A baggage handler has named the “worst” types of suitcases you can use while travelling abroad, as well as which are more likely to get to your destination unscathed. With so many options available, choosing a new suitcase to take on holiday can be a bit of a challenge.
Luckily, online spaces like TikTok and Reddit have become reliable sources for travel hacks, with airport insiders sharing their top tips to keep your luggage safe during flights. Posting to Reddit, user Adam, a baggage handler, offered to answer any questions people had for him. One traveller asked: “Any tips for avoiding baggage being lost or destroyed? And best/worst types of suitcases/bags?”
Adam recommended using name tags to prevent lost luggage, explaining: “We see a lot of bags that look exactly identical to one another going on the same flight.
“One good way I’ve seen is to put your own tag on the bag with your name and address so that you can read this and make sure it’s yours. Other ways include using unique straps that wrap around the bags.”
For those wanting to avoid suitcase damage, he advised choosing a bag with “four good wheels, with soft lining on the inside and a hard outer shell.”
Another asked: “Why do you hate my bag?” Adam replied: “Is your bag one with a dodgy wheel? One with no wheels at all? One with no proper handholds? Those are some of the bags I really, really hate.”
A third question read: “Hard case bags or cloth bags? Which is better?” The airline worker responded: “If you don’t mind your stuff being compressed, then soft case will do you fine, these tend to be more space efficient in the hold.”
He went on to offer advice on protecting valuables during flights, saying: “If you have anything kinda fragile, you want a hard case to keep that stuff protected.”
Responding to a question about the best and worst luggage choices, Adam said: “Some of the worst bags to buy are the ones which have no wheels.
“In my airline, none of our holds are bin loaded, so we have to manually stack the bags inside each hold, and they can get fairly long. If your bag has at least 2 high quality wheels, then it allows us to roll them down the hold quickly, making it easier for us.
“Otherwise, we have to throw the bags in order to keep to the scheduled times.
My absolute least favourite bags are the ones that have 4 wheels, but one of them is seized up, so we try to roll it down, but it just falls over after moving 6 inches.”