catawba

I fly often, but it had been a long time since I checked bags. On a recent flight from CLT, I printed my bag tag from the kiosk in the Preferred line and then approached the check-in desk. I put on my bag tag and peeled one of the two little stickers off the end of the tag to stick on the bag. There were two agents watching me. One of them started scolding me and insisting that I remove the sticker. I said I thought we were supposed to put one of the stickers on the bag as a backup in case the tag got torn off. The agent replied that those are no longer allowed because people would forget to remove the sticker the next time they fly. Then the bags would go wherever they went last time. I said I always remove them, but the agent still would not allow the sticker to be applied.

Then for my return flight, I let the agent put the tag on to see what would happen. They pulled a sticker and placed it on the bag the way I always remember it in the past.

Has anyone heard of a change in practice on the use of these stickers? One sticker as a bag receipt/claim number (usually put on your boarding pass), and one on the bag? Or not? Thanks in advance.

FAA1996

That agent was on crack, I checked bags monthly and never tag them myself, the agents always put the little stickers on the bags. On some bags they put it on top of other stickers (maybe 4 or 5 thick) and bags have several other stickers all around. Guess it makes sense to remove them every now and then.

carla568

I don't remember the little stickers having bar codes, so I assume the little stickers aren't even looked at in case something happens to the big tag, and it will be looked at by a human who will ignore dates from multiple days/weeks/months in the past.

I agree it was likely an employe making stuff up. Good job on you for not pushing.

Antarius

The little stickers have a barcode. They're basically backups in case the main one gets torn off or damaged.

Random tags don't scan and register in a system, which makes the agents point irrelevant and incorrect.

On a side note, I have noticed more agents who don't know how to put bag tags on properly. Either the extra sticker isn't applied or the priority tag is placed at the end, resulting in a big loop (vs the tag having some sticky side on either end and minimizing the ability to get caught and removed), it's been interesting.

maigewitter

Never heard of this before.
Makes no sense.

TechMarauder

I actually asked an agent in IAH about this a few weeks ago. She said it’s really just as a backup for your name and not the routing so it’s not a big deal if old ones are still on.

lougord99

I just looked at one of those stickers recently put on my bag. Printed on the sticker is my name, flight number and destination. The bar code is a a 10 digit number that doesn't have any meaning to me.

LovePrunes

Similarly, I asked a ticket agent last week when checking bags what would happen if those old small sticky tags were not removed, would they accidentally press send my luggage somewhere else by getting scanned. She assured me no, they just use it if they need to identify it luggage that's been misplaced or needs to be pulled.

S80

From what I've heard, if they do end up scanning the wrong tag (aka for a bag that's not supposed to be on the flight), their scanner thing throws a whole fit (which I guess is a good thing on the noisy ramp). From my understanding of the automated bag systems, your bag gets tracked by the tray it's on using RFID, and not by any of the visible barcodes once it's been scanned.

VegasGambler

Where's the rfid chip?

joeyE

RFID....Only 2-3 systems in the US have the special tub or carrier systems which track by RFID (MCO south, SFO, maybe another I’m forgetting). Google ICS BHS if you'd like to see more. The chip lives in the carrier or tub, not the bag tag. This is a special tub designed for a carrier system....not the black tubs you see everywhere that are used to convey duffle bags, strollers etc..

11 US airports have equipment to read the RFID chips that are inlaid in certain tags. 6 Delta hubs and 5 other airports that are interested in staying ahead of the curve. Hold any Delta tag up to the light, and you'll see it in there. Every Delta tag has an RFID chip, and a few airports also produce tags with an RFID chip, for their own systems to read (EWR, LAS etc..).

joeyE

You should always put at least 1 sticker (aka a bingo tag or stub tag) somewhere on your suitcase. Every so often the larger tag is ripped off by the conveyor systems, or misapplied by the traveler before induction into the baggage handling system. When that happens, the bingo tag is the last chance to have the bag sorted correctly.

You want to remove the old bingo tags, or at least cover it with the new one. Reason: On very rare occasions, if everything lines up right, they can be read by the automated tag readers (google BHS ATR for more info). The stickers are tiny and the installers do a good job of tuning them out, but every so often they’re still read. It’s not an awful thing….the bag may get sorted to the wrong makeup carousel inside the departure airport and hopefully be discovered in time to get routed properly to the correct carousel.

Daze

This is all good info to know, but as a passenger I am not yet compensated for my services as a AA check-in agent, so I stick to what I am specifically instructed to do when required to self tag my bag.
Those instructions say nothing about the small additional tags, so to avoid being barked at by AA staff, I do nothing with them.

lougord99

You claim that to be fact.

I am curious if anyone here has ever received their bag and the bag tag has been ripped off.

I know how difficult it is for me to purposely rip that bag tag off., So you have receive your bag, the bag tag has been ripped off, and yet you did receive your bag. Anyone here ???

carlosdca

I don't KnowBut I recently self tagged bags with Southwest and there are no little stickers. On the other leg, the agent did it for me and no little stickers.
I don't think southwest has a particular issue with ripped tags and it seems just the big tag works fine.
Wonder why AA goes through that trouble.