This simple trick helps ensure your suitcase arrives on the belt
By Chris C., January 4 2019
This article is part of our ongoing Business Travel 101 series for newcomers to the world of business travel.
It’s no secret that airlines accidentally send bags to the wrong places – or very occasionally, lose them entirely – but there’s one very easy thing you can do at check-in to give your suitcase the best chance of turning up at the other end of your journey, and it’s as easy as affixing a sticker.
Firstly, every printed baggage tag has a few barcodes: these tell automated baggage sorting systems where your bag is headed, and on the same tag in plain English, you’ll be able to spot your flight number(s), destination, and any transit points if you’re taking a connecting flight.
But here’s something you might not know – every tag is also printed with a couple of removeable stickers at the bottom, containing its own barcode and basic flight information.
These are essentially ‘backup’ barcodes, and one of them should always be detached from the main tag and stuck somewhere else on your bag, as seen here:
The idea is that if the main tag is damaged or breaks off, your suitcase will still have your journey information attached, so can be scanned by baggage sorting systems as normal and sent on its way.
Many check-in staff proactively do this for you – especially the more experienced agents who often work at premium check-in counters – but even there, I still have to ask from time to time: and if travelling from an airport with automated check-in facilities, this is definitely a DIY job.
Certainly, having your name and contact information elsewhere on the bag can also be useful if your suitcase does astray, but remembering this quick ‘sticker trick’ every time you check-in can reduce the chances of that happening, and help keep your business trip or holiday on-track.
Also read: Making your passport last longer when running short of pages
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1209
Great tip though it is somewhat amazing how many check-in staff don't apply the smaller stickers when they are processing a bag. When the sticker is produced by check-in staff it is their responsibility to add the second sticker as the passenger cannot reasonably reach behind the counter to add the sticker.
British Airways - Executive Club
24 Jan 2012
Total posts 74
Actually, this is not the purpose of those stickers. The stubs at the bottom of the tag are known as bingo stickers. They are used to reconcile bags manually, in airports which do not have an electronic baggage reconciliation system, or when that technology fails.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
10 Nov 2015
Total posts 9
Nice one, x.
British Airways - Executive Club
24 Jan 2012
Total posts 74
It's generally inexperience. Most will have only worked at an airport with electronic reconciliation so don't understand how the bingos are used.
13 Sep 2016
Total posts 35
My tip here: checked bags quickly amass lots of these stickers from previous trips. To stop the baggage system from accidentally scanning the sticker of a previous trip and chucking a wobbly, get a thick felt-tipped market and run it through each old sticker. This is often easier than trying to remove them because, well, those stickers can really 'stick' to some bags and be hard to take off.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2012
Total posts 2204
I make it a point to remove all stickers as soon as I arrive at my destination, as I used to travel around Asia a lot on AirAsia in the noughties growing up and they used to stick their tags directly on the handle (without the loose looping proper airlines' tags use), which got really sticky if not removed within a day or two.
04 May 2018
Total posts 43
All are correct, they can be used as bingo stickers and they may confuse the system, also check in staff should attach one to a hard part of your case, leaving two for the rare bingo game!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 Mar 2014
Total posts 132
BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
01 Apr 2014
Total posts 116
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Mar 2014
Total posts 204
Interesting! Especially as my bag failed to arrive off the carousel two weeks ago, the airline (RJ) seems to have no information and there is no record of the bag anywhere...not overly hopeful of seeing it again! My only hope is that a Qantas Qtag was attached and someone may send it to Australia where the chip can be read
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
31 Jan 2016
Total posts 90
After having luggage not arriving in PER from regional NSW 5 times in 12 months I moved to carry-on only, whenever possible, including international.
'X' - I like the idea of a photo of bags and no ribbons etc for next time I put luggage under the plane.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
13 Nov 2015
Total posts 14
Interesting! I've always peeled all three off when I've self checked in, put two in different spots on the bag, and kept one as the bag receipt.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Nov 2017
Total posts 13
I almost always do this!!!
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