Lost Luggage: One Small Check That Could Save Your Trip
Before Your Suitcase Disappears, Look at the Tag!
Few things can put a damper on the beginning of a pilgrimage quite like arriving at your destination and discovering that your suitcase did not arrive with you.
You stand at the baggage carousel watching everyone else collect their luggage. The crowd gets smaller. The carousel slows down.
And suddenly you realize:
Your suitcase is not there!
Lost or delayed luggage can happen for many reasons — tight connections, flight changes, weather disruptions, baggage-handling errors, or simply human error.
But there is one very simple thing every traveler can do that may prevent a problem before the journey even begins:
Make sure your luggage is tagged correctly!
When you check a suitcase, the airline agent attaches a baggage-routing tag to the handle. That little tag tells the airline's baggage system where your suitcase is supposed to go.
And sometimes, that is exactly where the mistake occurs.
Perhaps you are flying:
Pittsburgh → New York → Rome
Your suitcase should ultimately be tagged to Rome.
Before the airline agent places your bag onto the conveyor belt, take a moment and look at the printed destination on the baggage tag.
Does it show the airport you are actually traveling to?
It sounds like such a small thing, but once that suitcase disappears behind the counter, you are trusting that tag to send it thousands of miles in the right direction.
Know Your Airport Code
Airline baggage tags usually display the three-letter airport code rather than spelling out the full city name.
Rome Fiumicino — FCO
London Heathrow — LHR
Paris Charles de Gaulle — CDG
Lisbon — LIS
Madrid — MAD
Athens — ATH
Before you travel, it is worth knowing the airport code for your final destination.
If you see something on the baggage tag that does not look right, ask the airline agent before the suitcase goes onto the belt.
It is much easier to correct a baggage tag while your suitcase is still sitting beside you than to try to locate it after you have arrived in another country.
Keep Your Baggage Receipt
Once your suitcase has been checked, the airline will normally give you a baggage receipt or baggage-claim number.
Keep it.
Do not throw it away with your boarding pass.
If your suitcase does not arrive, this number is one of the first things the airline will need to trace it.
I also recommend taking a quick photograph of the baggage receipt with your phone.
Take a Picture of Your Suitcase
Before leaving home — or even while standing at the airport — take a photograph of your suitcase.
If the airline asks:
“What does your bag look like?”
it is much easier to show them a picture than to try to explain whether your suitcase is navy blue, black, charcoal, dark gray, or something in between!
A photograph can also show distinctive ribbons, luggage straps, stickers, or other markings that may help identify it.
Put Identification Inside Your Suitcase Too
Most of us remember to put a luggage tag on the outside of the suitcase.
But external luggage tags can become detached.
Put a piece of paper inside your suitcase containing:
Your name
Cell phone number
Email address
You may also want to include the name of your first hotel or destination.
If the exterior luggage tag disappears, there is still a way to identify the owner once the bag is opened.
Consider a Luggage Tracker
Many travelers now place a small electronic tracker inside their checked suitcase.
It will not prevent your luggage from being delayed, but it can sometimes give you reassurance about where the suitcase is located.
If your bag has gone astray, simply knowing which airport it is sitting in can be very helpful.
Your Carry-On Is More Important Than You Think
Never place something in your checked suitcase that you absolutely must have during the first day or two of your trip.
Your carry-on should contain essentials such as:
Prescription medications
Passport and travel documents
Phone and charger
Necessary toiletries
A change of clothing
Important valuables
Anything you simply could not manage without for a day or two
You do not need to carry half your wardrobe onto the airplane, but you should be able to manage comfortably if your checked suitcase takes a little longer to arrive than you do.
What If Your Luggage Doesn't Arrive?
First of all, do not panic.
A suitcase that does not appear on the carousel is often delayed rather than permanently lost.
But if you are traveling with a pilgrimage group, there is something very important you should do immediately:
Call Your Tour Manager
Please let your Tour Manager know as soon as you realize your luggage has not arrived.
Lost-luggage lines at airports can sometimes be very long — particularly when several flights have been disrupted or many passengers are missing bags.
When you are traveling independently, waiting in that line may simply be inconvenient.
But on a group pilgrimage, there may be an entire coach of fellow pilgrims waiting outside for you.
Airport buses are often only allowed to wait for a limited amount of time, sometimes only 30 minutes to an hour, before they must move.
Keeping an entire busload of pilgrims waiting while one person stands in a long baggage-services line simply does not make sense.
So before joining a long queue, call your Tour Manager and let them know what has happened.
They can advise you what to do and make sure the rest of the group's arrangements are not disrupted.
You May Be Able to Report the Bag Online
Many airlines now allow passengers to report delayed luggage through the airline's website or app.
That can be much quicker than standing in a long airport queue.
If you do need to complete a report at the airport, have your:
Baggage receipt
Photograph of your suitcase
Contact information
Hotel information ready.
Make certain the airline has the names /dates of our hotels.
Stay in communication with your Tour Manager.
Please do not disappear into a long airport line without telling anyone where you are.
The 10-Second Habit
So the next time you check your luggage, do not immediately turn around and head for security.
Wait just a moment.
Watch the airline agent attach the baggage tag.
Look at the destination.
Is that where you are going?
Those ten seconds may be one of the easiest — and most valuable — travel habits you ever develop.
At A Pilgrim's Journey, we want our pilgrims thinking about the beautiful churches they are about to visit, the saints whose footsteps they will follow, the friendships they will make, and the spiritual journey ahead...
Not wondering whether their suitcase has accidentally begun a pilgrimage of its own!