Did I overreact to this minor checked baggage tagging issue?
 

Three days ago. Flying from Phnom Penh to Macau with my Cambodian girlfriend on the relatively new "JC Airlines."

We are on one way tickets on linked itinerary, because she was going to fly back to Phnom Penh the next day on another airline and I was flying onward to Beijing the next day on a different airline, then to Las Vegas two days later.

I hand the check in guy both of our passports, since it's the same PNR. I tell him that I have one checked bag and she has no checked bags.

He tags my bag, sticks the claim ticket on her boarding pass, and hands the boarding passes back to me. I see that the claim ticket has her name on it, not mine. The checked bag then disappears down the chute/belt behind him.

I point out the error to him, he says no problem, we're traveling together, she can just claim my bag in Macau.

This was a direct flight, and the airline only flies two flights a day out of Phnom Penh. The chance of my bag not making it on the flight to Macau were minimal.

I politely insisted that he get the bag back and tag it with my name. My thinking was that if her name is on the bag, and it somehow doesn't get on the plane to Macau, I'm screwed because I'll never be able to get it sent onward to Beijing or Las Vegas.

He agrees that he'll get the bag back. He prints out a new sticker strip thing and hands me the claim ticket and says "You can go to the gate, I'll put this new tag on your bag when they send it back to me."

I said "No problem. I'll just stand over her and wait until that happens."

Of course, he and my girlfriend are looking at me like I'm the crazy, pushy white guy.

Bag comes back ten minutes later, I watch him switch the tags, I thank him profusely, I go to the gate then I spend the next three hours on the plane worrying that he would sabotage my bag getting on the plane because I annoyed him, like that episode of "Seinfeld" when Jerry's trust in his marathoner friend's wake up call after accidentally offending the wake up call guy.

Anyway, my bag arrived in Macau without issue.

I dont think it's an overreaction to get an error fixed. This "all will go well" just wont ever so often..
Also I've been to places where the tag on BP and on luggage are checked before you can leave the claiming area (e.g. TPE). Good luck with "one PNR/girlfriend" story there?

I probably learned my lesson a few years back when I was flying MXP-VKO-EVN. I check in, I'm handed a bag claim that lists the three cities with EVN in the middle. I don't know if the destination is supposed to be at the top or bottom of cities listed on your bag claim tag, but I know it shouldn't be in the middle. I point out the error to the check in guy, he says "No problem, the three flights are listed there so it's OK, the order isn't important."

I arrive in Yerevan, my bag doesn't. It arrives the next day, minus a pair of jeans and a shirt.

On my first overseas trip my travel agent gave me a tip. She said watch them print out the luggage tag and make sure it says YVR (my destination).

I would of watched them make the change too.

You did not overreact.

No over-reaction here. An additional reason to travel with your own bag checked on your ticket is international customs. It could be hard to explain stuff that obviously doesn't belong to you, such as a suitcase full of clothes that don't fit your body or gender. Moreover, unless you know the other person extremely well (versus "just" a girlfriend), the consequences of crossing a border with prohibited items can be enormous.

I would have done the same thing.

Everything works out in the end until it doesn't.

Overreact: yelling, swearing, threatening baggage tagger

Reasonable reaction: politely but firmly insisting your bag is correctly tagged.

Which did you do?

One of my rule at baggage check-in is making sure the tags are printed properly:

• with flight numbers layover cities and destinations in the correct order. I was flying during the handwritten tag days
• bags are tagged to correct passengers' names, this will cause issues when interlining across different airlines with a different bag rules

Forget the hand written days, I had a bag tagged nonstop to ABQ when I was flying nonstop to PHX. This was only about 5 years ago. It had my name on it. I still have no idea how this happened.

I had easier time pointing out hand written tag error and have them corrected than now with the auto printed tags

no over-reaction at all. The one time I trusted the check-in agent to do it my bags went to the originally wrong destination he had initially printed. This was on Iberia from France to Brazil on C.

I don't care if they distribute the tagging amongst my immediate family to avoid fees-one bag per person for example. But, I would not let my bag be tagged in someone else's name if they were a friend etc. Too much difficulty if lost or rerouted in filing claims. What if it was lost and you needed to make an insurance claim? Too many loose ends.

Besides issues already surfaced, you might have bought your ticket with a credit card that carries luggage insurance. It needs to be tagged with your name for the insurance to apply. And an ancillary matter - when checking two bags, I ask that one be tagged for my husband and one for me. I believe that the international limits on luggage liability are per person. I have yet to file a claim but I fear that should both suitcases be lost, I've just halved what can be claimed if both are tagged to one of us. Unfortunately, it is extremely hard to get the agent to do this.

Why is it hard to get the agent to tag one bag to one passenger and one to another if there are two bags? Some airlines only give you on free checked bag anyway.