While some save printed airplane tickets as mementoes, airport luggage tags and stickers can also become an inadvertent reminder of a past trip. Different from the reusable tag with one's contact information, the tag printed at the airport has a barcode that connects the suitcase with the passenger and provides handlers with information about where to take it.
Whether due to forgetfulness or because they like the "frequent traveler" look of having several such tags and stickers on their suitcase, regular fliers tend to accumulate them on their baggage as they pass through different airports.
Related: Lost Luggage: Delta Flies 1,000 Bags Across Atlantic With no Passengers
While most think of these tags only when an airline loses their luggage, leaving several on one's bags can cause one some problems. In a TikTok video that USA Today recently drew attention to, Orange County's Ontario International Airport reminded travelers that they have information that could cause one's bag to be accidentally sent to the wrong destination.
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'There's a little sticker that tells the computer that it should go there...'
"Let's say you flew American (AAL) -), and then a month later, you flew Southwest (LUV) -)," a baggage handler says in the video posted on TikTok on Aug. 22. "Well, there's a little sticker that goes on for American that tells the computer that it should go to there."
While the information scanned through the barcode is dated and workers processing the bags are usually careful around making sure it lines up with the traveler's destination that day (many agents will also remove it when checking the bag in), they often face pressure to load flights fast and mistakes do occur — even if such instances are rare, having several stickers with different cities listed as the final destination can be asking for trouble.
"If your month-old American sticker is on there, there's a chance it scans instead of this one," the baggage handler continues as he points toward an area for suitcases separated from their owners. "It just depends on how it's clocked and where the stuff is. It might end up over there."
The video has been viewed and upvoted nearly a respective 500,000 and 21,000 times. The other airport worker captured in the video revealed that she's "definitely left stickers on before" while others pointed out that it is a "quick fix" that can minimize the chance of potential problems later on.
Now is a very good time to make things easy for the baggage handlers
"expiration dates ain't free" Ontario International Airport responded jokingly to one of the comments for the video.
Even though removing the sticker is always a good idea, the problems around lost luggage in the last two years have magnified the problem. Amid an industry-wide deficit of baggage handlers and airport crew in general, instances of lost baggage have been on the rise — 7.6 lost bags for every 1,000 passengers in 2022 compared to 4.35 bags in 2021.
While the number of bags to get permanently lost is still comparatively very low (most eventually find their owners), peak travel periods during the last two years have been dubbed the "summers of lost luggage" — in July 2022, Delta (DAL) -) flew a plane with no passengers but over 1,000 pieces of luggage from London to Detroit just to transport all the stranded bags that had accumulated at Heathrow Airport over the preceding days because baggage handlers could not process them fast enough.
