Travel Tips
Snap a selfie of your luggage before taking off.
Just.in.case.
The hottest new selfie trend:
a snapshot of your luggage!
Quick: Describe your luggage. Right now, and without looking.
If your luggage ever goes missing, that’s exactly what you’ll be asked to do. In a little room at the airport, when you’re highly stressed. Oh, and don’t forget to list everything that’s inside, starting with something identifiable.
You can make this unfortunate scenario at least a little easier by snapping a quick picture of your luggage before you check it in. Even better, take a photo of what’s inside, too. If you have to provide a description, you can go one better and provide a picture.
More Tips to Find Lost Luggage
If you use a packing list to make sure you don’t forget anything, take a picture of that, too! Then, keep your suitcase selfies on your smartphone, so they’ll be handy if you need them. If you don’t use a packing list, use the notes app on your phone to quickly jot down an inventory of your suitcase(s). It might seem like overkill, but one lost bag and you’ll be glad you did.
Pro Tip: We mentioned that you should mention something identifiable in your suitcase. Make sure to pack something that will set your belongings apart from everyone else’s. We picked up little keychains with our names on them, and clipped them to the interior zippers. They double as zipper pulls, but their real job is to give the airlines something that says those are our bags, without a doubt.
Don’t Stop at Luggage!
Take some pictures of the items you carry with you through the airport, too. Over the Christmas holiday, a stuffed bear was lost at Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport. Thanks to a post on Facebook, Teddy and his human, Eleanor were soon reunited. We’ve seen similar stories recently with airlines and passengers joining the hunt for missing items via Twitter, too.
The lesson we learned: Snap a picture and let Social Media reunite you and your Teddy!
What are your favorite safety tips for traveling? Please share them in the comments, and we’ll re-post the best. (Be sure to include your Twitter handle and a link to your blog, if you have one!) Or click here for more #Travel140!
Pingback: #Travel140: Our Three Favorite Packing Tips - TravelLatte
Great idea, this would really come in handy! The more you travel it will eventually happen to you. Thanks!
This is a great tip! My bag is black — ha ha! I can’t even tell it from my husband’s black bag when we unpack the car. I try to go carry-on only so I don’t have to through the stress of waiting for my bag to hit the baggage carousel. I’ve gone carry-on only for as long as 23 days in Europe and loved the absence of baggage anxiety!
True what you said. We figured out how handy a photo that would be … only after United Airlines had lost our luggage in BOTH directions of our round trip. The other thing we figured out was that United is not very good at keeping track of luggage. 🙂
Thiis an excellent idea, thanks for the tip. Ironically, it’s a good idea to take a photo of your luggage and contents before boarding a train. A man who had gotten off the train before my daughter took her luggage by mistake and luckily he turned it in.
What a great tip. Definitely going to do this on our upcoming trip.
My suitcases are packed and sitting by the front door atm, ready to fly out Tuesday morning…perhaps I should take a pictures now! I’ve never thought about that before! I always take pictures of my packages when I mail something, so why not these!? BRB…. 😉 #TheWeeklyPostcard!
Never thought of doing this but come to think of it, it does make a lot of sense! Thanks for the idea 🙂 #TheWeeklyPostcard
It is a great idea, but we usually forget to do it. Luckily, it is usually the same luggage, so we could theoretically find an old photo from a few trips back. The last time we had luggage problems, it wasn’t lost but badly broken. We were late for our next flight so we used some tape and replaced it before going back home.
Smart advice guys! I think I actually have a photo of my pack somewhere on my phone, but I definitely have snaps of my most expensive travel gear in case I need it for my travel insurance. I think saving a photo of your passport is also another smart one to have in case it gets lost.
Wow, I never thought of a photo of my luggage. What a great idea. My tip would be to use your smart phone for taking photos/copies of all your travel documents.
Great tip! I never think to snap a picture of my luggage, but now I will moving forward. #WeekendWanderlust
Hahaha, believe it or not I can describe my luggage very easily. However, I think your idea of taking a quick snapshot of it makes your life easier in case it gets lost. Great tip! #TheWeeklyPostcard
I had never thought of this, but I can definitely see how this can come in handy. I am going to try to remember to do it on my next trip. #TheWeeklyPostcard.
I do the same thing with my bags (even though I could easily describe mine – an LL Bean rolling duffle that’s orange with white hibiscus flowers)! I also include a copy of my itinerary with hotels and contact numbers in an outer pocket.
Visting from #TheWeeklyPostcard
(http://edb214.blogspot.com)
Pingback: #Travel140: Make your bags easy to find. - TravelLatte
Excellent tip, I didn’t think about this before. I use a ReboundTAG, which is the first microchip luggage tag that works in all airports worldwide.
Hi Anda! How do you like the ReboundTAG? We are very tempted by it. We actually got this tip from the staff in a lost bags office, while we were waiting for our bags. She asked if we had a picture of our suitcases. No…who does that? Well, now WE do! 😉 Thanks for reading!