# Travel thoughts - luggage labels **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029 "2011-05-24T16:47:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/1 "2011-05-24T16:47:46Z")
So, luggage needs a label on it so that you (or the airline folks, if it gets lost) can identify it. However, I’ve heard NOT to put name and address on the label, because then anyone who sees it knows you’re on vacation, there’s possibly no one home, so let’s scope it out for burglary. What do y’all think? Should I just put name and phone number on the luggage tag? Or, if they have a phone number, they can look up the address anyhow? Your thoughts? Anyone know what the airlines recommend? ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/2 "2011-05-24T16:48:17Z")
I put an email address. ---
**Author:** ![TheTerribleTako](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@TheTerribleTako](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTerribleTako)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/3 "2011-05-24T16:51:24Z")
You only need to put your name and a phone number. I just flew last week and that’s what the clerk at the airline counter told me. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/4 "2011-05-24T16:52:50Z")
I seriously, seriously, seriously doubt that there are roving mobs of burglars checking out baggage carousels and copying down personal information from the tags on bags. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/5 "2011-05-24T16:55:37Z")
I always put my destination address. That way, when (not if) they lose my bags, they’ve already begun the process of returning them to the place I am, not the place I came from, when I go to the lost baggage office. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/6 "2011-05-24T17:00:20Z")
I travel a lot for work and have been doing so for about 10 years. I’ve never once put a luggage tag on my bags, not for security reasons, but because I never think to do it. I’ve had my bags lost a few times and I always got them back from the airlines despite not having address tags on them. ---
**Author:** ![jayarrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@jayarrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayarrell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/7 "2011-05-24T17:02:28Z")
I like to use my business card. On the off chance there really was someone taking info off a luggage tag; if they want to scope out the company I work for then they are welcome to do so. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/8 "2011-05-24T17:02:42Z")
You can also get address tags with flaps, so that your contact info isn’t immediately visible to nosy passersby. Or you can use your business card. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/9 "2011-05-24T17:02:56Z")
I put the information on the card, then insert it into the sleeve facedown with the words “Info on other side” written on the card. If you are using the paper tags supplied by the airlines, tape the tag closed so that someone has to tear it open in order to see the name and address. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/10 "2011-05-24T20:50:30Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I seriously, seriously, seriously doubt that there are roving mobs of burglars checking out baggage carousels and copying down personal information from the tags on bags. Doesn’t take roving mobs; a single thief at the hotel lobby, for instance, or wherever, who has a friend in my home town area (Chicago.) I used to use my business cards, but now I’m retired so I don’t have a business address. Destination address is a clever idea, but we’re traveling a fair amount nowadays and I don’t want to change the labels every trip. Thanks to all for the suggestions: email sounds perfect. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/11 "2011-05-24T22:02:23Z")
I have the home and destination address and phone numbers, and my cell #. I also keep a copy inside the suitcase. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/12 "2011-05-24T22:37:37Z")
Wow, some people are paranoid. Not something I’d worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/13 "2011-05-24T22:40:10Z")
Quoth **WhyNot** : > [@](#): > > I always put my destination address. That way, when (not if) they lose my bags, they’ve already begun the process of returning them to the place I am, not the place I came from, when I go to the lost baggage office. That depends on how long you’re going to be there, though. Sometimes, that just means that your bags will get there just as you’re leaving. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/14 "2011-05-24T23:14:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **WhyNot** :That depends on how long you’re going to be there, though. Sometimes, that just means that your bags will get there just as you’re leaving. True. I don’t think I’ve ever flown anywhere I wasn’t staying for a week or more, though. Even the worst airlines have been able to get my bags to me within a week. They work \*real \*quick when your dad packs frozen fish you caught yourself inside your luggage, too. FYI. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/15 "2011-05-24T23:23:38Z")
On the topic of roving mobs of criminals hanging out around luggage… I have always been amazed at just how lax security is around everyone’s luggage. In theory, you are supposed to present your hang-tag stub to an attendant when you leave with your luggage, but that has only ever happened to me two or three times over decades of flying. What’s to keep some stranger from walking into Newark Airport and waiting around until some bags make a few trips 'round (and the owners are probably somewhere else) and then grabbing them and walking off? But they still never check my tags. Maybe I just have an honest countenance. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/16 "2011-05-25T00:35:44Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > True. I don’t think I’ve ever flown anywhere I wasn’t staying for a week or more, though. Even the worst airlines have been able to get my bags to me within a week. > > They work \*real \*quick when your dad packs frozen fish you caught yourself inside your luggage, too. FYI. 😃 When does that become carrion? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/17 "2011-05-25T01:16:07Z")
Name and number. Also on a piece of paper inside the suitcase. Tags can be torn off by people and machinery. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/18 "2011-05-25T03:45:35Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I always put my destination address. That way, when (not if) they lose my bags, they’ve already begun the process of returning them to the place I am, not the place I came from, when I go to the lost baggage office. And if they lose your bag on the return trip? 😃 Trust me as a former professional road warrior (on the road 28 weeks out of the year) Once you file a missing bag report, they know where to send the bag. They will send it to the address on the report you filed when the bag is reported stolen. Airlines are not complete idiots, they know that 50% of the people traveling are not going home. ETA I use a business card, or fill out the info on the card that comes with the luggage tag. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/19 "2011-05-25T04:05:25Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > You can also get address tags with flaps, so that your contact info isn’t immediately visible to nosy passersby. That’s what I use, though I’ll probably use an email address from now on. I’ve always put my destination and home phone number on the tag, and write out my name, phone numbers, home and destination address on an index card, which I put INSIDE the luggage. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029/20 "2011-05-25T06:41:51Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > On the topic of roving mobs of criminals hanging out around luggage… > > I have always been amazed at just how lax security is around everyone’s luggage. > In theory, you are supposed to present your hang-tag stub to an attendant when you leave with your luggage, but that has only ever happened to me two or three times over decades of flying. > > What’s to keep some stranger from walking into Newark Airport and waiting around until some bags make a few trips 'round (and the owners are probably somewhere else) and then grabbing them and walking off? > > But they still never check my tags. Maybe I just have an honest countenance. This has always boggled me. I’ve never even seen an attendant around the luggage carousel, it’s just a free-for-all of people. I guess the airline doesn’t really care what happens to your stuff once they’ve scanned it for everything and got it to the destination, but I can’t believe more stuff doesn’t get stolen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-thoughts-luggage-labels/583029.md?page=2)