Checking your luggage seems easy, right? And it is. But if you’re like me, you prefer to be prepared and want to get a leg-up on the process so that everything goes smoothly at drop-off and pick-up! Admittedly, I prefer to travel carry-on only, but sometimes checking a bag is either unavoidable, or it’s just your preference. Either way, here are my pro tips for checking your luggage!

Use a Luggage Tag Inside + Outside Your Suitcase

Make sure it includes your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address clearly printed on it. Then, go one step further, and put the same information inside your suitcase. Your outer luggage tag can get torn off, broken, or otherwise damaged, so having your contact info on the inside is just another bit of free insurance for you. It’s the simplest tip, but you’d be surprise to learn how many bags roll through with zero identification on them!

Check it out: The Best Bags for All of Your Travels

Use Packing Cubes

I was a late adopter to packing cubes, but now that I know this hack, I’ll never go back! Packing cubes are by far the best way to keep your clothes and other gear organized. My husband thinks they’re great because “it’s like having a shelf in your bag,” as he says. They also keep your things compressed, which helps when you need to pack that one more thing, especially on your return trip. You will be shocked at just how much more room you have leftover when you go from no cubes to using cubes. Truly, I can’t way enough great things about packing cubes!

More here: The Top 10 Packing Hacks

Weigh Your Bag Before You Leave

If your bag is overweight (usually 50 lbs., but it depends on your airline), you will have to pay an extra overweight fee to fly with it. To avoid this, weigh your bag before you leave for the airport. Rearrange things across all your luggage if you need to, but if you want to avoid paying an exorbitant fee (both ways!), you will want to know how much the luggage you plan to check weighs. I have a luggage scale that I love, but as long as you can lift your bag, you can also use a regular bathroom scale instead.

Read on: The Top 5 Essentials You Need for International Travel

Remember Prescriptions Can’t be Checked

It’s so important to remember not to pack your prescriptions in luggage you plan to check–yes, this even goes for full-size liquid prescriptions! Those all go in your carry-on luggage. Just make sure you keep whatever it is in the original packaging, with the Rx information on it so that TSA knows it’s a prescription. They will not be taking your word for it without proof. Why it this so important? Because luggage gets lost sometimes, and your life-altering medication does not need to get lost. And just to cover all the bases, no, the airline is not liable if you pack your prescriptions.

Also Helpful: Your Ultimate Guide to Flying with Senior Travel Companions

You Will have to Re-check at International Transfers

I was graciously saved from this mistake on my first overseas trip! Traveling from Nashville to Chicago to Japan, I had no idea I’d need to re-check my luggage in Chicago before transferring to my flight to Japan! Thankfully, someone in line ahead of me mentioned it, so I was able to go back and re-check my bag. I didn’t have to pay again, because I was on the same reservation for the whole trip, but if I hadn’t picked it up to re-check it, I never would have gotten it after landing in Japan! Follow the signs at your connecting airport, and if you’re not sure, ask!

Read next: The Most Common Packing Mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Use a Luggage Tracker, such as an Apple AirTag

These tracking devices completely change the checked luggage game. If you’re paranoid about the airline losing your bag (or even if you’re just doing your due diligence), this tiny tracker will give you the peace of mind and essential info you need to make sure your bag is making its way with you. Airline apps (like United) also have checked luggage tracking, but it doesn’t continue tracking if you’re connecting on a partner airline, even on the same reservation.

For instance, I needed to check something on our trip to Egypt in 2023, but I lost all tracking information when we connected from United Airlines to Austrian Airlines in Vienna! Even though they are partners, and it was one, continuous reservation, United’s and Austrian’s luggage handling systems were different, so I couldn’t track it to Cairo. I was sure it was lost (which wouldn’t have ruined the trip, but it would have been a bummer), but there it was at baggage claim when we landed. I wished then that I’d had a tracking tag in my luggage that day!

Keep reading: My Honest Review of Apple AirTags for Travel

Don’t Skimp on Your Luggage Purchase

I’m here to tell you like it is: Luggage is expensive! But cheap luggage is not worth the cheap price. You read that correctly. I am a known penny pincher, so you can take me at my word on this: That cheap luggage will cost you more in the long run. It’s true! If you opt for a cheap roll-aboard instead of the higher-priced one, the wheels will literally fall off. The hard sides will crack (have you seen how luggage handlers toss those suitcases on and off the planes?). The handle will break off. The other handle will come off at some point, too. It doesn’t have to be designer label (and it’s better if it’s not–stick to travel-centric brands!), but it does need to be high-quality. That is, unless you want to buy cheap-new luggage before every trip (or every other trip, if you’re lucky).

Ask for luggage for Christmas or your birthday, request cash or gift cards for your preferred luggage brand, or just save up the old fashioned way. However you do it, you will not regret buying sturdy, good quality luggage. My husband just bought me the most beautiful set of Beis luggage for Valentine’s Day, and I couldn’t feel more loved! Truly, I could give you real-life anecdote after real-life anecdote about cheap luggage horror stories, but suffice it to say that good luggage is worth what it costs, and it will last a lifetime. Read my review of Beis Luggage HERE!

Read next: Why Travel is More Important than You Think

Want more? Get everything you need to know and more is up on my dedicated Packing Page!

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