That clever trick you saw online is not so clever to the people who handle your bag.
Every traveler has their own little system for packing and managing their luggage, often involving a collection of “hacks” they’ve picked up over the years. While some of these tricks are genuinely helpful, others are a source of major headaches for the airport employees who have to handle your bags, from the check-in agents to the ramp workers who load them onto the plane.
These are the luggage habits and tricks that are not as smart as you think they are, and which often create more problems than they solve.
1. Putting a “fragile” sticker on a regular, sturdy bag.
Many travelers believe that slapping a “fragile” sticker on their suitcase will ensure that it is handled with extra care. The reality is that for the baggage handlers on the ramp, who are moving hundreds of heavy bags at a very high speed, all bags are treated the same. They simply do not have the time to give special treatment to every bag with a sticker on it, as mentioned at NerdWallet.
This trick is so overused that it has become completely meaningless to airport staff. Your bag is going on the same conveyor belt and will be loaded with the same efficiency as everyone else’s.
2. Forgetting to remove the old barcode stickers.
This is a small mistake that can cause a big problem. After a flight, your bag is covered in a series of barcode stickers that were used by the automated baggage system to route it to your destination. If you forget to remove these old stickers before your next trip, it can confuse the scanners.
The automated system might accidentally scan an old barcode instead of the new one, sending your bag to your previous destination instead of your current one, The Poor Traveler shared. It’s a simple piece of housekeeping that can prevent your bag from taking an unplanned vacation to the wrong city.
3. Attaching long, dangly ribbons and tags.
Tying a bright, colorful ribbon to the handle of your black suitcase seems like a smart way to make it easy to spot on the baggage carousel. The problem is that these long ribbons, as well as flimsy luggage tags and loose straps, can easily get caught in the complex machinery of the airport’s conveyor belt system.
When this happens, it can cause the entire system to jam, delaying hundreds of bags. It can also result in your ribbon and your handle being ripped off your bag, according to Travel Park. A simple, brightly colored luggage strap is a much safer and more effective alternative.
4. Overstuffing your suitcase until the zipper is straining.
The “if it zips, it fits” mentality is a major source of frustration for airport workers. An overstuffed bag is much more likely to be flagged by the TSA for a manual inspection because the contents are too dense for the X-ray machine to see through clearly. This slows down the screening process for everyone.
It is also much more likely to burst open on the ramp or the conveyor belt, spilling your personal belongings everywhere. It’s always better to check a second, properly packed bag than to try and cram everything into one that is about to explode.
5. Checking a cheap, flimsy duffel bag.
While a soft duffel bag is great for a road trip, it is often not a good choice for checked luggage. The cheaper, less-structured bags are not designed to withstand the rough-and-tumble environment of an automated baggage system. They can easily be torn, and their soft sides offer very little protection for any fragile items inside.
Airport workers see these bags rip open all the time. If you must check a soft-sided bag, make sure it is made of a durable, high-quality material like ballistic nylon to give it a better chance of surviving the journey intact.
6. “Hiding” prohibited items and hoping they won’t be found.
Travelers will often try to sneak prohibited items, like a full-sized bottle of shampoo or a pocket knife they forgot about, into their carry-on, burying it at the bottom of the bag and hoping the TSA won’t notice. This never works. The X-ray machines are incredibly sophisticated and will flag the item every single time.
This forces the TSA agent to pull your bag for a time-consuming manual search, which holds up the line for everyone behind you. It is a pointless exercise that just wastes everyone’s time and makes the security process more stressful than it needs to be.
7. Using a very expensive, high-end suitcase.
Checking a brand-new, expensive designer suitcase might seem like a stylish move, but to airport workers, it’s a sign of a rookie traveler. Your bag is a tool designed to protect its contents, and it is going to get scuffed, scratched, and dirty. That is its job. An expensive suitcase doesn’t get any special treatment; it just gets the same bumps and bruises as a cheap one.
A flashy, high-end suitcase can also make you a target for theft, not necessarily by airport employees, but by others in the arrivals hall who may assume it contains valuable items.
8. Arguing about the carry-on size limit at the gate.
The gate agents are the final authority on whether your carry-on bag is allowed on the plane. Arguing with them that your clearly oversized bag “fit on the last flight” is a pointless and frustrating exercise for everyone involved. They have a sizer box for a reason, and they have heard every excuse in the book a thousand times.
This argument holds up the entire boarding process and only serves to annoy the gate agents, who are the very people you might need help from later if your flight is delayed or canceled. Just accept the rules and gate-check the bag.