Recently we were standing at the Singapore Airlines check-in bound for Shanghai, where in a couple of days we would be pounding the pavement with 8 Shopaholics. Waiting in queue I was bemused by our standard issue black Samsonites and the minor variations.

Wendy’s was tagged with our easy to spot signature luggage tag (of course, she is more organised than most), Ellis’ bearing  an airline luggage tag addressed with a hotel she stayed at 2 flights ago and mine identified with nothing more than a fine red ribbon tied to the handle, and that just happened to be my mothers touch when she borrowed my bag.

Lost in my thoughts, I had total faith that the bar coded airline tag and luggage receipt would ensure this bag would meet me in Shanghai. And if it didn’t because of a smudged print or some other baggage belt mishap the risk of me not seeing my bag or even Ellis’ was far more probable than for Wendy’s bag. But I also figured travellers luck may not always be on my side and wondered how many other frequent fliers were so non chalant about such identification.

At check-in I asked the attendant “Who and how are travellers tagging their luggage?” Apparently the lesser travelled are hauling luggage with tags and locks everywhere. Many frequent fliers comparatively rely on their airline club luggage tag while a great number of us go tagless or in a last minute frenzy tie on a free airline tag with not much more than a telephone number listed.

With this in mind and reflecting on Peter Greenberg’s TODAY Travel Editor fact that one U.S. passenger in 150 had a mishandled bag last year, with the total number of bags reported mishandled in 2006 likely to top out close to 4 million. I figured it was about time to explore the world of the styled traveller to see what else was available beyond those dated leather luggage tags with the privacy flaps to ensure my bag arrives with me (honestly what lost luggage handler is going to want to unbuckel and fiddle with one of those tags to see whose name lies beneath, its easier to throw it into the depths of luggage storage).

These are the tags we rate to add mojo at the luggage claim belt:

 “MyTags™” travel bag tags are heavy duty polyester webbing with a steel split keyring (no chance of it getting caught in the baggage handling systems). It has two ID windows, the first for name and address, the second for your current trip itinerary. We like that, so if your bag gets separated from you, the carrier knows where you are now and in the future. Best of all you can customise with your name, something cliche or cheeky. For more read the Traveller Insiders product a review.

 Tepper Jackson’s luggage tags are fun with an upbeat design. They will at least have you waiting at the carousel feeling like tropicana has ’arrived’ and the knowledge that your black standard issue has now made it to show case. Made of textured PVC. Dimensions: 4″ by 2.5″. Available from Plum Party.

And if you are thinking there must be a luggage tag that is seriously lux for your prized LV or CHANEL (which unless it’s a knock-off, you probably wouldn’t check-in anyway) RFID Limited has unveils designer BagChip luggage tags for the elite.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 19th, 2007 at 3:03 pm and is filed under Travel & Shopping, Style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.