Luggage tags are a quick and easy way for airport, airline, hotel, cruise line and other travel-related employees to get a quick glance at who a particular piece of luggage belongs to.
Airlines, tour operators, cruise lines, etc., have their own luggage tags they give you, and those may have information specific to you and where your bags are supposed to go.
Even though the travel-related companies give you a luggage tag, they still recommend you also have your own, personal one, just in case theirs gets lost, torn off, etc. (an extra step to ensure your bag doesn’t wind up at this place can never hurt).
People use all different types of personal luggage tags. I mean, the style can run the gamut from super serious to eye-popping fun, and from teeny tiny to frickin’ huge. Personally (and probably not at all surprisingly), I like “fun” luggage tags. These are some of the best I’ve seen.
Regardless of style, though, the most important thing on a luggage tag is the contact information you put on it so whoever finds your bag can eventually get it back to you. So what SHOULD be on it?
- Your Name
- Email address
- Cell phone number (including international code)
That’s it.
What about home address?
Nah.
I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to put our home address on our luggage tags. Back then (I guess I should note I’m a Gen Xer), it probably made sense. Cell phones weren’t around back then, and email certainly wasn’t! They’d put our home phone number on the tag too, but there wouldn’t be anyone home to answer the phone (it was a landline, of course) until we got home. So putting your home address meant they miiiiiight send the bag back to you. If you were lucky.
Nowadays though? Putting your address on your luggage is just an advertisement for saying I’M NOT HOME! COME AND BURGLARIZE ME! Granted, the chances are small, but still, not recommended.
Besides, with modern technology, whoever finds your bag is more apt to call, text or email you anyway.
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3 comments
I put my name, business address, cell phone number and routing (airline, airport codes like “12 JUL 2023, UA DEN-SFO, SQ SFO-SIN”. Of course, this means frequent changing of the tag.
I don’t put my e-mail address but think it’s a good idea, in retrospect.
Not everyone has the ability to put a business address on their tag, but if they do, sure, that works. So does the routing, although, as you said, it means you have to keep updating it.
I put the trip details inside my bag also with email and phone number.