Originally Posted by
marble
In the UK, bags are auctioned off to the public and the proceeds go to charity. There's an article
here on how it works in the UK.
What suprises me is that unidentifiable luggage still exists in the day and age. Are there any luggage manufacturers who provide luggage with unique identifiers built into the case? It can't be that hard to etch a number in 4 different places around the inside/outside so that it was pretty much always identifiable?
That's an interesting article - thanks - glad to know at least some money makes it to charity out of it. I do wonder how many bidders are airport employees or family and friends. The one improvement I would suggest is to see the charity handle the auction - so they can ransack the bags beforehand to get any real valuables and thus maximise their earnings.
I didn't realise that they don't bother to open your case to try identify the person before sending to auction. While I do always have name tags (name + email + phone, sometimes address) on my luggage I had never thought about what would happen if I forgot one time. I always leave a copy of travel insurance in the suitcase (and keep another copy on me), which has my contact details. I guess it'll never be looked at - until someone buys the case from auction.