Don't Use Black Bags When Flying

Here's a money saving (not to mention time and frustration saving) tip:

When you fly, don't use a black bag. If you do, make sure it's distinguishable in some fashion (bright name tag, yarn on the handle, etc.)

This tip was spurred by the following I found in July 's issue of Kiplinger Personal Finance:

60% of [travel] bags sold are black, which increases the odds that someone will pick up yours by mistake or that the airline will have a hard time tracking it down.

Kiplinger's then goes on to suggest a solution to this problem:

Buy a colorful bag or apply a large, bright luggage tag.

Personally, I take a piece of bright yarn (orange and yellow work great) and tie several of them to the handle. I've seen others do something similar. I've also seen people put colored duct tape on their suitcases (with an "x" to mark the spot) to make them stand out.

Anyone out there have a unique way to make a black suitcase stand out from the crowd?

Comments

[Patrick]

I always tie a bright colored cloth to the handle of my suitcase. I learned this from my Air Force days. When we deployed, there would litereally be several hundred green bags of the exact same color, shape, and size. Try finding yours with only a small name tag! An hour later, you'll wish you used a bright colored cloth to quickly grab your attention!

[broknowrchlatr]

We use Orange duct tape in an "X" on both sides of our luggage. It is tacky, but nice because not only can you distinguish it, you can see it from a mile away.

We use to just tie yarn to the handle, but you still have to look at every case closly to sheck for that.

[fivecentnickel.com]

I use green tape on the handle.

[Chris]

I use the yarn trick. You mentioned people accidentally picking up your bag; it used to be that airport personnel would check your bag as you left the baggage claim area. Now anyone can walk away with your bag!

[katiela]

Be careful about the duct tape idea - I've done that in the past, and the airline has removed it!!!

I have bright purple yarn on the handles now, and it helps - a long braid of it that's easily visible.

[Anitra]

I tie a wide, bright pink ribbon onto the handle(s) of my luggage. Works great, and it's easier to spot than a narrow piece of yarn.

[A Tentative Personal Finance Blog]

I always tie a huge red bow made of yarn or some sort of string to distinguish my luggage.

[FamilyFinanceBlog]

At scuba diving shops (and on-line) you can buy these fluorescent markers that write on everything and never ever come off (after all, they are designed to be put on equipment that goes in and out of the ocean and sand and ...). They are intensely bright and you can draw your favorite picture on your luggage or just put your initials. We use them on our black bags and they work great.

[John in Baltimore]

A few years ago I bought pre-printed address labels ( They have a "I Love Lucy")theme with my name and address. I stick one of these on each side,top & bottom of our suitcases. No matter what way the luggage comes out, I can spot Lucy's face and know it is my bag.

[Dave]

With TSA treating all passengers like terrorists, I have a great money saving tip - don't fly!!!!

[Cold]

I don't recommend getting bags that aren't black or dark blue unless you don't mind extra screenings time after time. I got rid of a nice tapestry/brocade bag and bought plain black after getting stopped every time for several years. After getting the plain bag, the extra screenings have completely stopped. Now I use brightly colored luggage tags to ID my bags.

[Tanya Weaver]

My black bag has approx. 20 strands of curled gift tieing ribbon in different colors tied to the handle.
Its unmistakable at a distance.

[Lord]

Multicolored ribbon or swath of patterned fabric. I want it as unique as possible.

[Jo]

My bags are black, grey or green. The black one is hard to spot, but the other two fairly easy. The duck-tape or ribbon/yarn idea is good, especially when traveling in a group. I have done enough mission trips to know that it helps everyone, also that way only two or three people from the group needs to be at the carousel--they just look for and pull any bag with the orange duck-tape or ribbon. I have had some problem with the duck-tape partially coming off, so I prefer the ribbon idea.

[Sheila at Family Travel]

I got a bomb-proof (no pun intended) hardside suitcase, black, and then proceeded to distinguish it the old-fashioned way; with luggage stickers from different countries, hotels and attractions worldwide. You can't miss it on the carousel, and fellow travelers get a kick out of looking at all of the stuff from Hong Kong, Norway, Key West FL, etc.

Tip: get two of the stickers that you really like. It's such a heartbreaker when your only Copenhagen sticker gets ripped during handling. :)

[mikcers]

I bought a colorful luggage strap that also serves to make sure the suitcase won't pop open in some unexpected suitcase incident or a zipper fatality:
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=77144&PRODID=10019960

[the Wizard]

I agree to mark your black bag in some way. I have been doing this for years.

I have a bright fluorescent green luggage tag on my bag. One of the large 3 x 5 ones. I also have a matching bright green luggage strap, however one time my bag came out without the strap... luckily the strap came out few items later. It was attached where it could not have just sliped off as it was under the handle. The TSA luggage handlers must have opened it and then just "forgot" to put it back the way they found it. But what do you expect from a gorilla...