07/ 25/ 2006
Frequent fliers will do anything to avoid checking luggage. But when you travel for business and have to take bulky equipment and hardware, you're often forced to hand over at least some of your bags to the airline and hope for the best. Some reports estimate 10,000 pieces of luggage are lost each day in the United States. While airlines claim 98 percent are returned within a few hours, it's better to plan ahead so that you're not stuck without clean socks (or worse) on your next big business trip.
Tim Jacobs, vice president of e-commerce site Luggage Online, offers these tips:
Ship it.
Cut the airlines out of the equation and send your bags directly to your destination via FedEx or another shipping company.
Strip it.
Remove all old luggage stickers and tags before each trip so baggage handlers aren't confused.
Color it.
Add a creative touch (such as a ribbon or decal) to your black bag so that it stands out and others don't mistake it for their own luggage.
Time it.
Avoid late check-ins so handlers have plenty of time to get your bag on the flight.
Color Me Safe
New study finds silver cars are safest
Want to keep your employees safe on the road? Put them in silver vehicles. Research from New Zealand found that passengers in silver cars were 50 percent less likely to suffer serious injuries in a crash compared to those in white cars. Injury risk doubled for those in dark-colored cars, such as black, blue and green. Researchers think silver cars reflect light better and are easier to spot on the road.
