SafeMailServices.com

Friday, July 4, 2008

Plan Ways To Identify Your Luggage Before The Trip

By Grace Jennings

If you are getting ready to go on vacation or a business trip, you can save yourself a lot of time at the airport with one simple step: making your luggage easy to spot. Having ways to identify your luggage can help you to get out of the baggage claim area quickly and off to your destination.

It can be hard to tell which luggage is yours on the airport baggage carousel - so many travelers have identical luggage! The most common size, style and colors of luggage account for almost all of the bags in the claim area. Just count how many identical black suitcases you see next time you are at the airport. I'm going to guess you give up counting quickly! Almost all bags are the same and thus hard to tell apart. Baggage is often mistakenly taken by the wrong traveler for this very reason.

If you're looking for some new luggage, why not get something a little different this time? Unless you have your own custom designer, you may not be able to have a luggage set which is unique to you, but if you move away from the normal black or brown, it can go a long way towards helping you identify your luggage so you can find it quickly in the airport. If you are feeling a little more adventurous, you could opt for bright colors or eye catching patterns; while not for everyone, it certainly makes it easier to spot your belongings.

Prepare First To Avoid Losing Your Luggage

Common ways to make your luggage stand out from the crowd include tying a brightly colored ribbon or unique scarf around the handle. This can work well if the special addition is truly unique. However, simply using a colored ribbon could backfire if a couple of other people decide to do the same thing. In fact, a big bright red ribbon could cause more confusion by instilling a false sense of security that the proper bag has been selected. Always remember to double-check the tags no matter what.

Another problem with ribbons or scarves is that they could become caught on something during the handling process. Not only can this slow down or damage the handling equipment, your luggage identification may become damaged or removed completely. If you still want to use this strategy, make sure you also include an actual tag listing all of your contact information.

Additionally, you should put your contact information inside each bag. If your luggage is lost or switched with that of another traveler, this can help your bags find their way back to you. And if your luggage tags should somehow come off in transit, you can then prove your ownership of your luggage to airport personnel.

Personalized luggage tags are something which an increasing number of travelers are considering to make sure their bags don't get lost. There are a lot of options available for design and color making it much less likely that any other traveler will have exactly the same tags as you. One very popular style is embroidered luggage tags, which feature many different looks to choose from. Look for the most unusual tag possible - after all, ways to identify your luggage are important if you want to spend less time in baggage claim and more on your business trip or vacation.

About the Author:

No comments: