What Happens To Lost Luggage?
Ten Little Known Facts
Story and Images courtesy of Unclaimed Baggage Center
When we check in for an airline flight, whether short haul or half way around the world through multiple airports, we all dread losing our baggage or even having it delayed to another flight. Let’s hear what the ultimate authority on lost luggage has to share with our readers, and the collective air traveler anxiety will surely drop dramatically. With over 45 years in the business, Unclaimed Baggage Center (UBC), www.unclaimedbaggage.com, is a one-of-a-kind store that buys and sells permanently lost luggage and its contents from numerous airlines. You will find this story both illuminating and entertaining.
1. The chances of permanently losing your bag are extremely small.
Of the billion or so passenger bags checked every year, roughly one percent fail to meet up with their owners at the baggage carousel. Within 24 hours, 80 to 90 percent of those “lost” bags are found, and within five days 95 to 98 percent of that one percent make their way home. Over the course of the next 90-plus days, through a comprehensive baggage tracing process conducted by the airlines, more than half the remaining bags are reunited with their owners. This is all really good news for the traveler, but where does the truly orphaned baggage now go?
2. Permanently Lost Luggage Heads to Alabama.
At this point, the Unclaimed Baggage Center purchases the remaining items from the airline and they are brought to the 40,000 square foot store in Scottsboro, Alabama.
3. Lost items are thrown away, sold or donated.
Only about one-third of the purchased products make it to the floor of the UBC retail store but that still means about 7,000 new items are brought to the store floor on a daily basis. Items deemed unsellable are either repurposed or thrown away.
4. Some lost items are donated to local or global charities.
Through partnering with multiple mission organizations locally, regionally and around the globe, UBC is able to reclaim more than half of these items for good. For example: hundreds of thousands of eyeglasses are donated to The Lions Club Sight First program; broken wheelchairs are rebuilt for handicapped children and adults worldwide; millions of dollars worth of medical supplies are donated to developing countries; and millions of dollars worth of clothing is donated to the underprivileged.
5. It’s not always the airline’s fault.
From what we can see, much of the responsibility for lost luggage is with the owner of the luggage. Many of the bags we receive are old, have damaged clasps or are not labeled. It is very difficult for airlines to trace back luggage that is damaged or not labeled.
6. Checked luggage is only part of the problem.
While checked bags account for a large portion of the inventory at UBC, the store also receives a large amount of items left on the plane. Typically items left on the plane are not labeled and the airline is unable to return them to their rightful owner.
7. People pack more than just clothes.
While clothing is the number one item we receive, the store has departments featuring electronics, sporting goods, books, household items, jewelry, formal wear, toys and much more.
8. Lost luggage can contain the rare and unusual.
Throughout the years, Unclaimed Baggage has received about anything you can think of including moldy cheese, wedding dresses, rare heirlooms and artifacts, a live snake, musical instruments or expensive jewelry.
9. While not the norm, unclaimed baggage can contain expensive items.
UBC has received several high dollar items including jewelry, electronics and historical documents. The highest priced item the store has sold is a Men’s Presidential platinum Rolex valued at $65,000 and we sold it for $23,000.
10. Lost luggage creates a truly one-of-a-kind shopping experience.
Unclaimed Baggage Center covers more than one city block and attracts over one million visitors a year from every state and over 40 foreign countries. The store offers something for everyone. Everyday UBC hosts an “Unclaimed Baggage Experience”, where a store visitor gets to unpack a bag that has never been sorted by the airlines. Now that’s a real treasure hunt!