nk15

I recommend you buy a $1200 Tumi and wrap red tape around it several times, that will distinguish it from other bags, or just paint a big red X on it....

IanFromHKG

If you're really lucky, some nice official will make your bag very identifiable without you having to raise a finger

nave888

I've always used a brightly coloured velcro handle wrap on my carry on.

I also have some brightly coloured luggage tags from Inventive Travelware. They have some attitude, and come in bright colours. They're great for sky check- all the black bags come out on the cart, and mine is the one with the green or yellow tag hanging off the edge. I usually put this tag on the same wire hoop that holds my AC Elite card on my luggage.

schwarm

I actuall had a kermit-green suiter about 15 years ago, and one one flight there was a second identical one on the carousel.

I had to get my bag from the other guy's hand after he picked it up and was leaving with it. I had looked at the tag of the one that I retrieved and saw it was not mine. This was at LAX. Totally true story.

OrcaSnack

Highly visible or not, tying something to the handle can be a great marker. If you prefer to not have brightly colored fobs of some sort on your luggage, tying some paracord to the handle just like ScatterX said forces a tacit response. Grabbing something with the wrong feel to it can help other people realize they have made a mistake.

I think of it this way: I could make my grab handle's feel unique. I could then blindfold myself and pick my bag solely based on the feel of the handle.

Now if you want a visual marker, use bright colors.

I've always gone the route of using acrylic paint to make mine stand out. Even my workmates can spot my bag immediately, yet they still grab bags that look like theirs then put them back on the conveyor and wait for the next one that looks like theirs to come around.

I used white acrylic paint from a craft store to mark my soft-sided bag. Just $1.29 solved the problem. If you are artistic, this could be a fun and unique option. Basically, my navy blue bag has a solid white horizontal stripe on the back side about halfway down. The paint fades as it goes down the bag. In essence, the bottom half of the bag is painted but the paint is less heavy as it goes down. For the front, the same method is used on one of the pockets. This way, no matter how it lands on the conveyor, I can see the paint.

I'm thinking of doing something similar on my new hardside.

alphaod

I buy patterned nylon ribbons and tie them to the handles. I prefer nylon because you can melt the edges with heat to prevent them from fraying and the knot from coming undone.

Otherwise I have a lot of stickers on my suitcase. I have the handles marked because sometimes the bag is upside-down, so I needed a different identifier.

Cloudship

Reminds me of a time many, many years ago, at Disney. I had the typical white rental car, and the first day parked in the lot, and upon returning in the evening joined the crowd of people trying out all the same looking white rental cars to figure out which one was theirs. So the next day I got the bright idea of tying a bag around the antenna (shows you how long ago this was) so I knew which one was mine. Got back that evening, and every other white car had a bag around the antenna too!

I have in the past (before I had a bag no one else does) used Paracord on my bag. I tied it in such a way that it provided a nice handle on the bag on the bottom front where I needed one. There are tones of colors available, and you can get as fancy or as simple as you want.

Jeannietx

I'm convinced that our missing purple luggage (each with distinctive luggage straps and distinctive luggage tags) was found at YVR due to it standing out.

They had found two of them but couldn't find the third until I told the Air Canada person to tell them the missing bag was purple, just like the two that weren't missing.

I ordered the FT tags, can never have too stand outs.

pilotalan

I use red paracord as zipper pulls, and one piece tied around the handle. Subdued, but unmistakable and indestructible.
Red on a black bag still looks professional.

callie-girl

FlyerTalk tags at the handle and silver pipecleaner wrapped around the piece at the bottom which slides out for my Samsonite Spinner to stand on. I don't need to see the tags when the bags come out facing backwards with that sparkly bit of silver.

Even my not-so-common blue spinner gets picked up by the wrong hands - and then put back once someone notices the FlyerTalk tag. I've watched it happen several times.

Cloudship

That's another hint - when bags come out the carousel, they are usually not right side up. If you are going to be putting something on it to make it identifiable, think about the bag coming out upside down and and top first, as this is how they usually put them on the belt.

Tizzette

That's right, you need to mark the bottom and the side handles to make it easy to spot your bag on the carousel. I use blue painter's tape but you can wind any kind of fabric or colored tape around the handles. Duct tape doesn't work as well because the adhesive gets gummy. If you want to keep it discreet and just paint a few accents such as the zipper pulls, red fingernail polish is long wearing.

mapsgl

I want my bag easily identified by me, but still appropriate for business settings. It's unfortunate but some of my customers will make "judgements" from my bag


I use a discrete refelctive tape sticker that is almost same color as my bag on the front back and bottom of my bag. Add to that a custom handle wrap, and an tag I had made from a pet tag kiosk.


It is about time for a new B&R bag and I'd like to explore adding a small custom patch to distinguish my Black B&R from the 5-7 I see on every trip

sscott77

I just have a brightly colored combination of luggage tags. I can take them off and put them in the pocket if I need it to blend. Otherwise, easy to spot.

ggf9191

We use curling ribbon (the kind used to wrap presents) cheap, comes in lots of colours (we normally mix 2 colours on the same bag to stand out even more) and one roll will do everyone in the family.