An airport staffer has one life hack to avoid losing your bags when you travel — remember to remove old stickers from past trips, or your luggage might end up elsewhere

Aug 29, 2023

An Ontario International Airport staffer advised travelers to take any old stickers from past trips off their luggage to avoid losing their bags when flying.

"Let's say you flew American, and then a month later, you flew Southwest. Well, there's a little sticker that goes on for American, that tells the computer that it should go there," an unnamed staffer said in a TikTok video posted on August 23.

"So if your month-old American sticker is on there, there's a chance it scans it instead of this one. It just depends how it's clocked and where the stuff is. It might end up over there and not get on the plane," the staffer continued.

Some people on TikTok were grateful to the staffer for sharing the pro tip.

"Something I never thought about but makes so much sense," read one comment on TikTok.

"WHERE has this man with this information been our whole lives?!!!! This is NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION!" another person wrote on TikTok.

Losing one's luggage while traveling has become increasingly commonplace after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Spanish insurer Mapfre SA, lost luggage claims in the summer of 2022 were 30% higher than in the same period in 2019.

US airlines lost, delayed, or damaged nearly 219,795 bags in April, per the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report in June. That's on par with the 219,723 bags mishandled in April 2022, per the DOT.

Representatives for the Ontario International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.