12 tips to protect your luggage while traveling

Guess which riddle, what’s the best way not to lose your baggage? Leave it at home!

If you want to bring with your baggage, how to avoid it to be stolen?

First of all, it is essential to travel light, even better if you can fit everything you need in your hand luggage: in this way, you avoid the hassles of the queue at check-in and the waiting time for baggage recovery.

For long-haul travel, however, it’s not that simple: here are some tips to help you better manage your suitcase.

• Avoid packing fragile objects without protection.
• Do not leave loose any laces, especially of travel bags, they could get stuck in the conveyor belts (which would not stop) and destroy the bag.
• Avoid overfilling the suitcase: too much weight could break it when passing from the stow to the freight elevator.
• Use padlocks for hinge closures. Valuable items, such as PCs or photo machines must go in hand luggage; if they force you to board them, always put them in the inner part of the suitcase, never in the side parts. And above all, register the serial numbers.
• It is always better to use a rigid suitcase rather than a flexible one, more appropriate for (sure) hits in the stow.
• Always find out about the regulations of the airports from which you depart and respect them, in particular as regards materials that cannot be transported. Try to avoid “suspicious” formats: even if it is not dangerous, the security services may wish to check.
• Detach all barcodes from previous trips, which may confuse baggage handlers.
• Use an identifying label for your suitcase, which displays your name, surname, and contact phone, but never the address.
• Check well the luggage before leaving the airport, and if you notice anything strange, immediately report to the security services, before leaving the baggage reclaim area.
• Bring – for safety – a change in your hand luggage.
• If you travel in the USA or Canada use a TSA approved lock: they are the same as common padlocks but they can be opened by security personnel with a special key, without having to break neither luggage nor padlock.

Finally a recommendation directly from George Clooney, from the movie “Up in the air”:

The best suitcase is a good credit card, with unlimited expense”.

Have a good trip!