Unclaimed Baggage Costs Airlines $3.8 Million Annually

By: Kara Gilmour
Staff Writer
Published: Apr 5, 2009

Unclaimed baggage can be a nightmare for both the airlines and owners of lost luggage. More than 40 million bags never reach their desired destination each year.

When a person loses their luggage, it only heightens their anxiety. While the airlines do everything to locate the original owner of their lost luggage, more than 40 million bags never reach their destination each year. The luggage is usually tossed in a storage facility which is usually auctioned off.

Unclaimed baggage can also scare people in airports. Imagine, if you will, a bag that is sitting unattended at an airport. The first thing that goes through your mind, "somebody left their luggage" which is usually followed by, "whoa, was it intended?" which only raises the anxiety among airport security and staff. However, most of these unattended bags do belong to someone, but should never be unattended in the first place.

Lost luggage has a process which eventually leads to a 40,000 square foot facility in Scottsboro, Alabama.

When your bags are lost, the airlines will try to unite them with the owner within 48 hours. The airlines can usually send the luggage to your front door by taxi. However, if the unclaimed baggage is still sitting at the airport, the airlines will give it three days before searching the luggage to find its rightful owner. During this time, the luggage is entered into a World Tracer which is a general lost and found network.

The unclaimed baggage will be in the lost and found for 90 days. Lost luggage cost the airlines and airports about $3.8 million a year. At the end of the 90 days, the bags are swept off to the storage facility in Alabama. At this time, the owner has no more rights to the luggage.

The bags are then set for auction where people pay a certain price hoping to find treasures. Some bag prices are only $12 each. However, the bag could include jewelry worth more. You never know.

The best way to prevent your luggage from being tossed in the unclaimed baggage area is not to leave it unattended in the first place. If your bag is lost during a flight, always use the luggage straps for the handle so the airlines can identify the bag. If the straps are torn or lost, write your full name, address, and cell phone number inside the bag.

Unclaimed Baggage can be prevented with little effort by writing down your contact information

When I travel, I always write this information down on a piece of paper. I then stick it somewhere in the luggage. Try to take your bags with you as a carry on instead of checking the bags in.

These tips take little effort and will improve your chances on receiving your lost luggage. Otherwise, the unclaimed baggage will be gone forever.