Experts
give advice on how to avoid lost luggage
Airlines
around the globe mishandled about 1 percent of the 3
billion bags checked last year. Airlines
in the U.S. alone lost 10,000 pieces of luggage a day. Although airlines claim to return roughly 98% of lost
luggage within a few hours to a few days, it makes traveling,
and more importantly, enjoying your vacation, difficult.
So, what can travelers do to avoid lost luggage? Tim
Jacobsen, Vice President of Luggage
Online along with Brooke Dowd, Editor of travel
blog Wellpacked.com,
offer tips and expert advice.
| "Airlines in the U.S. alone lost 10,000 pieces of luggage a day in 2005." |
Dowd says that the best solution would be to carry on your luggage. "But, she explains, with carry on luggage restrictions down to 45 maximum linear inches, for most travelers it is nearly impossible to carry on enough, even for a long weekend getaway."
Tim Jacobsen offers the simplest solution, "Ship
it! UPS and FedEx are more reliable than the airlines,
and they have much better tracking technology in place."
Here are a few tips to try and avoid lost luggage
dilemmas:
Have
your luggage shipped directly to your destination: For
a fee, there are many services out there that will ship
your luggage directly to your destination, cutting out
the airlines all together.
Use
a Global Tracking service such as GlobalTag.com,
a unique item retrieval service enabling you to register
your valuable items on a secure database.
Book
direct flights. Connections and extra flights increase
your chances of lost luggage.
Remove
any old airline stickers from your luggage. You don't
want there to be any confusion about your bag's destination.
Arrive
early. Checking in at the last minute can be the cause
of your luggage being lost.
Make
sure the person who checks your baggage attaches the
correct destination to every bag, and get a claim
ticket for each.
Make
your luggage stand out. There is a sea of Black luggage
out there and if yours is Black too, it's that much
more difficult to find. Buy colorful luggage or use
yarn, tape, neon luggage tags, or bright straps to
make it more noticeable.
Put
your name on the outside and inside of every bag.
Better yet, if you can, place an itinerary of your
trip inside your bag. This will make it easier for
the airline to locate you.
Sounds
simple, but pack your valuables in your carry on.
Expensive electronics and jewelry are more likely
to be stolen than your socks and underwear. And if
the entire case is stolen, at least you still have
your valuables.
Travel
insurance is always a good idea, and a better way
to guarantee that you'll recoup your losses.
You
should also note that if your bag is not on the carousel,
wait around. Frequently, bags that don't make the
right flight end up on the airline's next flight.
If all else fails and your luggage is lost, be sure
to file a complaint with your airline immediately.
Some airlines will only have a small window of time
for filing one.
If
you're still feeling as lost as your poor luggage,
write or call:
DOT
Aviation Consumer Protection
400 Seventh Street, SW #4107
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366 4000
Airconsumer.ost.dot.gov
(Source:
Luggage Online)
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