Have you ever checked your bag early in the hopes that it will be the first to come out the other side?
Well, there’s no need to worry, according to a baggage handler.
in a ‘Ask me anything’ In the Reddit thread, Adam Tazul received several questions about the best time to check luggage in an attempt to get to the destination faster.
The UK airport worker responded by stating that there is no ideal time as everything usually gets mixed up.
One Reddit user joked: ‘Is there a trick to getting your bags out first? For example, does the shape or size of the bag play a role, or how early or late the bags are checked?
In an ‘ask me anything’ thread on Reddit, Adam Tazul received several questions about the best time to check luggage in a bid to get to the destination faster (file image)
Adam’s response to this is that it is practically “impossible” to know, since “the bags get mixed up.”
Another collaborator questioned the aviator to see if his luggage theory was true.
They wrote: “I’m not sure if you’ll see this, but I have a theory that the earlier you check in, the lower your suitcase will be in the pile.”
‘Then it’s loaded onto the plane and now it’s at the top of the stack. Upon arriving at the destination, he unpacks again going to the bottom of the pile, which means his suitcase will come out on the carousel last.
‘Is there any truth in this? I was curious because I just returned from a trip.
Offering his verdict on the matter, Adam replied: ‘There is some truth to this, but it is not a hard and fast rule.
“Many times, when the ramp team picks up the carts (trailers we use to carry bags from the terminal to the plane, and vice versa) with bags, they get confused.”
In addition to check-in times, some Reddit users asked Adam what the best type of luggage to invest in was.
The UK-based airport worker responded by stating that there is no ideal time as everything usually gets mixed up (stock image).
Drawing on his experience of dealing with hundreds of bags a day, he responded: ‘Some of the worst bags you can buy are the ones that don’t have wheels.
‘At my airline, none of our holds are loaded in containers, so we have to manually stack suitcases inside each hold, and they can get quite long.
‘If your bag has at least two high-quality wheels, it will allow us to quickly get them down the hold, which will make things easier for us.
‘Otherwise, we will have to throw away the bags to respect the scheduled times.
“My least favorite bags are the ones with four wheels, but one of them is stuck, so we try to get it down, but it just falls over after moving six inches.”
While some people put “fragile” stickers on bags in the hope that they will be handled more carefully, Adam says this is another pointless measure.
He explained: ‘Some of us are tempted to treat (these bags) worse, but we never do. “Having a flimsy label doesn’t really make any difference.”
To protect precious goods, Adam suggests a briefcase with “four good wheels, with a soft inner lining and a hard outer shell.”
One Reddit user was concerned about workers stealing luggage, but Adam reassured them that “it’s a big no-no.”
He added: “I’ve known a couple of guys who got fired for trying.”
He also offered tips on how to make luggage more visible at the baggage carousel, writing: “We see a lot of suitcases that look exactly identical to each other on the same flight.
‘A good way I’ve seen is to put your own label on the bag with your name and address, so you can read this and make sure it’s yours. Other ways include using unique straps that wrap around the bags.
Moving away from the topic of luggage, one commenter asked Adam about the health impacts of his job and working for long periods inside airplane holds.
He admitted that it is a physically demanding job and people considering this line of work should invest in knee pads.
The Brit revealed: ‘I’m 5ft 9in and I have to crouch in the hold.
‘If you don’t have knee pads, your knees start to hurt A LOT. You can also expect severe back pain after a few years on the job, because your back is always hunched.
“You become physically strong, but at the cost of pain basically everywhere.”