Lost Luggage

Ensure Your Suitcases Stands Out From The Crowd

Stand waiting at the carousel for your luggage and I bet most luggage is black. Black suitcases all have a tendency to look like one another, so when you buy a suitcase ensure it's color makes it stand out from the rest. Alternatively give your suitcase a makeover slap, put some bright tape on it or stickers to make it unique. What you are in fact doing is ensuring that a fellow traveler does not walk off with your suitcase by mistake.

Ensure Your Luggage Is Labeled Correctly

When you dust down your suitcase before your trips ensure all old previous flight tags are fully removed from your luggage. Securely fasten any destination address labels you have been provided, ensuring they are correctly filled in.

The number 1 cause of luggage going astray is that labels on the luggage are incorrectly printed, lost or torn off. Before you go to check in ensure all labels are correct and that they are securely fastened onto your luggage. When you check in your luggage keep an eye on the check in staff to make sure they fasten the flight tags securely and are not in danger of coming off!. At check in you will be given receipts for your luggage which are normally stuck on your tickets. Put them in a safe place such as your passport. I always travel with a leather wallet that holds my passport, flight tickets and luggage receipts all in the one place.

It is always advisable that before you pack your luggage that you check on your airline’s website to ensure you fully understand what their latest security restrictions are for luggage on their flights.

Hand baggage

Find out:

• How many bags can you take onto the aircraft with you.
  
• What your size allowances of your baggage for your journey.
• What your weight allowances of your baggage for your journey.

Checked In Baggage

Find out:

• Your free allowance is for the bags checked in for your flight.
• What to do with any additional (excess) baggage and what fees are applicable.
• What to do with any items that are overweight.

Fly direct

If you are going to lose your luggage it is most likely when you use a hub airport which you fly into and then connect with a second flight which takes you onto your final destination. It is always advisable to leave sufficient time at the hub airport to connect with your outgoing flight. It is estimated that as much as 40% of luggage that is transferred between connecting flights has to be sorted manually. This is because many labels are poorly written or have become torn or are even missing.

Your Home Address

I hear so many people who say they don't put their home address on their luggage because people will then know there is no one at home, increasing the risk of burglary. This is nonsense, as you could have family at home who are not travelling with you. The fact is if there is no home address the luggage it will not find it's way back to you. So ensure you have a home address tag on your luggage, secondly put your home address inside your luggage as a backup.