9 simple tricks to lessen the chances of an airline losing your luggage

There's more to it than a label
There's more to it than a label Credit: getty

Airlines and airports have come a long way in streamlining the transit of your luggage in recent years, with mishandling rates down by more than 70 per cent over the last two decades. 

Still, according to the latest figures from SITA, the company that supplies air transport communications to most of the aviation industry, your odds of falling victim are about one in every 180 passengers. 

The good news? Bags classed as 'mishandled' make their way back to their owners 95 per cent of the time. Gone are the days when the fate of lost luggage is an auction house in Tooting.

Regardless, it's no fun being stuck in a foreign country (or even at home) without your worldly possessions even temporarily. While the matter is largely out of  your hands after you check in, there are some ways to lessen the risk of it happening.

  1. Avoid tight connections at all costs. By far the most likely scenario in which to be separated from your checked bags; this accounts for nearly half the cases of luggage mishandling, SITA states. Unloading, sorting, transporting and then reloading cargo takes time, especially if more than one airline is involved, and if your first leg is even slightly delayed, it’s game over. In this case, you’ll probably be reunited with your luggage eventually, but it will take a day or two. Make sure, therefore, that the window between your connecting flights is at least two hours. Often, especially if you’re booking through a comparison site, they’re shorter than that.
  2. Tags. Attach prominent labels to your luggage, which should include your name, flight number, phone number and address - but to be safe, your work rather than home address. It’s worth having a duplicate label inside your case too, should the one on the outside tear off in transit.
  3. Remove all your old airline tags and labels before checking in. Sometimes staff will do this for you, sometimes they won’t, but having multiple barcodes on your luggage can present confusion for the scanning systems.
  4. By the same token, make sure any straps or long handles are tucked in or removed to prevent them from getting caught in the machines that process them, as this could cause damage or delay.
  5. Consider investing in a smart tracker - there are plenty on the market - which will enable you to pinpoint the location of your bag at any point during the journey. This way, even if it ends up in the wrong place, it won’t truly be lost.
  6. Get to the carousel pronto. It’s pretty unlikely that someone will mistake your luggage for theirs in this day and age, but it is possible, so don’t dither between disembarking the plane and getting to the reclaim hall. 
  7. Don’t bother having your suitcase shrink-wrapped in plastic. It’s expensive, dreadful for the environment, and will not lessen the chance of your losing your luggage.
  8. Avoid Birmingham Airport. According to Telegraph Travel’s recent analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data, this airport saw two unresolved lost luggage claims per one million customers between 2015 and the end of March 2019; still a tiny number, but more than any other airport in the UK. 
  9. Finally, assume it will happen. Plan for the worst case scenario, which isn’t to say you should be paranoid, but rather get into the habit of taking your valuables and absolute essentials in your hand luggage (electronics, medication, documents, keys), along with one spare change of clothes just in case. It’s also worth making a note of the contents of your checked bag should you need to claim compensation down the line.

Can I get compensation if my bag is delayed or lost?

If your bag is misdirected on the way out, the airline must give you money to buy replacement items or reimburse you for purchases you make to cover your loses while you wait for your bag. But they can be evasive and pass responsibility to any other airlines you have travelled with or your insurance company, Sophie Butler, Telegraph Travel's consumer correspondent, writes.

Unloading, sorting, transporting and then reloading cargo takes time - don't risk a tight connection Credit: getty

UK airlines allow 21 days to track your bag before it is considered officially "irretrievably lost". They trace it through an electronic tag put on it when you drop off your luggage, but bags can be difficult to find if a faulty or incorrect code was entered by the person who checked it in. At this stage, after a lengthy process of making a claim, you can get compensation for your bag.

How do I get my bag back?

All major airlines use the World Tracer System, which tracks a bag for 100 days and uses the information provided by you about the appearance of the bag as well as the journey history to try to locate it.

A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic explains: "When a customer identifies their bag as missing, a report is made into a system which searches bags found with similar criteria. Bags found at an airport without a customer attached or missing a tag are also logged into this system with any details that can be established.

"The system works 24/7 searching for matches between the delayed bag reports the customer has made, and the found bag reports that the airline has made, and it makes suggestions for matches based on the criteria in the files. Our baggage-tracing team continuously looks at these matches, liaises with the airports and the customers, identifies the right bag and owner, and facilitates the return of the bag.

"If a bag is missing, it could be due to belt or infrastructure failures, the bag may have become tagless, or short connection times may prevent bags getting from one aircraft to another. Usually a bag would be somewhere between check-in and the aircraft in a designated baggage area. If a bag is found later on, we will return it to the customer regardless of whether they’ve had compensation or not.

"If a bag is not picked up from a carousel, it would get held at the airport, and a found bag report would be logged. If the customer then realised they’ve left the bag they would be able to call up and arrange for it to be returned to them. If the bag is not requested or identified it is then stored for up to 90 days. After which if no-one has claimed it, and we cannot determine who it belonged to, it would then be disposed of."

Do you have any lost luggage horror stories? Let us know in the comments box below.