The season of holidays is already here and it’s time for packing suitcases. In order not to let your tour be overshadowed by loss of baggage or spoiled things, it is useful to remember the basic rules of treatment of your property.
Suitcases
The first step is to remove from the suitcase all the luggage labels remaining from the past trips, in order to avoid the dispatching of your luggage to an airport, visited six months or a year ago.
It is desirable that the suitcase is not of the standard black (grey, dark blue) colours, but of a brighter colour. Or, at least, it is worth hanging a bright tag on it. So it will be easier to find your belongings on the transporting belt, and if they get lost all the same, then a bright marking will certainly do for a distinctive feature and the loss will be easier to find.
Finally, there is no meaning at all to hang a lock on your property. It will not hinder thieves, but it may prevent the security employees from opening the suitcase in case of any suspicion when X-raying it.
What and how to pack
First of all, try not to take too many things on the trip. Ideally, the list should include only those items which can’t be dispensed, rather than those which “may be necessary”. In addition to the ever becoming strict conditions of the airlines on baggage allowance, there is a more banal issue. The probability that an overloaded suitcase or its contents will be damaged is significantly increasing, because the loaders have greater difficulty to handle heavy objects. In addition, those bags that weigh more are usually placed at the bottom of the luggage compartment.
Shampoos, suntan oils and other fluid substances must be put necessarily in a plastic bag. Incidents, when a fluid flows out from its packaging, flooding the things around, are not so rare. The alcohol purchased as a souvenir, in addition to the polyethylene, should be preferably wrapped in a cloth or a beach towel.
When packing an electric shaver, electric toothbrushes and other humming and vibrating things, try either to disconnect them or put them in such a way that the probability of accidental switching on is reduced to a minimum. In addition to discharged batteries, there is a big chance that a suitcase producing sounds would cause suspicion among security officers.
If luggage is lost
According to SITA, in 2008, for the first time in 5 years, the number of lost baggage was reduced. At the end of last year, for a thousand passengers there were only 14 suitcases which had not reached the destination. If your luggage appears among them, a few simple preventative measures will help facilitate the search:
1. Be sure to leave your contact information outside the suitcase, as well as inside. Perhaps people, signing carefully on all labels on the bag do look prigs, but in case of loss, they will get their luggage with the least delay.
2. Be sure to make a list of packed items. But so that not to carry with you an extra piece of paper that can be lost too, just take a photograph of the list.
3. Also take a photo of the contents of the suitcase and their layout.
4. Memorize the figure, which will appear on the balance during the delivery of baggage. Among other things, weight is also a distinguishing feature of your property.
Of course, no one can guarantee that your luggage, despite all precautions, will not be lost. To be 100% sure that the property will remain intact, is possible only if you do not part with it at all, i.e., take it with you into the aircraft cabin. But this is not always possible, and often not very convenient. In order not to experience discomfort while the lost suitcase is being searched for, if the worst does happen after all, be careful when deciding what to take with you as a hand luggage.
In addition to valuable items and documents in the bag, taken into the cabin, there must be objects able to meet the basic needs of the owner within 1-2 days. This is particularly true for a change of underwear, regularly used drugs and hygiene necessities. If leaving to a resort, it will also be useful to pack in the hand luggage a swimsuit, shorts and a shirt. Otherwise, observing fellow travellers, who, having thrown their bags in the room went joyfully to the sea, could spoil your mood.
When travelling with family, it is better to choose a few small bags than one large. Otherwise, it is likely to leave without clothing the whole family at once.