Lost your luggage? Here's how to cope

By Charles Leocha

Travel columnist

updated 4:01 p.m. ET Nov. 3, 2006

Charles Leocha Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

U.S. airlines’ luggage problems just exploded. New rules limiting carry-on items have added thousands of checked bags into a system that was already overloaded and inefficient. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 3 million pieces of luggage were reported lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered during the first six months of 2006, up from 2.7 million pieces of luggage during the same period in 2005. This is more than a 10 percent increase in lost bags in just one year.

The airlines tend to report these figures in ways that make the problem seem insignificant, saying things like “only” 6.5 reports were lodged for every 1,000 passengers during July 2006. In reality, that number is staggering. Think about it. That’s one bag lost, damaged, delayed (or pilfered!) for every 154 passengers, or about one bag per medium-sized planeload.

And these are the figures for the month before the crackdown on carry-on luggage that followed the discovery of the London bomb plot in August. The figures for August and September are going to skyrocket. I guarantee the situation will go from bad to worse.

Is there a way to limit the chances of losing your luggage? And when your luggage doesn’t show up on the carousel, is there anything you can do?

Here are the basic rules.

1. Plan ahead for problems
When you pack your carry-on bags for an extended trip, be sure to pack a change of clothing for one day as well as necessary toiletries (small, travel-size containers of liquid- and gel-based toiletries are now permitted on board the aircraft). For the most part, airlines manage to get lost luggage reunited with its owners within 24 hours, so this is your simplest insurance policy.

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2. Pay attention to the destination
Check your luggage tag to make sure your luggage is checked through to the right airport. Believe it or not, this is the biggest reason that bags go astray. More and more travelers are now checking their luggage at curbside, compounding the opportunity for tagging errors.

3. Check your luggage in on time
Today’s airports have luggage check-in rules that, theoretically, allow time for sorting of luggage and delivery to the correct aircraft. Don’t push the system. The smallest delay can have serious consequences when your luggage is cruising down the conveyor belt and selected for security examination with little time to spare.

4. Identify your luggage inside and out
Few travelers put identification and destination information inside their luggage, but this small effort will be amply rewarded if your luggage tag gets torn off. Especially if you don’t know exactly what your luggage looks like — and many travelers don’t (ask anyone who’s stood in a lost-luggage line). So take a moment to note the luggage maker (TravelPro, Samsonite, Delsey, American Tourister, etc.). Also take a good look at the color. Is it dark blue or is it black? Is that a stripe or a wavy line? Better yet, if you have a camera phone, take a picture of your bag before you hand it over.

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