The Black Luggage Problem

[Waihekean]

I surely was colour concious when buying my new lightweight and smaller suitcase.

It is exactly this lime green colour:D:D:D

[wrigley80]

We have black luggage. I used neon green and neon orange duct tape to put all over the handles. It works out perfect. Never had a problem identifying our luggage :)

[HImom]

We have a mishmash of luggage that we have acquired over the years. So far, the red & white pompoms I have attached to all the handles of all the bags have been helpful in distinguishing our bags from others. I have also put neon covers (with velcro) over the bag handles, tied ribbons, and yes, we even have a few tapestry pieces. So far, have not had much trouble spotting our luggage. Am annoyed that one of the foam neon covers was removed by someone on one of the flights.

 

We most recently bought a beautiful, bright royal blue matching pair of rolling suitcases that can either be carried aboard or checked. H checks his & D rolls hers on the plane (yes, she has ended up with my bag because hers wasn't quite large enough for all her stuff). I also recently bought a burnt orange backpack that I carry on the plane to hold a ski jacket for when we land (I can't handle the cold weather). Have never seen anyone with that color backpack yet.

 

Our S bought a black Kirkland suitcase that he thinks he'll return because it doesn't fit in all the overhead bins & he hates checking luggage, even tho he has free check in privileges due to his frequent business flights. He also has a VERY distinctive black backpack that he bought in Taiwan--have never seen one like it & he never lets it be far form him.

 

This reminds me--will start looking for luggage again for the upcoming cruise, unless I decide to use one of our vintage tapestry bags we have. Hmmm. All of our luggage is small enough to carry aboard the plane & fit in overhead bins.

[SusanSmithJr]

Here it is! The cheapest, most trustworthy way of identifying your black luggage. Soap!

 

That's right, bar soap. All those little bars of soap you've taken from those motels have a use. You can draw your initials on each side for identification. It doesn't easily wear off and your handwritting is unique and recognizable.

 

Off course you can get fancy and draw a bird or a flower, express yourself!

 

That's the way I do it and have never had a problem.

[lin17]

for my luggage i have it cling wraped at the airport and then i put happy face stickers on it:)

[grjbyfleet]

We use straps with our names on it. You can get a variaty of colours, to contrast your suit case. I also use one of the lables, to cut off the deck/room number and slip it into a plastic section of the strap. Here is a sample site that sells them:

http://www.wovenlabelsuk.com/Personalised-Luggage-Straps.html?gclid=CODKlcuB37ACFSYhtAodwAFHyA

 

or

 

http://thejetrest.com/products/personalised-luggage-straps?gclid=CJWRmuyB37ACFcshtAodlB5cvg

[Hlitner]

Most frequent travelers have long known about putting identifying straps, ribbons, tape, etc on their luggage. The luggage dilemma can reach its worst if you ever do a "Grand Cruise" on Holland America where they routinely give all the passengers a piece of nice luggage as a gift. On debarkation day you then will have everyone on the ship with the same exact piece of luggage which causes interesting problems in the luggage hall of the cruise terminal.

 

Hank

[Tiggertastic]

We have Delsey duffels rather than hard cases or suitcases

 

We've never had a problem spotting them as we've never come across anyone else on our flights with them - they don;t sell them in the UK and we bought them whilst abroad in America - so our UK to europe flights means they are the only ones

[lissa42886]

i HATE my boring black luggage. i have looked for fun prints and all that and their so pricy.. a few years back i decided to buy fabric paint and paint my luggage!! ia lso tie a bandana on the handle and have a very fun luggage tag thats a cupcake!

[Anthomaniac]

I have a neon orange luggage strap that goes on my rolling duffel, and I always take some bright bandanas (skulls, tie die, color fade, etc) and inevitably my traveling companions end up using them to ID their roller bags...lol

[Keith1010]

We put a ribbon on each piece of our luggage to help to identify it.

 

Keith

[goinmobile68]

Red is the new black-EVERYONE has it now! Ribbon is great if they don't tear the handle off that it's attached to (happened to me!). Number of feet attached can vary too-I think my usual case is down to one remaining foot! I rely on duct tape & luck....make that duct tape!

 

If you just bought a new case or travel with different ones you might want to snap a quick picture of it so you can identify it when it goes somewhere you didn't! Last week the airline "miscalculated" and had to leave "some" luggage behind. A full plane arrived & was greeted by the roughly 20 bags they transported! All the rest were at the departing airport, not to be seen until the next day, but at least we got to stand in line with the entire planeload of passengers to report it missing. My husband had just bought his case & had to ask me what color it was! Better to have a picture (and avoid Delta conecting through Salt Lake City!)

[Sew245]

We have a mismatch of luggage. DS has his own and the rest I have bought at yard sales. Can't beat like new luggage for a couple of bucks. Anyway most are black , one red. I have some red and white wide ribbon that I am going to tie on ALL our luggage along with our tags and the cruise line tags. Two different spots on each piece.

 

My gf that we are cruising with, bought a piece at a yard sale last week. She had opened the main compartment but not all the zippered areas. When she opened it up to clean and spray it she found a bunch of stuff in one of the compartments--sneakers, a disp raincoat and a nice Carnival cruise line windbreaker the person must have bought on her cruise. Too bad she bought it at one of those neighborhood sales--no way do we remember what house it was!

[gardeningmama]

we put a large X on the front and back with duct tape:rolleyes:

[EdmPair]

We have mismatched mess of bags. GREAT idea to have a photo of each bag for airlines. I will have to do just that. Will just save on my cell until I need it. Wait, if my cell phone is lost I should email to my own gmail account so then available with another computer.

[Anthomaniac]

how about these?

 

http://hypebeast.com/2010/02/opening-ceremony-tumi-luggage/

 

or these?

 

http://colorfulluggage.com/

 

or these?

 

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/double-dutch-luggage-green-dot-collection?ID=410764

[SteveKent]

I have bought luggage straps that go around the outside of our cases, these straps have mine, & my wifes initials, together with our surname embossed on them. These also have the added advantage of helping to secure the suitcase further.

[cruisedivaSTL]

Here it is! The cheapest, most trustworthy way of identifying your black luggage. Soap!

 

That's right, bar soap. All those little bars of soap you've taken from those motels have a use. You can draw your initials on each side for identification. It doesn't easily wear off and your handwritting is unique and recognizable.

 

Off course you can get fancy and draw a bird or a flower, express yourself!

 

That's the way I do it and have never had a problem.

 

What I've done with the black luggage problem is purchase a small tube of fabric paint and painted my initials on my suitcase on the side. This way it won't wash off if the luggage is sitting out in the rain being loaded on the plane or ship. These come in all different colors and only cost $.97 cents at Walmart.

[kmdancer]

I am using a floral print carry on and a black suitcase with a hot pink ribbon around the handle and they both have hot pink luggage tags!

[michelle1836]

a sea of luggage!! :eek: we have green suitcases and I bought those $1 bandanas with colored stars for each of the handles. easier to spot

[avazah]

I'd like to point out that navy/blue are also pretty popular for luggage these days... I think a lot of us think we are being clever by buying navy instead of black, but I don't think that's the case! It took forever to get my luggage after flying home from Israel last summer... when it finally came out, THREE other people grabbed it thinking it was theirs and threw it back on after realizing it was someone else's navy luggage :)

 

Brightly colored ribbons or colored duct tape works great, though. That way, you can still have your boring, dark colored luggage!

 

(It was also amusing how many RED suitcases there were... Several people were scrambling to figure out who's luggage was who's, as there were apparently several sets of IDENTICAL red luggage belonging to several families!)

[Bug & Sprouts]

Until it's destruction somewhere between Iceland and London/Heathrow, my black suitecase had large white dog paw prints I had painted on it. Im a dog groomer so it was something I spotted easily and to this day Ive never seen anyone elses have the same markings.

[jannandjohn]

We keep a couple of rolls of bright yellow 3 inch wide duct tape( even take one when we travel) and everytime we buy a bag, here or overseas, we cut the tape into large strips about 4 inches long, and stick it around the four sides of the bag..a bit like road markings...everywhere we go, someone from the airlines, or baggage claim , says.." what a brilliant idea"!!

It doesnt matter how far away our bags are, or if they are separated, or if they are facing up, down , or sideways..we can see the yellow strips..in a sea of luggage, ours stand out like ;)....

Never seen another the same, and we travel a lot.

Ribbons on handles , (especially black bags that look alike) are a waste of time if the handle is facing away from you on the conveyor at the airport..

Ours bags have been lost by airlines at least 4 times, but we always get them back in the end....so they stand out to the airline people too...cant get overlooked if sitting in a dark corner of the airport..

[mobster75]

Ok.. I HAVE to say this... It looks like the wheels on these bags would snap off during the first trip -they stick out WAY too much.... :)

 

I've had trouble identifying my luggage on the airport carousel also ...

 

[KBS1607]

I have DH keep his old ties and when we are ready to travel I tie one of those on the handle. It really works. Also, I love to buy wild luggage when I get the chance.