apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I use the brightly-colored rubber luggage tags from Flight001 on my checked luggage...

http://www.flight001.com/store/search.htm?itemid=97&view=all&s=luggage%20tag

..two tags per-bag (because we all know that one can come off). I also print up cards with not only my name, address and cell-number, but a picture of myself and put them in facing both sides of the tag. Even if someone has the same bag as mine, they sure won't have my face!

I sewed orange fake fur on the sides of our old roller duffle (r.i.p.). Ugly but very effective. Easy to spot, easy to describe.

No help for luggage, but I have a nearly unlosable umbrella:

Me: Excuse me, but I lost my umbrella. Did anyone leave one here?
Other person: I don't think so.
Me: It had a duck head and fake flowers around its neck.
Other person: Wait! I *did* see that...

I bought a babyblue suitcase for this very reason and have never mistakenly picked up the wrong one since.

I had a nice rubber frog on mine- and it got stolen!

I picked up the wrong bag so many times that I finally bought the most obvious bag in the world a couple of seasons ago:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/apartmentlife/2493148360/in/set-72157605095982126/

I've never seen another one like it on the belt, so I guess it was a good choice!

I have a small silvery gray rolling suitcase with bright orange accents that I picked up at Target a number of years ago. It has been a keeper. It fits in the overhead on most decent sized planes, and when I have to check it, it is very easy to spot and no one mistakes it for their own.

Prior to getting the silver suitcase, I had a blue one with teal piping that someone took accidentally as their own. I wound up standing there with her bag which looked NOTHING like mine; it was twice the size and a completely difference color blue. Not sure how she confused the two. Maybe she figured that she was the only one with a blue bag in the typical sea of black suitcases? Luckily the airline helped track her down and we made the switch.

My grandmother uses rainbow colored luggage belts. They also work well but now that more and more people are using colored luggage bands, she will have to think of something else soon.

I actually just double check the tag when I pull my bag off the belt. Not that hard.

Yeah, but not everybody ELSE does, now do they? Alas, every time I put a cool luggage tag on my suitcase, the damn tag disappears. Sometimes I remember to bust out the stretchy stripey luggage belt from Target (Cynthia Rowley line, as I recall).

if you're not too attached to the way your bag looks, write with a sharpie or bright paint a huge "MINE" on the biggest sides of the bag.

Until the idea catches on... then you're screwed.

Or just personalize it with something like, "Heather L.'s Bag" or "Mark's!!!" or "I Like Turtles!". Anything silly to make it stand out.

Mine is deep purple. It works for me because it doesn't show a lot of dirt the way a lighter bag would and it's not so off the wall that I'd feel silly bringing it into the conference room on the last day of a meeting.

Neon Pink Duct Tape
http://www.amazon.com/Henkel-1-88-Inch-15-Yard-Colored-00-03362-03/dp/B000NHY1I2

I tape long strips of this tape across my luggage everytime =) You can also get it at Walmart, and it comes in different colors like Neon Orange and Purple

after my travelpro disintegrated (never buy from them if you can help it, terrible bags and the worst customer service), I started replacing my bags with LLBean ones, you can get them in all kinds of colors, they are easy to monogram, they're well built, and if your bag ever falls apart they are great about returns.

my new luggage is blue (not navy), and has my initials monogramed on it. no one has ever taken it, and I've never grabbed the wrong suitcase.

Sanrio stickers

Bumper stickers.

Neon tape over here as well!

We spend how much on luggage and then crap it up with duct tape and ribbons and gaudy luggage tags? I've never understood the ubiquity of black luggage. Why can't more luggage makers produce different colors of luggage? I've noticed a few more color options of late but not a ton. I wish Tumbuktu would come out with a line of custom luggage like they have for messenger bags!

Tried getting red luggage thinking it would stand out in the sea of black, only to find that, luggage-wise, red is the new black.

When we were in highschool my little sister went off to some sort of Cheerleading camp, and all of the girls topped their luggage with an obscene amount or curly ribbons in the obnoxious school colors...something that I mocked at the time.

Now I combine the two, attaching ribbon to the top of my red luggage (NOT in any 'school colors"), and find that it is much easier to identify which is mine.

I have Roxy luggage. It's durable, fun and most importantly, I've never seen anyone else on my flight with my bag!

http://www.bungersurf.com/accessories/roxy/2007/roxy_vonkarmen_luggage_t.jpg

I, too, have a polka-dot Roxy suitcase and I have never seen another like it.....

Benjy, no worries on the luggage budget. I bought my bag for $20 from one of the luggage guys on Orchard Street (NYC) and it's been through the mill on international and domestic flights with nary a scratch!