we bought custom made luggage straps with our last name woven into the strap. They were not that expensive and picking out our luggage is a snap--it has our name on it.

I forgot to identify my suitcase once, so grabbed a handful of the airline address tags and attached one completed tag to the top handle and the rest of them (uncompleted) to the side handle. So easy to spot - and have never seen another suitcase with them.

On two trips I "marked" my luggage by going into my parents attic and pulling out their suitcase from the 50's which was probably made in the 40's. It didn't look like something new which was meant to look old. It looked Old.

Good idea, kwren!

I cut up my husbands old ties and tie a piece around the carrying handle. You want to be able to spot your luggage easily on the carosel, but you also want to see if someone has picked up your bag and is making off with it as well either by mistake or purposely. I don't believe all bags that are "lost" by the airlines are truly lost by them with all the scanning devises they have begun to use to track each bag. Who knows if anyone picking up luggae from the rack is a passenger or not. So we may all seem a little goofy for all our ribbons and bows, but I have never lost a suitcase yet in thousands and thousands of miles of travel that hasn't turned up within a day.

Old ties?? OK, whatever. But guess what? I have used what is known as a "luggage tag," which is made for, well, luggage, and I haven't lost any bags, either. And I don't look like a refugee from the crafts store, either.

Thanks TravelPro - when the tags get ratty, toss 'em and get a new handful!

Nothing wrong with looking like a craft store refugee Newbe.
No one will want your luggage :)

NewbE - I don't use ribbons, etc. either. I just use a regular luggage tag and my tapestry luggage and haven't had any problems.

Once I took a piece of black luggage and kept looking at the pieces on the carousel thinking "but that doesn't look like mine". After the third time around, I pulled it off to see - it wasn't. Mine was still in Chicago waiting for the next flight to Sacramento (I missed the connection so they put me on a flight to SF instead)... So I guess the luggage tag worked fine even then.

I have bright lime green luggage which I love. On my 1st trip w/ it, a lady behind me in line had the same color luggage! We just looked at each other and said, "I thought no one else would have this!" It does look great w/ my purple backpack attached!

I have a special way to mark my luggage, especially the "name tags" with name, address, etc. I use one the the magnetic key cards from a hotel. My husband drills a hole in it. I print out a name/address sticker and attach it with clear tape. I use a round ring from a key ring. Never need to worry about my name sticker falling off. And I don't have to spend $5 for a name tag either.

NewbE, LOL! :-)) Craft store refugee!

Luggage tags. What a simple concept :-)

My flyertalk.com tag is intended to facilitate contact with other FT'ers.

would fodorites want to identify themselves to each other in the same way?

I think Fodor's sent free luggage tags to frequent posters, or registrants, back in the day; I've read some snarky references to thos tags here over the years!

The reason luggage tags may be overlooked is that most suitcases come with a securely attached luggage tag which is the same color as the suitcase making another luggage tag seem redundant and unnecessary.

I just ordered these in orange, trying them out on a trip to Montreal.
http://www.kimsgallery.org/heys-lugg...uggage-se.html

hi fishee - yes, i'd like to have special name ID tags for my suitcase that ID me as a Fodorite. But, then NewbE mentioned "snakry" references? Is that good or bad?

Oh, I only meant that there was some good-natured joking about the tags--why some people got them and others didn't, whether a nicer gift from Fodor's was in order, that kind of thing. Nothing bad, don't worry!

We've recently gotten light foam "wraps" for our luggage handles. They come in distinctively bright colors and are easy to spot from a distance. We've found that as we get older our eyesight is limited and the smaller luggage tags are not helpful for identifying our luggage easily. The added value is that they pad the handle and make it more comfortable to hold.

I have customized luggage handle wraps from www.binhog.com. They wrap around the handle, and I got my name embroidered on it.