Comments on: All bags look alike, sometimes even those that shouldn’t

By: Twitted by etta_v197

Twitted by etta_v197 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:57:56 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by etta_v197 [...]

By: More about finding your luggage « Feisty Tourist

More about finding your luggage « Feisty Tourist — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:32:04 +0000

[...] 30, 2008 Check out this article by Janice Hough from Tripso. She gave some great advice. Remember, even if you decide to adopt my duct tape method, you may [...]

By: AKFlyer

AKFlyer — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:08:44 +0000

Coming back to Anchorage from my honeymoon in Baja on a frigid January night a few years ago, I staggered out of my First Class seat and into the terminal (it was 2 AM local, 4 AM Baja time, and it takes 12 hours to get from SJD to ANC). I visited the ladies’ room on my way down to the baggage carousel to spash some cold water on my face while my pilot husband took the airport crew shuttle to retrieve our car in his company lot. When I got to the carousel, first his bag and then eventually my own came off the conveyer, after almost everyone else had left. We loaded up the car and drove home, not bothering to unpack once we got there as most of the beachwear in our bags was not needed at -20F!

An hour after we went to bed, the phone rang. Alaska Airlines was calling to say we were missing a bag. Huh? How could that be? We checked two and retrieved two. DH’s was a worn 22″ Purdy Neat with his cargo airline’s purple and orange logo emblazoned on a custom strap. Mine was an almost new 26″ Eagle Creek roller, the likes of which I had not seen so far in my travels. Plus, I’d checked the leather luggage tag holder and I’d seen the familiar Arrowhead logo that appears on my business card (I work for the federal agency that takes care of our national parks).

Sighing, I zipped open my bag to confirm its contents. There was nothing inside that belonged to me! Checking the luggage tag again, this time with my reading glasses on, I realized that the bag belonged to a work colleague. What were the odds . . .

The next morning, back at the airport (good thing we lived 10 minutes away) I sheepishly exchanged my colleague’s bag for my own. Apparently my bag had come off the conveyer right away and my colleague, who I didn’t even realize was on the same flight up from PDX, had checked the tag, seen our agengy logo, and grabbed the bag. When he got home he started unpacking and at first thought the TSA had messed with his stuff, big time. When we compared notes at work the following Monday we marvelled over the fact we had identical bags AND luggage tags. Not so surprising that our business cards looked the same or that we were flying back to ANC on the same flight given the amount of air travel we all do up here.

On hisnext trip to Incheon DH got me custom embroidered yellow straps and I haven’t had a problem since then . . . Still waiting for another Sourdough to show up with the same straps!

By: Carlo

Carlo — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:19:17 +0000

Assuming that *was* her own bag…

By: Paulette

Paulette — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:56:30 +0000

Wrona: I wouldn’t assume that the little old lady took your bag by mistake — especially since her own bag was so different. She was probably giving you dirty looks because you stopped her in mid theft. It would be so easy for anyone to snatch a bag, hand it off to an accomplice, and then return for his/her own bag.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:03:58 +0000

I bought a luggage set that was bright purple with big Hawaiian flowers. Luckily, though Hawaiian print luggage is very trendy now, they don’t make my exact print anymore, so I know which is mine every time. Sometimes the tackier, louder suitcases work better than the blue or black bags with just a small marker.

By: Wrona

Wrona — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:07:39 +0000

I traveled with the same BLUE samsonite luggage for years. Never had any problems because it wasn’t the black or red that seem to be most popular on the carousel. So I’m standing there at baggage claim and see my bag come down the chute (I recognized my distinct luggage tags) and then I see this little old lady grab my bag off the carousel and start to walk away. I had to chase after her to get her to stop and then had an argument with her before she agreed to read the name on the luggage tags. So she finally gives over my bag and I head back to the carousel to wait for my 2nd bag. As I stood there, she gave me evil looks every few seconds like it was my fault that wasn’t her bag. Well, when her bag finally came it was BLACK, and wasn’t even the same shape or size as mine.

After that, I resorted to putting neon colored shower poofs on the handles of all my luggage until I bought more distinctive luggage. And yes, I have met at least one other person in my travels that has that same distinctive luggage. Thankfully we use different colored luggage tags and locks. And we both read the luggage tags before walking away from baggage claim.