The Black Luggage Problem

[Lets Go Cruise]

The artist is Romero Britto. I love his work.

 

[Ms Ann]

We use the florescent green bath spongies. At one port was asked what our luggage looked like. Said Green Bath spongies - she said "I know right where they are"!!!! We have since see a few others with the same, but not many. Our best way - wait until the end ( we drive not fly ) and there they will be all bunched together.

 

Our new luggage - I think will be decorated with the paint. I may have the kids all do a hand print or something like that.:eek:

[Travel GG]

There are a lot of really good ideas here! Very Creative!

 

I think I will print out our initials LARGE and on colored paper and then stick it on with contact paper. Maybe add a little picture or something. Hmmm...

 

Or maybe I will just get some neon duct tape, tape all four corners and add our initials with black marker.

 

Returning from Hawaii, someone else snagged our bag off the luggage carousel and took it with them. The bags were similar black bags, but definitely not the same. And our bags had the small luggage locks from yesteryear. It was 1997.

 

When we tried to get our luggage, only one piece was left and it wasn't ours. :mad: So the airline employee said someone probably took ours by mistake and left theirs. He GAVE us the other person's luggage to take! I questioned the professionalism of that, but it worked!

 

We lived 45 minutes from the airport in Utah, and we weren't thrilled about having to track down our luggage. We took the bag home and opened it looking for contact info and realized the guy had packed his video camera in his checked luggage and had no locks on it or anything. This was back in the day when you actually could lock your luggage. Not a very smart thing to do! He got lucky!

 

We found a phone number and talked to the guy, who was still clueless to the whole situation. We met at a fast food restaurant and exchanged luggage in the parking lot. Luckily he was local to us. :-/

[bazarr2]

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

 

I love your luggage, where do I find it ;)

[Cuizer2]

I love your luggage, where do I find it ;)

 

I don't know. I just used the picture that was on the Internet. :o

[HImom]

Would question how well/poorly contact paper would remain adhered to luggage and believe tape would be much more effective as a lasting solution. You could use tape to make initials or whatever other pattern you choose. Duct tape comes in an amazing array of colors & designs.

 

Interesting that the airline encouraged you to take the other person's luggage and that the other person was clueless about having your bag. When my friend took someone else's luggage, he had to call the airlines & figure out what to do. They made him get back to the airport (expensive, long cab ride from DC to Dulles) swap for his correct bag & then he had another expensive, long cab ride back to his hotel. This was the summer just before 9/11.

[GlendaleCruiser]

Years ago I bought a supply of extra wide shoelaces in the children's department of Walmart. They actually caught my eye as I was walking in the area. I haven't been able to find the extra wide since, but other shoe stores might have them.

 

They are extremely BRIGHT NEON colors: Orange, Pink, Lime Green. They are so sturdy that you can double them over, tie them in a double knot and they will stay on your bag forever. I've never had one fray or come off. I can see them from 50 yards away.

 

:D

[mrsfuzzmo]

I bought some fish stencils and fabric paint and "painted" colored fish all over my luggage. It is on for life and so easy to spot!

 

I did the same and put a big neon yellow and orange pineapple on my royal blue suitcase, and a flourescent red fire dept logo on my husbands. We got a ton of compliments on them and it made them easy to spot.

 

We've since gotten new luggage (as a gift, it's maroon) and I have used flourescent green paint to paint all the zipper pulls on all the zippers. There are about 12 on each suitcase, so while it's not obtrusive, we can easily identify!

[johneeo]

Would question how well/poorly contact paper would remain adhered to luggage and believe tape would be much more effective as a lasting solution. You could use tape to make initials or whatever other pattern you choose. Duct tape comes in an amazing array of colors & designs.

 

 

Just finished cruise on the Oasis.

 

Got to luggage area, 2 bags not there. One is bright canary yellow, the other is black. I put bright yellow duct tape on the front and the back.

 

But, about 2 acres of bags, all standing straight up, no yellow duct tape on the top. Never thought about this situation, it would have literally been impossible to find.:eek: Luckily, our section 40 was split into two sections in a corner area. The two bags were against another wall.

 

I was sweating bullets.

[waterbabe40]

I let my children draw anything they wanted on their bags with Sharpie markers. Even on blue or green luggage, individualizing the pieces make them stand out. One drew a "tropical" scene and the other drew all kinds of shapes. Some used stencils too but the free-hand bags got a lot of compliments and the children were so proud.

[beshears]

I haven't read all the responses, but that is a good idea, although I did purchase my luggage in RED.:) I thought, no one will have red except me, boy was I wrong.:( I did tie a wide yellow ribbon on the top handle which makes it much easier to find. What you said about putting a ribbon the side handle makes sense too.

 

This may seem a little strange/funny, but my luggage is not all worn out or bad, but I just want a new set. The luggage I have now has all kinds of pockets, several zippers, hangers and luggage now days, I cannot find this in any of the BEST luggage. Looks like at this point I will stay with my old luggage.:)

[LVWineaux]

For years I used crocheted ribbons made from colored yard. They are easy to spot but only from close up. I still found myself squinting at all the black luggage because you can't always get a spot close to the carousels. Then I discovered colored duct tape. Last cruise - used fluorescent orange and put our initials on the big sides and a strip on the outer flatter sides. There was no mistaking which bags were ours a hundred feet away.

 

Yep - its true, the only two items you really need are duct tape and WD-40 in your basic tool box.;)

 

Glad to see that Red Green is on this board!

[johneeo]

For years I used crocheted ribbons made from colored yard. They are easy to spot but only from close up. I still found myself squinting at all the black luggage because you can't always get a spot close to the carousels. Then I discovered colored duct tape. Last cruise - used fluorescent orange and put our initials on the big sides and a strip on the outer flatter sides. There was no mistaking which bags were ours a hundred feet away.

 

Yep - its true, the only two items you really need are duct tape and WD-40 in your basic tool box.;)

 

I did the same thing, bright yellow duct tape all over the front and back. No one could mistake this bag.

 

Then we got off of the Oasis. No black bag, literally football fields of luggage, all of them standing straight up, back to back of each other, with only the top of black bags exposed, and no yellow tape on the top.:eek:

 

OMG! Well, we got lucky, as our bag was one numbered station away and found it. But, I really thought this was going to be hopeless.

[happyiam]

Instead of ribbons we wrapped neon coloured pipe cleaners around each handle. Be sure to tuck the sharp ends in so you don't get scratched when picking them up. They come in several different colours.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Paint something on them ...

[MszKitty]

I write our last name next to the handle in big bold letters with silver sharpie. Plus I have the bright curling ribbon on the handle. AND we have Lakers luggage tag like this:

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Aminco-Nba-Lakers-Luggage-Tag/dp/B001NEO6K2

 

 

 

and Lakers luggage spotters like this:

 

 

http://sportsfanshop.jcpenney.com/Los-Angeles-Lakers-Luggage-Spotter-2-Pack-_-732351708_PD.html

 

 

 

I know...its overkill, but NO ONE is going to accidentally walk off with our luggage...LOL (In my defense of all these things...The Laker stuff is just because I needed something to stuff in the Christmas stockings. )

[Sinppu]

We have sown flags on our black and dark blue luggage.

 

Next time I'll look as bright coloured as possible, though :rolleyes:

[april47]

When I retired, the hospital gave me a large suitcase. It's BLACK but has the hospital name in white letters on the front. I'm not sure if I want to use it or my trusty old tapestry luggage which is in good shape. After reading this thread I'm wondering if it will be hard to locate that new suitcase not to mention it doesnt seem very sturdy. Will the name on front help or do I still need to put something bright on top(if I use it)?

[tonyrocks922]

I use plain, unadorned luggage. I can usually recognize mine right away since almost everyone else's has ribbon, tape, stickers or something else on it these days.

[zuridog]

When my mother and I went on a flight to New Zealand and Australia, we put bright pink duct tape on a luggage tags. With those bright pink luggage tags against the black suitcase, it was was easy to spot on a carousel.

[Doglovertoo]

I love your luggage, where do I find it ;)

I just saw this luggage - I think it was at Penney's.

[SunshineandSea]

You can buy luggage covers that are like a fabric "bag" or similar that covers up the suitcase. Not sure that the TSA likes them much, can't be guaranteed that they won't "lose" them during an inspection, but transferring from the flight to ship and vice versa they should be intact and very noticeable if you purchase a bright pattern. Also keeps suitcases clean.

[saffy12]

Keep tossing our ideas as there may be a perfect solution which we have not found. :-)

 

I have soft sided luggage that's a blue color - but it's from Costco so everyone else has the same bag, too!

 

I took a black Sharpie to it and wrote my first name in big letters on it. Yeah, it's tacky, but most people don't have the same name as I do, and even if they do, they don't have it written all over their bag in MY handwriting! It distinguishes the bag without having anything stick out or that can fall off, and doesn't have tape that can damage the bag. The Sharpie does fade after awhile (a few years) but it's easy enough to touch it up again....

[Reina del Mar]

What a fuss about black luggage ! Surely buying a suitcase band with your name woven into it isn't that much of a problem ????!!

[Chelseapop]

I painted huge cat paw prints all over my luggage. Worked a treat when my luggage went astray on a flight home to Brisbane from Canada - the missing luggage people were able to identify it very easily. Also makes if pretty much impossible for people to pick it up by mistake. One suitcase has bright red paw prints, with another being painted in fluorescent yellow and another in bright purple.:D