The Surprisingly Effective Ways Frequent Fliers Avoid Long Waits At The Baggage Carousel

You're standing at baggage claim watching bag after bag go around the carousel, and none of them are yours. It's an experience frequent fliers know well. As anxiety-inducing as it might be, your bags aren't lost — they're just at the very end of the line, seemingly behind all the other baggage from your plane. If you're in a hurry to make a connection or just desperate to get to your hotel and sleep after a long flight, having your bag come out first could make all the difference. Those who fly often have a lot of strategies for trying to come out ahead, including getting a fragile sticker put on their luggage, waiting until the last possible second to check in, and securing a coveted priority tag for their bag.

The most effective method of getting your bag quickly isn't actually a way of beating the system; it's buying into it. How you get priority for your bags depends on the airline, but in general, when you buy premium tickets or join certain tiers of airline loyalty programs, your checked bags will be tagged with a priority tag. Theoretically, that means your bags should be one of the first on the carousel. In practice, that's not always the case. Some fliers have reported inconsistency from region to region, airport to airport, and even domestic to international flights. Take a look at which airlines you should be booking to save on first-class seats to give yourself the best shot, but if it's still out of your price range, it might be time to consider the more unconventional strategies that some travelers swear by.

If you're worried about your luggage getting thrown by baggage handlers or crushed by other bags in the belly of the plane, you can always ask the representative checking your luggage to add a fragile sticker to let anyone who comes in contact with your bag know there's something inside that might break if mishandled. These stickers are specific to the airline and designed to keep your checked luggage safer, but according to some travelers, it can also be an effective way of getting your bag at baggage claim faster.

The theory is that in order to make sure it's handled with care, airline staff may hang on to suitcases marked fragile and load them more cautiously onto the plane once all the other luggage is inside. In general, the last bags on the plane are also the first off, so that would mean that your bag, and any others allegedly containing fragile things, would be the very first to hit the baggage carousel. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that the busy baggage handlers loading the luggage onto the plane will notice your sticker, but since it's free to add the label to your bag, there's no real downside to asking for one if you want to give yourself the best chance of getting your luggage quickly.

There is debate about how early you really need to arrive at the airport, and many travelers prefer to arrive early for peace of mind. However, there may be an advantage to doing everything closer to takeoff. While there's no way to know for sure exactly how luggage will be loaded onto the plane, you can often assume that the bags that are checked in first go on the flight first. Since the bags that were loaded last usually come out onto the carousel first, the theory states that you should do everything possible to make sure your bag is the last one checked onto the flight. Some travelers go out of their way to ensure that they check their bags just before the cutoff.

If you really want to make sure that your luggage gets placed on the plane as late as possible, and you don't mind wheeling it through security, you may want to consider waiting to check your luggage at the gate. In general, items checked at the gate are loaded alongside mobility aids, strollers, and priority bags, so if you're willing to wait to check until you're about to board, you may have the best chance of grabbing it quickly and heading out as soon as you reach the carousel.