Harriet Baskas Travel writer

There’s no turning back now.

Following the lead of United, Northwest, Delta and US Airways, Continental Airlines announced beginning May 5, passengers will have to pay a $25 fee to check a second bag. Any moment now, we'll have to declare this to be the industry-wide standard.

How will well-mannered travelers cope? Some folks will grumble while they pay that extra fee, others will finally take the time to learn how to pack it all into just one suitcase — but most of us will just end up trying to carry more stuff with us onto the plane.

That means, of course, overhead bin space will become even more precious —  and a lot more stuff will end up getting left behind at airports. Not because it won’t fit onto airplanes, but because the more you carry, the easier it is to lose track of your belongings.

Where does it all go?
The shelves and lockers at airport lost-and-found offices are already overflowing with all kinds of items distracted, anxious, sleep-deprived or just plain forgetful folks have left in food courts, gate holding areas, parking lot shuttles, taxis and bathrooms. “I’m amazed at all the stuff people leave,” says Kim Brown, a ground transportation coordinator who also deals with lost-and-found items at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. “We get more than 200 items a day turned in here — everything from cell phones, laptops, and prescription glasses to wallets full of cash and oxygen tanks.”

Some of the stuff folks leave behind is replaceable — often it’s not. Which is why Brown was pleased last week to be able to reunite a woman with a sweater she’d left on a parking lot shuttle bus. “The sweater had belonged to and been worn by the woman’s mother, who was no longer alive. So it was a piece of clothing that maybe didn’t look important, but it had a great deal of sentimental value.”

Stories like that are familiar to Priscilla Andrews, who heads up the lost-and-found department at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Her team once enlisted the help of a funeral home to track down the owner of a container of ashes left on the counter at a rental car agency.

The Well-Mannered Traveler How to avoid the summer air travel blues Airlines cracking down on carry-ons Weighty issues for air travelers Beware the ‘dreaded year-end nose pickers’ Travelers have plenty to complain about With cell phones on planes, silence is golden In-flight cell service: Answer the call or not? Finding what you've lost at the airport Taking a road trip? Sign at the dotted line More columns

Andrews had no ashes in her office when I spoke with her, but she did have about 40 cell phones, 30 wallets, 11 laptops, a dozen checkbooks, two dozen canes, a car stereo and a chainsaw. “The chainsaw may have come from the TSA. Those folks have enough to deal with, so we help out by taking in the items people leave behind at the security checkpoints.” All cell phones stay turned on, says Andrews, “in case the owner calls. And as soon as a laptop comes in we turn it on right away to see if we can find some identification. We know how important some of these things are to people.”

Knowing that may have been some reassurance to a Seattle-area man we’ll call “Bill” who recently experienced the real-life version of the business traveler’s nightmare. After arriving home one night, he realized that he'd left his non-password-protected laptop “with everything — I mean everything — business plans, personal finances, everything” on it in the basket of the baggage cart he'd pushed out into the airport parking garage. “I was totally freaking out and having a full-fledged anxiety attack. After my wife and my two children, that laptop is the single most important thing in the world to me.”

Yikes! I know how the story ends, yet I'm breaking out in a sympathy-sweat just writing about it.

MORE FROM WELL-MANNERED TRAVELER

Commuters pull over, flock to buses, carpools

Commuters pull over, flock to buses, carpools How to avoid the summer air travel blues Airlines cracking down on carry-ons Weighty issues for air travelers Beware the ‘dreaded year-end nose pickers’ Don't let gas prices affect your summer plans Travelers have plenty to complain about With cell phones on planes, silence is golden Testing in-flight cell phone service In-flight cell service: Answer the call or not?   Add Well-Mannered Traveler headlines to your news reader: