Frequent flyers typically have all the preflight to-dos down pat, making every effort to avoid hassles and delays, but there’s one small step that many travelers forget, a mistake that can lead to lost luggage when checking a bag. Who knew that one errant sticker could send your bag to the wrong city? That’s right—old airline stickers or tags on your luggage could result in several days without your stuff.
A recent viral TikTok, posted by an airport worker at Ontario International Airport, revealed the mistake that many travelers overlook.
"Let's say you flew American, and then a month later, you flew Southwest," says the worker in the post. "Well, there's a little sticker that goes on for American that tells the computer that it should go there," he said while pointing to a different luggage carousel. "So if your month-old American sticker is on there, there is a chance it scans instead of this one," the worker said, noting, "It might end up over there and not get on the plane."
It’s a simple step, but many people don’t realize they should remove these stickers once they return home, as evidenced by the 20,000 likes and hundreds of comments thanking the original poster for the advice. Several commenters assumed the barcodes on the stickers expire, while others thought gate agents would remove old or problematic stickers.
Next time you fly, be sure to remove that sticker once you’re home, or you might end up with a lot of unnecessary hassle.