Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The most common result of a lost luggage problem is the airline tracking down the luggage and getting it to the passenger later. Many bags are not lost but misplaced, meaning they are usually recovered and delivered to the correct person after a brief delay. In most cases, lost bags are returned to the correct owner within a couple of days.
It is tempting to blame lost luggage problems on the airlines, but theft is another common cause of lost luggage and cannot be directly controlled by airline policies. While baggage handlers and other on-the-ground employees have limited opportunities to make off with customer bags, sneaky thieves have been known to wait at baggage claims and walk off with bags that don't belong to them.
What happens to unclaimed luggage is largely up to the individual airport or airline. A large number of airlines will spend about a week trying to find the original owners of a bag, then release the bag to a luggage tracking office. The employees in this office will search your bags and look for identifying information such as business cards or IDs, which can be used to track you down and return you bag. If this does not work, bag information will be sent to World Tracer, which is an online database of lost bags. You can search for your bags on the site by contents and description.
If the airline simply cannot find the owner for a bag or the bag turns up after a claim has been paid, it can sell the bag to a secondhand store. Several stores across the nation purchase lost luggage in bulk from the airlines, then resell items. Clothing, electronics and other valuable items are usually sold, while less valuable things and the actual luggage are donated to charity.