The Simple Packing Trick That Could Save Your Trip

At the end of a long flight to start your vacation, you’re probably excited to grab your bag and start exploring a new destination. But picture this scenario: As you watch suitcases rotate around the baggage carousel, you eventually come to realize your luggage is nowhere to be found. While rare, the unfortunate reality is that bags sometimes get misplaced or lost, leaving you without clothes and other essentials for at least part of your trip. Enter: this simple solution that can help avoid such travel catastrophes.

Go Halfsies

With our apologies to solo travelers, this hack works best when venturing out with a friend, loved one, or other trusted companion. (If you’re traveling solo, we have more advice below.) When packing for a big trip, most people put all their clothing and some other essentials into their personal suitcase. The one hiccup with doing this is, if you check that bag and it gets misplaced, you’ve lost 100% of your belongings.

Instead, try the 50/50 rule: Pack 50% of your clothing into your bag and the remaining 50% in a friend or loved one’s bag. The other person does the same, packing 50% of their belongings in their own bag and the remaining 50% in yours.

What’s the logic behind going through all that trouble? While the odds of one checked bag getting misplaced or lost are low to begin with — 1.9 bags per 1,000 travelers on domestic flights and 11.2 bags per 1,000 passengers on international flights — the odds of both you and your travel partner ending up with lost bags are likely even lower. In the event one bag is misplaced, you’ll still have the 50% of clothing you packed in your travel partner’s luggage, which should help you get by for a few days — hopefully long enough until your lost bag is returned.

Utilize Your Carry-On

If you’re traveling solo or don’t feel comfortable sharing space in your luggage, you can utilize your carry-on as a safety net instead. Since your carry-on is with you the entire flight, assuming it meets size requirements and doesn’t have to be gate-checked if overhead space fills up, the odds of it being misplaced are slim to none. This is why you should always — whether you’re traveling with a partner or solo — pack your most important items inside your carry-on, such as travel documents, cash, medicine, and a phone charger.

In addition to those essentials, it’s a good idea to keep a fresh set of clothing in your carry-on. That way, if you arrive at your destination and your bag is missing, at least you’ll have a fresh outfit to wear while you sort everything out and procure replacement clothes.

Tips for Avoiding Lost Luggage

While you can do only so much to ensure your bag arrives safely, there are steps you can take to boost the odds it’ll be returned if it does get misplaced. First, be sure to include identifying info on both the outside and inside of your suitcase. Always affix a luggage tag to the outside with your name, email, and phone number. You can also place a sheet of paper inside the bag with your contact information in case the tag gets detached from the outside of your bag.

Additionally, consider taking a few photos of your suitcase, which can help airline staff tasked with tracking your bag down. You’ll be able to provide a detailed description of the luggage and make note of the manufacturer, size, and model. The more specific you can be, the better, as there are probably a lot of other flyers who own something as generic as a “big gray suitcase.” 

Lastly, if you’re an Apple user, put an AirTag in your suitcase to track the precise location of your bag. (If you’re an Android user, there are great alternatives to AirTags, which we’ve rounded up here.) This helps both you and the airline zoom in on a specific location where it may have been misplaced. Apple even recently unveiled a new “Share Item Location” feature, where you can share a secure AirTag link directly with over 15 partnered airlines, including Delta and United.