Traveller shares warning to always check your luggage tag after airport mistake
A traveller has urged passengers to always make sure they check their luggage tag details before handing over baggage at the airport.
The simple act could have saved US-based writer Jill Schildhouse some trouble, after she was forced to endure a lost-luggage debacle when her bag ended up in the wrong country.
In a piece for Business Insider, Jill shared how she and her mother had arrived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, when her mother's suitcase did not arrive on the baggage carousel.
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The luggage tag usually gets added by airline staff. Getty
Jill explained her own suitcase arrived relatively quickly after the flight. But when her mother's case was nowhere to be found they went to the customer service counter.
"I spotted my suitcase right away. However, as we waited for my mum's small pink bag to appear, the crowd thinned, and our anxiety grew," she said.
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After questioning airport staff, the pair were handed a large black suitcase. The bag was not theirs. But the airline-issued luggage tags attached were indeed her mother's.
"At that moment, it was clear something had gone very, very wrong," Jill said.
While filing a 'mishandled item report' she said her mum pulled out the luggage stickers that were handed to her by the American Airlines crew back in Arizona.
The root of the problem was immediately clear.
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But self-check in options also allow you to attached it yourself. Getty Images/iStockphoto
"My mum's sticker didn't have her name on it at all. Instead, it bore a completely different one with a destination that made my stomach drop: Delhi, India," she explained.
Jill - who said she takes more than 50 flights a year - believed "a staff member must've accidentally swapped the luggage tags".
She said she always places the luggage stickers onto her bag "on every trip without a glance" and this experience has taught her a valuable lesson.
"I had never once thought to verify that the name and destination on the tag actually matched my own," she admitted.
Thankfully, American Airlines covered the expenses for replacing what her mother needed during the trip to the tune of $US601.08 ($945).
The luggage tags are crucial to send your suitcase to where it's meant to go. Getty
The lost-luggage saga comes after another travel expert urged holidaymakers not to head to the airport before taking an important item off their suitcases.
Digital creator Eunice from social media channel, Theory of Simple, revealed it's important to remove old luggage tags from your bags, because the old stickers and tags could also see your stuff whisked off to the wrong location.
"You are the reason your luggage is getting lost," she claimed in a recent video.
Meanwhile, what you put on your own luggage tags is also important.
"It's crucial to balance providing essential contact information with protecting your personal security," travel expert Mike Harvey recently told Huffpost.
"For your privacy and security, avoid including your full home address."
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