Going on vacation or planning a business trip you are sure to choose the belongings you’ll need there carefully. Your luggage is really of vital importance when you are a stranger in the unknown surroundings. So, it’s essential to make sure you’ll get safe to your destination. Firstly, find out in advance where the luggage carousel is at the airport you arrive. There are plenty of websites, which allow checking real-time flight statuses and provide details about the airports and the services they offer. A perfect example is checking Heathrow arrivals, if you are going to London.

Unfortunately, the air carriers have been losing luggage since they started to carry it. Though nobody is insured against the lost belongings, you can at least try to prevent it. Anyway, make it a rule to pack your hand-luggage in such a way that it will contain the first essentials for the case the main luggage is delayed or missing.

If it’s a family trip with several luggage items checked, consider cross packing: don’t put all personal belongings into a single suitcase, but distribute things across the bags you all have.

To minimize risks of losing the baggage, look for the opportunity to book a direct flight, however, it’s not always possible and does not provide a 100% guarantee either.

So how to prepare your bag for the trip?

• Your bag should have at least two ways of identification. Baggage tags may be combined with the cards with your contact details. It’s reasonable to put a kind of a business card or your printed itinerary inside the bag either.

• You can also consider a smart luggage tag or tracking devices. Nowadays certain high-tech brands already offer special chipped tags and devices, which allow detecting lost personal belongings.
• Clear your bag from all the old baggage tags, to avoid accidental re-routing to your previous destination.
• It’s often easy to mistaken one bag for another on a luggage carousel if the bag has an ordinary look. To make your luggage stand out use a bright ribbon or a unique colorful sticker.
• To avoid your bag damage or loss, remove the excess straps or handles in order to prevent it from being occasionally caught in the machinery.
• When it comes to the baggage checking in, make sure the airline’s tag is correct, the agents may attach somebody else’s label to your luggage or tag your personal belongings to the wrong city.
• A good idea is to take some pictures of your bag, then you’ll have something to help identify it, in case it is missing.

The last but not the least hack, which may surprise you – ship your belongings. Bewildered? It’s not as crazy as it sounds, in such a way you often reduce the checked-bag fees, especially in the cases of the overweight or oversize and at the same time diminish the chances for it being lost. Shipment can always be tracked, however, you should take care of such a trick in advance as certain time is required for the bags to arrive on time.