This common travel mistake means that your luggage is more likely to get lost

travel mistake lost luggage baggage tag
(Image credit: Getty)

Going on holiday doesn’t come without its anxieties.

And while worrying about whether you’ve packed your swimsuit and wondering if your hotel room will have an in-room safe does come up there, one of the biggest concerns we usually have is around actually getting to our destination.

Or more, getting our treasured belongings to our destination.

Lost luggage is one of the biggest inconveniences about going away, which means we all get a certain familiar uncomfortable feeling every time we see our precious suitcase weighed, tagged and sent away on the belt.

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Well now a travel expert has revealed the common mistake that travellers make that leads to more lost luggage.

While a lot of the time the traveller is not to blame for lost luggage and it is usually because of some sort of airline mix up.

An expert has explained in a Reddit post that one of the most common mistakes that airline passengers make is that they forget to take off old baggage tags.

travel mistake lost luggage baggage tag

The tags, which are usually wrapped around the handle of your suitcase, details the destination that you’re flying to and the flight that you’re going on.

So by leaving on the old tag it means that you risk your luggage being sent on the flight going to the destination where you last flew on holiday, rather than your case coming along with you on your current holiday to your new destination.

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‘Not a secret, just common sense,’ the expert said in a Reddit post, ‘the reason some bags miss their flight or get misrouted is because passengers don’t remove old tags.

The expert added that ‘it confuses handlers as well as the conveyor belt scanners. I see it happen all the time.’

Aleesha Badkar

Aleesha is a digital shopping writer at woman&home—so whether you're looking for beauty, fashion, health or home buys, she knows what the best buys are at any moment. She earned an MA in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London in 2017 and has since worked with a number of brands including Women's Health, Stylist and Goodto. A year on the w&h news team gained her invaluable insight into where to get the best lifestyle releases first—as well as an AOP awards nomination.