The #1 Thing to Do Before Checking Your Luggage (Spoiler: It Could Save You $1000s)
This simple step can help you recover your belongings faster and even get paid by the airline.
No matter how carefully you plan, lost luggage is an annoying reality that can happen to any traveler. When an airline misplaces your checked bag, odds are, you’re arriving at your hotel without so much as a fresh change of clothes or a toothbrush. And, if you had important or irreplaceable items inside, that could be enough to derail your entire trip.
But, there’s one important pre-flight task that can potentially save you from the nightmares of losing your luggage, experts say. Plus, this one step can even save you thousands of dollars.
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Take a photo of what’s in your luggage before checking it
The packing process is usually the least photogenic part of any trip. But, if you’re planning on handing your suitcases off at the airport, experts say you should get a few photos of your bags and their contents just in case they get lost en route.
Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA, told travel news website The Points Guy that taking photos of what’s inside your luggage gives you a time-stamped record that you can show the airline.
What’s more, if you have expensive items inside, these photos will serve as evidence that you can show your travel insurance company, Durazo says. It’s possible you can get reimbursed for the lost items while you’re waiting for your luggage to resurface.
You could be reimbursed by the airline
According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), there are also policies in place to ensure airlines need to pay up for lost luggage.
“Under DOT regulations (for domestic travel) and international treaties (for international travel), airlines are required to compensate passengers if their bags are damaged, delayed, or lost,” the agency writes on its website.
Carriers are responsible to pay travelers back for “reasonable, verifiable, and actual incidental expenses that they may incur while their bags are delayed.”
These reimbursements have a maximum liability limit, though. For domestic travelers, you can be reimbursed up to $4,700 per passenger (or more, if the airline chooses to do so), while international travelers can see as much as $1,700 per passenger.
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How to report your missing luggage
As you might expect, it can pay to get the ball rolling immediately once you’ve realized your suitcase isn’t showing up. The DOT suggests filing a lost baggage claim with your airline as soon as possible and staying in contact with them while they do their best to locate it.
Seasoned travelers have additional tips that can help make the process smoother. In a post on Reddit, one user suggested knowing the dimensions and brand of your bags before handing them off to make them easier to find. “Make sure that information is easily available while you travel,” they suggest. “If your luggage is lost, you’ll need many details, and the original claim usually has to be filed within a short time.”
This is where having photos of your luggage can really pay off. It will make the claim filing process quick and easy.
“I typically lay all my packing items out on the bed and take a photo of the contents before packing to help jog my memory if I have to make a full contents list,” they suggest. “Then [I take] photos of the packed suitcase, inside and out.”
Other precautions you can take to protect your luggage
While snapping a photo can be the #1 way to get cash back for your lost items, there are some other smart steps you can take.
For instance, many users on Reddit agree that packing an AirTag or other tracking device in your suitcase can be one of the most effective solutions.
“There is absolutely zero reason to pay $700 to fly to Italy and not put a $30 gizmo in your suitcase so you can track it when it inevitably goes missing,” one user wrote.
Others suggest using an internal luggage tag with your name and contact info in case your external one gets damaged or lost during transit.
You may also want to reconsider the look of your luggage. Instead of opting for a very common color like black, navy blue, or grey, try using a more unique color like blue, pink, or yellow so it will stand out on the carousel (and be less likely to get accidentally picked up by a confused traveler), per Irish budget airline Ryanair.
At the very least, consider adding a brightly colored tag or ribbon that can help you distinguish which bag is yours.
