this.
Above all, the risk of losing your luggage is minimal.
Keep a Copy of your Final Destination in your Bag We strongly urge you to keep a copy of your final destination in your luggage. This would alert the baggage authorities in case they found your bag. If you and your luggage are separated, this will make it easier for the airline to find you and your bag. The faster they find you, the faster they will get the bags to you.
Book Nonstop Flights.
When you have several stops along the way, connecting flights, it increases the chances of lost luggage. Avoiding flights with connections is the best way to go.
Don’t Check any Luggage Obviously, the best way to avoid losing your luggage is to carry it on with you. If you’re visiting a destination with laundry facilities, you might be able to pack light. The same applies if you’re heading out for a quick or long weekend getaway.
Have a relaxing and entertaining vacation because now you have less to worry about, and more time to enjoy.
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