In “Unclaimed Baggage,” it was revealed that strange finds such as a Japanese sword, gold nuggets, and fake human bones were found in a lost flight bag.
Lost or delayed your baggage during your trip? Here’s what to do next.
Here’s everything you need to know if your luggage gets lost or delayed while traveling.
- Unclaimed Baggage in Alabama resells baggage items that airlines have not been able to reunite with their owners after 90 days.
- T-shirts were the most commonly found lost items this year, followed by pants, jewelry, and electronics.
- Unusual finds included a suitcase containing rat poison, a Japanese sword, and solid gold bars.
What do 200,000 T-shirts and a suitcase full of rat poison have in common?
Last year, passengers on a plane lost their luggage and all ended up in Scottsboro, Alabama.
Collecting these shirts is a natural fit for Unclaimed Baggage, a family-run business that has been taking and reselling (or donating) items left in airline baggage for more than half a century.
The company’s third annual Found Report details some of the strangest things we’ve uncovered over the past 12 months, highlighting the broad trends that have emerged from people’s belongings.
“It’s hard to be surprised by things these days, but it makes you wonder how something like a samurai sword comes across,” Matt Owens, Unclaimed Baggage’s senior vice president of commercial strategy, told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview.
Owens stressed that while airlines generally have a good record of tracking bags, thousands of bags are still delivered as unclaimed bags each year.
“Airlines do a great job of reuniting items with their owners,” he said. “What ends up reaching us is only a percentage of what accompanied us on the trip.”
trendy travel items
The most common piece of luggage lost this year was T-shirts, of which approximately 210,000 were found in suitcases sent to Unclaimed Baggage, according to Found Report. The airline will attempt to reunite the item with its owner for at least 90 days before sending it to reclaimed baggage.
“Men’s T-shirts topped the most frequently seen item category, closely followed by active and layered styles, reflecting how travelers prioritize comfort and versatility,” the report states.
Other commonly acquired items include:
- Electronic equipment and its accessories
Owens said books, like trendy collectibles, are common in checked baggage.
“I don’t know how many lovebuses and roughfuss, fake lovebuses, came,” he said.
Gold is increasingly found in lost luggage as travelers seek to avoid widespread financial uncertainty. One of the missing bags contained 99.99% pure gold bars manufactured by the Perth Mint in Australia.
“We’ve seen a notable rally in gold in a variety of forms and factors,” Owens said.
strangest find
While most of what Unclaimed Baggage received last year were typical items like T-shirts and charging cables, there were also plenty of quirky one-off items.
“Every day is like a treasure hunt,” Owens said.
Among the most exotic items were:
- The aforementioned suitcase filled with rat poison
- 10k gold and diamond grill
- A suitcase filled with fake human bones
- White diamond earrings with an estimated value of $43,000
“We’re taking whatever travelers have taken on their trips over the past year,” Owens said, adding that the company rarely knows why people had such items in the first place. They still worry about rat poison.
Tips for travelers
As Owens noted, airlines are usually very good at returning checked luggage to travelers, but if you don’t want your luggage to end up in his family’s store, there are some things you can do to make that even less likely.
“Some tried-and-true tips that we’ve found to be consistent over the years are to label both the inside and outside of your bag, especially the inside in case something gets caught and falls on the outside,” Owens said. “Add something that stands out, like flare or color.”
He added that trackers like Apple AirTags can help track down bags if they’re misplaced, but they may not be able to prevent problems from occurring in the first place.
The discovery report also suggests that bags checked at the gate are more likely to be left behind than standard checked bags.
“Baggage checked at the gate bypasses the normal tagging process, making it more susceptible to routing issues,” the report said. “When gate checking, make sure the tag matches your destination and ask the agent to keep a photo of your bag and tag.”
How to purchase checked baggage
The Unclaimed Baggage store is located at 509 West Willow Street in Scottsboro, Alabama, but if you’re not planning on traveling, you can also purchase some of our inventory online.
The company will also be holding a pop-up in New York City from March 6th to 8th.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and can be reached at zwichter@usatoday.com.
