Baggage handler reveals 'worst' suitcases for air travel — including one they 'really hate'

A baggage handler has named the "worst" types of luggage to use when jetting off abroad, and also revealed which are more likely to arrive in one piece. With a plethora of suitcase options out there, picking the perfect travel companion can be quite the conundrum.

Thankfully, social media platforms like TikTokand Reddithave become goldmines for savvy travel advice, with airport staff dishing out their best-kept secrets to ensure your belongings stay intact during transit. On Reddit, a user by the name of Adam, who works as a baggage handler, opened up the floor for any burning questions.

A curious traveller inquired: "Any tips for avoiding baggage being lost or destroyed? And best/worst types of suitcases/bags?"

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Adam's top tip for dodging misplaced bags was simple: name tags. He pointed out that many bags look the same and often end up on the same flight, saying: "We see a lot of bags that look exactly identical to one another going on the same flight."

He suggested personalising your luggage with a tag bearing your name and address, making it easy to identify as yours. Other recommendations included distinctive straps wrapped around the bag, reports the Express.

For those keen to keep their cases from harm, he recommended opting for luggage that boasts "four good wheels, with soft lining on the inside and a hard outer shell."

When another user quizzed, "Why do you hate my bag?" Adam had a clear response: "Is your bag one with a dodgy wheel? One with no wheels at all? One with no proper handholds? Those are some of the bags I really, really hate."

A curious traveller posed the question: "Hard case bags or cloth bags? Which is better?" To which the airline employee replied: "If you don't mind your stuff being compressed, then soft case will do you fine, these tend to be more space efficient in the hold."

Theairport worker shared some savvy tips for safeguarding breakables while flying, advising: "If you have anything kinda fragile, you want a hard case to keep that stuff protected."

When quizzed about the best and worst types of luggage to use, Adam revealed: "Some of the worst bags to buy are the ones which have no wheels."

He explained the logistics behind the scenes at his airline: "In my airline, none of our holds are bin loaded, so we have to manually stack the bags inside each hold, and they can get fairly long. If your bag has at least 2 high quality wheels, then it allows us to roll them down the hold quickly, making it easier for us."

Adam highlighted the importance of efficiency, noting: "Otherwise, we have to throw the bags in order to keep to the scheduled times."

He confessed his pet peeve when it comes to luggage: "My absolute least favourite bags are the ones that have 4 wheels, but one of them is seized up, so we try to roll it down, but it just falls over after moving 6 inches."