Luggage Tags
 

Hi, Does anyone have any favorite, durable luggage tags that they would highly recommend?

I like the ones from Magellan's that are actually a brightly colored small envelope that contains one's itinerary, with directions on the outside in many languages. Especially comforting for trips with a number of stops.

http://www.magellans.com/magellan-s-retriever-tags

I bought something cheap a long time ago...Just make sure that your name and address are NOT visible. I put the info for my next stop (maybe two) inside a zippered but not locked compartment.

For my carry-ons, I use the ones made by Inventive Travelware: http://www.amazon.com/Luggage-Tag-mi.../dp/B004Y1R2IO is the one on my backpack.

For checked luggage, I use Tyvek wristbands and write my info on it using a Sharpie marker: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...llectionofcoll Those Tyvek wristbands are hard to rip off. As a back-up, I also use the paper ID tags at the check-out desk and in the suitcase I put a paper with information.

Fantastic! Thank you. My son is spending the spring semester in Japan and I am looking for fool proof travel accessories, tips, etc. Thanks for your help!

Whichever you use, follow thursdaysd's advice to make sure your name and address are NOT visible. It is well known that professional thiefs will read an address off someone's luggage in an airport and then go and back up a truck to their house and empty the place. LOL Imagine returning home to find your house empty.

As for which ones, I like this one from REI. http://www.rei.com/product/855335/re...ag#video-inner After you screw the cable ends together add a drop of 'super glue' to the join and it is never going to come off. Then put a strip of tape, of a contrasting colour to the tag, around the tag to keep it closed.

Easy to identify your bag, won't come off, doesn't show your info.

I don't understand about the hiding your information part. Just don't advertise your HOME address.

On the way there I use the address I am going TO. On the way home I use my business card that shows my office address.

I don't use anything fancy, just a generic luggage tag (actually mine's a Hawaiian-print that stands out on the luggage claim carousel).

You also need to hide your name. These days there is an amazing amount of info, including your address and phone number, that can be easiily located online.

Suze, you are looking at it only from YOUR perspective. Understandable, but short-sighted. What would you do if you are flying to numerous places over a period of time?

Not everyone who travels is only going to a holiday destination and back. Nor does everyone want to be changing the tag every time they fly. What would you do for example if you were going to visit half a dozen places in Europe in one trip? Change the tag every time you moved on?

As it happens, I personally have a 'concierge' number on the reverse side of my luggage tags. If the bag is found, the finder phones that number and the 'concierge' tells them where to send it to me, wherever I am. All I do is phone the service and tell them my bag has been lost.

All the tag says is, 'If found, please call - XXX XXX XXXXXXX' and has an account identifying number under that.

But that is an included service I get from a particular credit card issuer. Not everyone has access to that kind of service. So they put an address on their tag and as thursdaysd suggests, that can lead to a lot more information. So it is best to not have that visible.

Simply put, if having the info visible was never an issue, why would tags that hide it exist?

Suze, you are looking at it only from YOUR perspective. Understandable, but short-sighted. What would you do if you are flying to numerous places over a period of time?

Not everyone who travels is only going to a holiday destination and back. Nor does everyone want to be changing the tag every time they fly. What would you do for example if you were going to visit half a dozen places in Europe in one trip? Change the tag every time you moved on?

As it happens, I personally have a 'concierge' number on the reverse side of my luggage tags. If the bag is found, the finder phones that number and the 'concierge' tells them where to send it to me, wherever I am. All I do is phone the service and tell them my bag has been lost.

All the tag says is, 'If found, please call - XXX XXX XXXXXXX' and has an account identifying number under that.

But that is an included service I get from a particular credit card issuer. Not everyone has access to that kind of service. So they put an address on their tag and as thursdaysd suggests, that can lead to a lot more information. So it is best to not have that visible.

Simply put, if having the info visible was never an issue, why would tags that hide it exist?

Oops.

This person is going to Japan for a spring study semester. We don't know what he'll be doing while he's there. Perhaps a luggage tag with his school address would be sufficient for his needs.

And perhaps hiding that information would be a good idea.

Suppose a stalker follows you to your school in Japan suze, how would you feel about that? There are all kinds of reasons to not advertise your name or address to anyone at any time. Look at the bigger picture.

I don't expect to get robbed on the street but I don't go around with my money hanging out of my back pocket. I don't expect to get hit by a truck tomorrow either but I do have insurance in case I do. You take precautions based on 'what if', not on 'what's most probable'. You plan for worst case, not best case.

Hiding the info on your luggage tag is simply the same thing.

I have my business card in my luggage tags - I don't have any recommendations for luggage tags except that you shouldn't spend much money on they because they can easily get torn off and lost.

"...you shouldn't spend much money on they because they can easily get torn off and lost."

After traveling for as much as 6 months a year for years this hasn't been my experience, never had a tag come off. I suggest you get ones that meet your needs which can vary depending on how complicated your itinerary might be. A simple round trip, a simple one with contact info. A complicated one, an attachment that can contain your itinerary with flights & hotels.

But it is true that you don't need to spend a lot either way. Also, a good idea to have a copy of your itinerary and contact information inside the bag.

If you use a main address at a college campus, how exactly is this "stalker" going to find me?

Or why would they want to from looking at your luggage tag in an airport or train station?

I think it's more a concern that bad guys know you aren't at home. They want your stuff, not you. I suspect it doesn't happen all that often but it doesn't hurt to hide the information. If airline personnel need it they'll look for it.

Better safe than sorry. Major cliche. There's a reason it's a cliche.

<i>I think it's more a concern that bad guys know you aren't at home</i>

TIL there is an international ring of bad guys that peep at your luggage tags at the luggage carousel in Paris and then call their partners in Tuscaloosa to tell them Maude and Jerome are on vacation and that the house is deserted.