Whenever thinking about travelling, especially when flying, there are 2 things that you will worry about: losing luggage and not getting to the destination on time. When thinking about how to avoid losing luggage as you travel, there are some simple steps that you can take. However, that is useless if you do not really understand why luggage is lost. Let us consider the most common met reasons why people lose luggage when they travel so that we can reduce the chances of this happening to us.
Not Getting To The Airport On Time
This is the most common reason why luggage is lost. Most people blame airlines but the truth is that they did not get to the airport in time. If you are cutting it too close, it is easy to end up with many problems. It is really important that you get to the airport around 1 hour before departure time.
One thing that you may not know is that airline pilots are going to take off even if your luggage is not on the plane since their responsibility is you. That basically means that if you arrive too late and you just checked your luggage, there is a pretty good possibility that it will not be on the plane with you.
Heavy Travelling
This basically means that you pack too many items when you travel. Such a situation is a lot more common than we would like to believe. Various reasons appear why this is the case. You need to basically travel only with the luggage that you actually need. When a lot of people pack too much luggage, part of them can be left behind and added to the following plane.
Changed Travel Plans
There are various reasons why travel plans may change like mechanical failure, weather problems, underbooking, overbooking and the list can go on. When you are forced on another flight, baggage has to also change planes, sometimes even airlines. When you do not have a lot of time available or you simply forget to announce the changes, luggage can end up reaching a different destination than you. The only way to avoid this is to make sure that your luggage tags would be proper.
Low Quality Luggage
You might think that any bag is the same but that is not the case. You should invest in decent luggage. That is especially true in the event that you frequently travel. The luggage can easily get destroyed on the cart, when it is loaded or even on the carousel. It is not at all the responsibility or the fault of the airline when clothes get scattered during transport.
Not Respecting Airline Instructions
This is way too common. Airlines have rules. You have to respect them. Always remember the fact that the luggage goes through the X-ray machine. In the event that the officer sees something that looks weird, luggage is pulled off and then sorted through. That means that the bag may miss the plane without you being at fault for not respecting airline rules.
Human Error
Obviously, you cannot control the actions of other individuals. Besides all the problems mentioned above, human error can also appear. A person on the loading crew can end up tossing the bag in a wrong pile or the bag can even be loaded on a wrong airplane. While you cannot avoid this, what you can do is make sure that all the important photos, receipts, notes and so on are kept on you so that you can protect your property.
