Diamond Tag Theft?
 

TL;DR: I think a bag handler is stealing DM luggage tags.

Traveling from OAK-LAX I noticed that the Diamond Medallion luggage tag on my gate-checked bag was missing. I figured it had somehow fallen off, which seemed unlikely given that it attached with a metal cable. I had a second tag that was sitting in one of the bag's zip pockets so I just replaced the tag and dismissed the incident.

However on the return flight the same thing happened. This time I actually saw the LAX baggage agent pick up my bag from the jet bridge and I was one of the first people off the plane and I saw the OAK agent put my bag on the jet bridge. This means that the tag had to have vanished while the bag was in the control of the bag handlers.

I think the possibility that two steel cables broke off by chance and did so without damaging the bag's handle is about zero. So I have to conclude that one of the bag handlers is removing the tags. I checked e-bay and it seems the tags are selling for $30-$50 so I'm guessing someone is supplementing his/her income by swiping them and selling them. (They are easy to see on the outside of the bags and easy to remove by unscrewing the cable, so I guess they make nice theft targets.)

I don't much care about the tags, but if someone is stealing those then I'm going to guess the only reason s/he is not stealing other things is because s/he has not had a good opportunity.

Has anyone else had the same thing happen?

IME the steel cables tend to come unscrewed with time so that you must periodically tighten them. I try to remember to do this each time before checking the bag.

However, it sounds like the OP had just placed the DM tag onto the bag the second time, so that this cannot be the explanation for the second DM tag being "lost."

Maybe someone who will never be Diamond with DL -- unless it's largely on "error" fares -- wanted to pretend to be a DL Diamond for a day or more or make someone else's dreams come true. :D

I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually pay for DM tags but I went to EBay and had to see what was there. I am amazed at all the optimistic people putting the tags up for sale. Even SM MM tags, they are at a premium!

Truly amazing.

Wow! You're right! I just went to eBay, did a search for Delta Medallion tag, clicked advanced search and looked for "sold".

Jeeeez. Probably explains my missing Plat tag from last year. I don't check a bag; however, I was on a CRJ and my carry on was left at the jetway and upon arriving to my destination, my Plat tag was gone. I just shrugged it off.

There's even a sale of a Delta "gag" tag.

link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELTA-SKYM...p2047675.l2557

Scratching my head. :cool:

For a minute I was worried that someone had sold their special KM tag. That would be not only sad but against the spirit of the very special elite level.

I need a quicker way of identifing my bag for pink tag situations, so I used my FO tag for two reasons, theft and unique-ness.

Just a bit more of the same with both theft and the wire issue here

Yes, the cables supplied with the DM tags have been famously unreliable for the last 6 months or so.

Management must have found a way to save $0.02 per unit by sourcing them elsewhere.

And/or, they are just trying to ease us into the ultimate disappearance of tags all together. ;)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...ghlight=packet

For what it's worth, my Diamond tag disappeared a few months ago on an LAX-SEA segment. I was grumbling similar complaints until a few weeks later, when I came home to an envelope with Delta's Sea-Tac airport operations team as a return address; they were kind enough to mail my missing Diamond tag back to me.

Pretty awesome customer service from the SEA airport folks! ^ ^

I recommend making sure your SkyMiles number is on your tag so they can return it to you if lost, since it isn't there by default anymore; my solution is to add it with a Sharpie, but a small label would work too if you have a labemaker.

Some clown is selling his for nearly $100!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Envelope-w-f...item1e8a269e87

I keep waiting to read that Delta has kicked out of the Skymiles program (and confiscated all of his or her miles miles) someone caught selling their tags.

I had a DM tag lost / stolen from a checked bag a coup'la years ago, so, I haven't put one on a bag since then, that I wasn't planning to carry on the plane - - and as a matter of fact, I have actually stood in the jetway, and TAKEN IT OFF, when I have had to gate check something.

I do think that the screw-on mechanism isn't as secure as it could be. I wonder if a drop of super glue inside would help.

I think the rubbery tag loops that the WorldClubs / SkyClubs gave out are better. Here's a pic of that type from the DL breast cancer awareness tag they were selling . . .

http://imageshack.com/a/img22/6303/deltapinkbagtag.jpg

That said, I don't believe I've seen any reports of these being stolen by bag handlerz:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...-medallion.jpg

Perhaps the Kryptonium burns when you touch it! :D

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/img/p.../t_lkr_red.png

However, the recent problem is not the threads disengaging. The issue is the cable itself pulling out of one end of the threaded connection.

Manufacturing problem, not usage problem.

I had my KM tag stolen (the one with my name on it), on one of the rare occasion I had to check my bag. :mad: