Lost Luggage Advice before and after you fly

• Whilst packing your bag, make sure that your baggage can be traced back to you as easily as possible. Put on your bag your contact details, as well as your airline and flight number, and even the date that you are flying. Make sure these labels cannot be pulled off, and that they are waterproof. Make sure you put your contact details inside the bag, so that people do not know your house back home may be empty. Then place all the details of your destination, including hotel name, adress and telephone number.
  
  
• You can also use a service such as Global Bag Tag if you are really concerned about losing your bag https//:www.globalbagtag.com.
  
  
• Pack a small amount of hand luggage. Although you might not need to use it, it is worth taking some essentials on the plane with you, such as a spare change of clothes and a minimal amount of toiletries (but be careful about the limits of liquids you can now take on a plane). If you can, also take a small bottle of clothes detergent so that you can wash the clothes you are wearing. You can also buy clothes detergent in small sheets from Boots, which will save on space and on the liquid limit.
  
  
• Also pack any other essentials that you might need for the rest of your holiday, such as a phone charger and plug adapter, any documents for your hotel, and all of your money and travellers cheques should go with you in your hand luggage.
  
• If you also want to guarentee that your bag doesn't get lost, and you are taking a connecting flight, look at what airline you are flying with. Some airlines only give you around 30mins between your flights, which sometimes means your bag do not have time to follow you onto the plane. Instead search for an airline that only has connections of about 90mins. As well as a better peace of mind about your bags, you will also get more time to walk around the airport and get something to eat etc.
  
• Take out travel insurance on your bags, this will guarantee that you will get money back if your bag is not found. Some airlines give little compensation for your bags, and they can sometimes try not to give you anything at all.
  
• If your bags do get lost however, your hand luggage will be useful why you go about the normal procedures of regaining your luggage:

1. In the airport fill out a lost luggage form at your airlines desk.

2. Immidiatly contact the airline that you have flown with, so that they know it is lost.

3. Immidiatly contact your travel agent, so that if they are contacted they will know where the airport should send your bags.

4. As an extra precaution write down the name and employee number and contact information of the person in charge of lost luggage at the airport, and get them to take all of your contact information

5. Continue to call both the airline and the airport, to keep track of their search.

6. If you find an operator that is most helpful, take their name so that when you ring again they can follow it up as efficiently and they may also keep an eye on your claim for you.

If your bag does go missing, do not panic. If you have packed all your essentials and valuable items in your handluggage, you can buy everything else you need there.