One of the unavoidable parts of air travel with luggage is having to get your bag tagged. Without one, your suitcase is not going anywhere, so it begs the question, what do you do with the old airline bag tags after the flight?
In addition to the tags around the handle, you can also sometimes get random barcode stickers added to the outside of your bag. Presumably these also help with the scanning process somewhere along the line.
Old Airline Bag Tags
Occasionally at an airport, I’ll see someone pulling along a bag absolutely festooned with the little barcode stickers. I’ve always been of the firm believe these should be removed after flight, just in case they interfere with tracking.
I’m the same when I arrive at my destination with the old airline bag tags. While they are usually stuck on very tightly, with a bit of wiggling they come free and I throw them in a nearby rubbish bin. There’s no need to keep them.
Quite frankly, I am team check-in agent on this one. You should be arriving at the airport with the bag cleared of all tags and ready for a new one. Expecting someone else to clean up your mess is a bit rich!
Overall Thoughts
Quite frankly, I thought everyone removed the tags before going to the airport. I was astonished when I read that post where someone expected the check-in people to remove the old tags for them. The level of entitlement is off the scale on that one!
What is your take when it comes to old airline bag tags? Are you like me and remove them either at the airport or when you get home? Or are you like our friend on the forum post, who leaves them all on the bag for someone else to remove? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Ralf Roletschek via Wikimedia Commons.
I remove baggage tags once I arrive at my destination and then again once I return home. No point in taking the chance of my baggage ending up in a different destination than the one I’m going to.
100% this! Agreed! Removing everything means no chance of anything you’ve done (not done!) impacting the baggage processing. A very good point!
Remove it yourself after a trip always To expect the airline personnel to do it for you is pure entitlement which is rude. It reflects negatively on the passenger.
How difficult is it to remove a luggage tag anyway ? No rocket science and takes less than 5 seconds
I agree with you on that. I frequently remove them from the bag straight after it arrives on the carousel and just bin them there in Arrivals. Otherwise, it’s part of my unpacking routine, so I don’t have to do it when I go on the next trip. Thanks for the comment!
Always remove so I can recycle them at home. I do not believe most airports recycle, so I wouldn’t want to risk having them thrown away.
Most (none?) of the tags can be recycled. 1) They often have plastic coating so they’re not pure paper. 2) thermo paper can’t be recycled anyways.
True… I like the permanent bag tags that some airlines do, like Qantas in Australia, that use RFID. Of course, it’s not industry standard, but it would make sense to have it rolled out across the board to prevent all the printng.
I’ve noticed airports are starting to recycle. Dublin has recycling bins alongside normal bins most everywhere now.
Thanks.
You’re welcome!