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New Apps Allow Sale of Unused Luggage Space
Ryan Boyd April 22, 2016
business man walking travel bag by an international airport
A new series of mobile apps allows airplane passengers the ability to sell their unused onboard luggage to third parties. These apps come courtesy of companies like Airmule and Grabr, which let users match pending itineraries to other customers looking for an affordable tool for shipping. Airline industry restrictions against the apps have not yet developed, and the functionality of the apps may be forced to change in order to fit airline regulations.
To read more on this story, go to Forbes.
[Photo: Getty]
Bad idea and one that will result in a bomb successfully getting on to an aircraft in the future! I know X-Ray scanning has come a long way since Lockerbie and 09/11, but there is still the potential for machinery to fail or for someone, somewhere to be distracted and miss something showing on the scanner. In any case, with all airlines and all police forces around the world, YOU are responsible for the contents of YOUR bag. Get stopped with a bag of white powder in your bag in many places of the world, it will be YOU that faces the death penalty!
I think https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/carry#/entity wanted to this in 2014 but of course it's gone by now. Someone back then reminded people they won't be able to identify things they shouldn't be carrying https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8743810 . I would imagine, for example, one of the biggest usage of this is carrying medication left at home which in theory would be great but how on earth are you going to decide the pills are real? Are you going to risk your liberty (or worse) for a few dollars? Even if a licensed pharmacist hands them to you, well, they can be bribed too.
And your luggage now turns into commercial merchandise when clearing customs, bad idea.
It's all fun and games until someone gets executed in a foreign country for becoming an unwitting unknowing drug mule through this app.
Wow, this is a bad idea on so many levels! As danielchee pointed out, there's the smuggling aspect. Add to that the increased suspicion cast on EVERYBODY regarding "is this really your bag?" Security is bad enough as it is.