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> Nearly half of all bags that go astray do so because of problems with flight transfers, Sita says. Delayed flights have knock-on effects - your bag just doesn
by saalweachter 7y ago
> Nearly half of all bags that go astray do so because of problems with flight transfers, Sita says. Delayed flights have knock-on effects - your bag just doesn't make it to the connecting flight in time.
> And a significant proportion of missing bags are down to passengers or handlers simply picking up the wrong one.
The former does seem like a hard problem without restricting people's ability to switch flights or delaying flights further to allow for luggage transfers.
I wonder if there is any room to improve the latter on the airline's part by adding visual variations to the tag without impeding the function. Like randomly assigning colors and giant emoji to be printed prominently on the tag, so that it is easier to distinguish at a glance whether it is really your bag.
(I mean, you should already be checking your name tag when you collect your bag, and people already add their own flair to their bags, but obviously not everyone is.)
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y agoA few airports have bag checks at exit, where they validate the tag against your chit. This is surprisingly rare though. You can also tilt the odds in your favor by choosing an unusual bag color/design though: nobody's going to mistakenly pick up my lovely lime green number.
- V-2 7y agoOr simply customize it at no cost. I've just put some large stickers at the bottom of my bag (normally invisible, but in plain sight when on the conveyor belt). Honestly I didn't have any such problems in mind; did it mostly for my own convenience - to avoid the usual "erm, is it mine?" hesitation.
- Tor3 7y agoThat's exactly what I (and many others, including my old parents) do. It really helps when you're waiting for your case, particularly for those big conveyor belts with tons of people.
- brewdad 7y agoI do wonder whether the rare fellow traveler with a similar bag would be less likely to verify the tag when pulling it off the carousel than those with the standard black bag.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- lotu 7y agoI like the random color/giant emoji idea. The major downside I see is space on the tag and all the current printers are black and white so they all need to be replaced for this to be effective.