Not all is lost if your luggage disappears, as long as you use this trick. Photo / Vlada Karpovich, Pexels
Not all is lost if your luggage disappears, as long as you use this trick. Photo / Vlada Karpovich, Pexels
At first, you're simply irritated. Watching people haul their bags from the airport carousel, you figure yours must be last off the plane.
However, as the minutes tick by and the crowd steadily thins, a certain sinking feeling hits. Your travel buddy emits a sigh of relief as they spottheir suitcase and offer a nonchalant 'I'm sure it'll show up' as they clutch their bag close.
Eventually, the conveyer belt grinds to a halt, the fear of lost luggage is confirmed and your holiday is possibly ruined before it's even begun.
Unless you're in on a clever suitcase trip shared on Reddit by a frequent traveller: splitting checked items across two suitcases with a friend.
The user said: "If you're travelling by plane with another person, split your clothes and put half of each person's clothes into each suitcase.
"That way if one suitcase is lost en route, you both still have clothing, rather than one person being left with nothing to wear."
While the user admitted losing a bag is a rare occurrence (unless you visit these airports), they said it's common enough to use the free and easy tactic.
Photo / Vlada Karpovich, Pexels
Fellow travellers commented on their own stories of having luggage lost and the consequential challenges it created.
One person who had worked for an airline for 25 years agreed with the strategy.
"I have always split my family's clothes across all the cases as it happens far more than not people would imagine," they wrote. "Even a 24 hr delay I'm receiving your case on holiday can make the difference between changing your underwear or not!"
Another person wrote: "My friend and her mom went to Italy. The luggage got lost or on a different plane. Her now ex-husband gets a call from the bank about fraud when she uses her card to try to buy stuff and cancels her card.
"So she was in Italy with little resources and for a couple of days, just the clothes on her back. She said they had to wash out their undies in the sink and let them dry for morning for a couple of days."
Fellow travellers also said they often kept a spare change of clothes in their carry-on bag in case their check-in luggage was lost.
