Tips To Avoid Losing Your Bag When You Fly!

You’re waiting at the airport baggage carousel for what seems like forever, when suddenly the conveyor belt stops and your bag is nowhere to be found!

It’s an awful experience when an airline loses your bag and thousands of flyers around the world experience this every day.

Travel mishaps can happen at any time and to anyone, but if you’re well prepared you can reduce those chances.

But before we get into how you can prevent losing your bag at the airport, let us tell you what you should do if your airline delays or loses your luggage.

Delayed/Misplaced Luggage

In spite of all the technological advances, airlines are still handled by humans and errors are bound to happen.

But, airlines today have ways to track your bag and majority of misplaced luggage is returned eventually.

Delay of your luggage can happen in 2 cases –

• If the airline has sent your bag on another flight, in which case you’ll get your bags within a few hours.
• If the airline has sent your bag to the wrong airport, for which you’ll have to wait for a few days

Make sure you fill the delayed baggage form immediately at the airport and give the attendant your hotel or home address as well as a phone number where you can be reached.

The airline will bring you your luggage when its found and there won’t be a need for you to go personally to the airport.

If a bag is not sent to you within 21 days, it is considered lost.

Lost Luggage

If the airline looses your bag, it means that it’s time to file a claim.

The airline will do everything it can to find your luggage, but if they officially claim that your luggage is gone, they have to reimburse you for it.

Filling a claim involves filling out a lost baggage form and explaining in detail what was in the bag. Contact the airline representative and they will take care of the rest.

Now that you have a fair idea about what to do If your bag gets lost, here are a few tips that can help you avoid such a situation –

1.Attach A Name Tag

With air travel on the rise, companies such as VIP and American Tourister are mass producing their bags, which makes it difficult for us to have a unique suitcase.

But you can get around this by attaching brightly coloured baggage tags with your name and phone number on it.

You can put a copy of your itinerary inside your bag as well,  so that its easier for the airline to locate you if your not at your home base.

There have been instances where other people have taken the bag thinking it’s theirs and worst is when they just leave it in the middle of the airport when they realise it.

At least someone will be able to contact you if your phone number is on the bag.

2.Arrive Early

In case you didn’t know, the most common reason for delayed or lost baggage is late check-ins at the airport.

In general, make sure you reach the airport as early as possible so that you never have to get into such a situation.

If you’re wondering what to do after you arrive early at the airport , read about “5 Fun & Unique Ways To Kill Time At The Airport”

3.Keep A Buffer Between Connecting Flights

This is one more reason why bags get sent on a different flight or the wrong airport!

In a hurry to transfer your bags onto a connecting flight, airlines can do this and locating your bag can become a herculean task.

Keep some buffer time between your connecting flights while booking your tickets and avoid the unnecessary stress.

4.Pack Smartly

Pack all valuables in your carry-on luggage.

Travel essentials such as Cameras, computers, medication kits, wallets, jewellery and passports shouldn’t be carried in you checked-in luggage.

Also make sure you pack a set of clothes in your carry-on bag so that you’ll have something to wear if your checked bag is delayed or lost.

PRO TRAVEL TIP- If you’re traveling with a partner , consider dividing your clothes between each other’s checked bags. This way if one of the bags is lost, you’ll each still have some of your belongings.

5.Make A Packing List

We know it sounds tedious, but it will go a long way in case your bag gets lost.

While filling the lost baggage form, the airline asks you for a list of items you have in the bag. Its better to come prepared, than think about what all you’ve lost on the spot.

6.Buy Travel Insurance

We can’t stress enough on the fact that travel insurance is really important.

Other than covering damaged and lost bags, travel insurance covers emergency medical expenses, emergency cash expenses at the hospital and personal accidents which might occur when you are onboard.

It’s a wise decision to buy travel insurance since it costs just a fraction of your total trip and you are at ease while travelling when you are insured

7.Buy a Luggage Tracker

Consider buying a luggage tracker, which costs not more than Rs 500 and gives you real-time location of your bag on the phone.

Even if you cant find your bag at the airport, you can track it especially if someone takes your bag by mistake, thinking it’s theirs.

One more way in which you can avoid losing your bag at the airport is by downloading the AirWhizz App. We have partnered up with prestigious travel insurance companies such as HDFC Ergo, so you can book your travel insurance via the app itself. You’ll also get information about airline policies and airport services as an app user on the move.

Keep your luggage safe & Fly Stress-Free!