It’s definitely time for travelers to rethink the luggage tag. We’ve all heard the bromide about not putting one’s home address on the tag because crooks will dash right over and break into your house. OK, could happen.
But the bigger issue is that you expose information about yourself to prying eyes, said Kevin Coffey, president of the Web site Corporate Travel Safety. Do you really want the drunk in seat 15C to know your name and where you work? Or allow the corporate spy to take a chance that you have valuable documents?
So use a minimum of contact info — a first initial, your last name, your cell phone number (or the phone at your destination or where someone will answer and tell the caller where you are) and perhaps an e-mail address.
Use a secure tag (a metal ring is better than leather, which can stretch and snap), and put it on before you leave home,
Put your name and contact info on a slip of paper inside the bag too.
You should have one on your carry-on bag and every other separate article you carry. Fliers can get flustered and leave things behind, so tagging every item increases the chances you’ll be reunited.
The tag can also help differentiate your bag from every other black piece of luggage. The TudeTag comes with such expressions as “Don’t even” and “Hanzzoff” and has a hidden place for your itinerary and your name and phone number.
One big yellow tag says, “No, it’s not yours!” and has a plastic pouch in which you can insert your contact info. There’s the neon-colored handle wrap that attaches with Velcro and contains your info facing inward so it’s hidden in the handle.
Find them at www.visitags.com and www.corporatetravelsafety.com or Google “security luggage tags.”
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