We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.
Browse links
US residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data.
Never be stranded without underwear on vacation again.
We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.
Older tags might be confused for your current destination. Make sure the newest tag is the only one on the bag. And always double check the airport code that's on the new tag to make sure it's correct.
Too early and it might get stashed and forgotten about. Too late and it might not make the plane. And while most airlines accept bags up until the last minute, they also aren't responsible for getting your bag to you if it misses the flight because it was checked outside of their recommended time window.
That way if it DOES get lost or misplaced, you'll have an easy reference for the airline when they're trying to locate it.
While totally lost baggage is rare, some airlines have better records than others. According to the most recent Department of Transportation report, Virgin America has the best record with 1.05 reports of lost baggage per 1,000 customers.
For large or especially heavy bags, this can be a much cheaper and more convenient option than checking. You can use regular shipping methods with tracking, or a service like Luggage Forward which arranges the whole thing for you.