Crucial step you might be missing at the bag-drop, according to a baggage handler
With more and more automation landing at airports around the world, most travellers will have likely needed to place their own luggage tag on their suitcase already.
And whether you then drop your bag to an airline staff member or into an automatic bag-drop machine, a baggage handler has revealed a crucial step many people are actually forgetting.
Sharing some advice on a lengthy Reddit thread, a ramp agent for American Airlines noted an extra step that you should do when placing the luggage tag on your bag.
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Don't miss this step with your luggage tag at the airport. Getty Images/iStockphoto
"Your bag tag has three 'bingo' stickers with your itinerary on them. Take one off and stick it on your suitcase," the airline worker shared.
"This way, even if the bag tag gets torn off at some point, we can still get it to its destination."
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The stickers look like small barcodes at the very end of the long luggage tag and can simply be pulled off and placed anywhere else on the suitcase.
Another thing he mentions is the location of the luggage tag. While many signs indicate it should be placed around the side handle (if your case has one), the staff member suggests the top handle is better.
"Having the tag on the top handle, which is the one that faces outward on the cart, makes it more likely for mistakes to be caught," he points out.
A baggage handler shared his luggage advice online. Getty
In the same thread, the worker also revealed the exact kind of luggage passengers should use when travelling.
"Avoid plastic hard shell suitcases," he wrote. "These are incredibly slick and prone to sliding off the bag cart while turning - taking everything on top of it with it."
Instead, cloth suitcases have more friction and are "more likely to stay where we put them."
