Smart ways to keep your baggage safe

What's the recommended information to include — and (or not to include) on one's luggage tags? People say you should put your cellphone number on them but I don't keep mine turned on.

Rethink the rules

Vacations are all about doing things you don't usually do, so maybe this is the time to think about turning on the cellphone. And it's time for travellers to rethink the luggage tag.

We've all heard the bromide about not putting one's home address on the tag because crooks will dash right over and break into your house.

OK, could happen. But the bigger issue is that you expose information about yourself to prying eyes, said Kevin Coffey, president of the website Corporate Travel Safety.

Do you really want the guy from seat 15C to know your name and where you work? Or allow the corporate spy to take a chance that you have valuable documents? Use only a minimum of contact info — a first initial, your last name, your cellphone number (or the phone at your destination or where someone will answer and tell the caller where you are) and maybe an e-mail address.

“We strongly recommend that all our passengers use a label, in the form of a tag or a sticker,'' said Jose Thachil, marketing manager, Gulf, Singapore Airlines. “The mandatory information is the name and a contact number because it's easier in case of any mishandling to identify and contact a passenger.

The other reason is that many bags look similar and have similar tags.'' Erik Vedsegaard, general manager, Four Points by Sheraton in Dubai, said luggage tags are useful in the hotel industry.

Safe and secure

“We use them when luggage gets lost and to identify a guest. The key contact information is the guest's name,'' he said.

Use a secure tag (a metal ring is better than leather, which can stretch and snap) and put it on before you leave home “so you don't expose the information at the airport or other departure point or wind up using less secure tags,'' said Chris Grniet, vice-president with Kroll Security Group, the security services arm of global risk consulting company Kroll Inc.

Since baggage handles may snap, put your name and contact info on a slip of paper inside the bag, too. But luggage tags aren't just for checked baggage anymore.

You should have one on your carry-on bag and every other separate article you carry. Flyers can get flustered and leave things behind, so tagging every item increases the chances you'll be reunited.

Useful and unique

“A tag with personal information such as name and cellphone number, though not necessary, is useful in the event the IATA (International Air Transport Association) tag gets separated from the bag,'' a Kingfisher Airlines official said.

Whether you're checking or carrying, the tag can help differentiate your bag from every other piece of luggage.

The TudeTag comes with expressions such as “Don't even'' and “Hanzzoff'', and has a hidden place for your itinerary and your name and phone number.

One big yellow tag says, “No, it's not yours!'' and has a plastic pouch in which you can insert your contact information.

“Frequent travellers tend to put a sticker with their favourite landmark or hotel name in addition to their name on a tag,'' Thachil said.

The number of mishandled bags has decreased with passenger counts — fewer than four per 1,000 passengers in April, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics says.

Sounds small until you realise there were about 650 million domestic passengers the previous year.

“Every checked baggage has the airline tag with a bar code that has all the passenger's information. When we punch in the baggage tag number, we can retreat the passenger's booking information,'' Thachil said.

If a luggage isn't reunited with its owner at the airport, it is brought to the lost-and-found section.

Standard system

“A log entry is made there with the baggage and passenger information. Then we have a system, which is operated by all the major carriers and searches for the passenger's final destination,'' Thachil said.

Making it easy for the airline to contact you if yours goes astray? If you follow this advice, it should be in the bag.

— Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
News Service with inputs from Pauline Forte/Features Writer