Calgary Airport Worker Shares 4 Key Travel Hacks To Help You Deal With Lost Luggage

Losing your luggage while on vacation is a nightmare scenario but one that's sadly pretty common these days.

Luckily, a Calgary Airport worker shared some travel hacks with Narcity to help you prepare in case your luggage doesn't show up and what you should do if your bags do go missing.

Andy Davis, terminal operations director at YYC Calgary International Airport told Narcity he has heard many lost luggage tales in the past few months, from passengers travelling all over the globe from North America, Europe and the Middle East.

He said there are some ways you can prepare for the unfortunate event of lost luggage, and some can even help you reunite with it faster.

Always pack extra clothes in your carry-on

When you're packing for your vacation, it's always best to stash a couple of extra outfits in your carry-on just in case, Davis said.

"Always carry some of your clothes in your cabin baggage, so it gives you a couple of days worth of clothing when you get to the other end," he said.

At least this way you won't have to panic buy anything new while you wait for your stuff to arrive.

Make your suitcase eye-catching!

You might roll your eyes at those people travelling through the airport with obnoxiously bright suitcases but they might actually be on to something.

According to Davis, it might seem weird but having a really eye-catching case in a sea of suitcases is key to getting your belongings back quickly.

"If you're looking for a black suitcase amongst 2000 black suitcases, it can take quite a while. But if you've got some colourful ribbons or some stickers on it, that makes it easy to spot and it's a really good indicator to put on a form."

Time to break out the sticker pack!

Add some contact details in your bag

While most of us rely on airport baggage tags to get our bags to the right destination, you can make things even easier.

Including labels with your personal details and a forwarding address inside your suitcase will help baggage teams to reunite you with your bags if they do go missing, Davis said.

"One of the things that can happen when you travel is the baggage tag can actually come off your bag," he explained.

If you've included those labels with details on where your bags should be heading to, that will really help to make sure your bags end up travelling where they need to, he said.

Report it ASAP!

We get it. You might have been on a long flight and you're anxiously waiting by the luggage carousel but your bag just isn't there. You might be tempted to deal with the lost baggage when you're a little less tired but Davis said you need to report it as soon as possible.

"You can usually do it online, but you can also do it in person if they've got space there," he said.

"Don't leave it because it's much more difficult to report it the following day or even later. Try and report on the day that you actually arrive," he said.