Checked in luggage is one of the most irritating things about going on holiday.
You’ve left the plane, the cold has hit you like a slap in the face, the post-holiday blues are kicking in and you just want to get home and flick through the holiday snaps.
But, there’s one thing standing in your way - you have to pick up your luggage. It really is a dull task. It’s so boring and takes so long that you can almost feel your glorious golden glow starting to fade as you wait… and wait… and wait.
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As you’re waiting, everybody else’s suitcases seem to come out, and you’re left there waiting eagerly on your tiptoes as you try to find your personalised case.
Most of us will have faced this situation - the dreaded queue at the luggage carousel when it can often feel like you've been waiting there longer than you've actually been abroad.
What do you think about collecting luggage in airports? Let us know in the comments...
The airport is sticky, airless, there’s no phone signal, and you would really rather be anywhere than there as families try to work out what identifying features their standard big blue suitcases may have.
But there is a cheeky solution if you're the kind of person who will try every trick in the book to avoid waiting - and it’s easier than you think.
If you don’t want to wait ridiculous amounts of time, just ask for a 'fragile' sticker for your suitcase before you hand your bag over to the check-in staff.
According to new.com.au this can, in theory, speed up your wait time.
This is because luggage tagged as being fragile will go into the plane last, which means it comes out the other side first, which equals less time to wait at the dreaded carousel.
You may genuinely have some fragile things in your case, but you never even knew you could ask for a fragile sticker! Well, now you do.
Should you want to double your chances of getting out of the airport first, then there's something else you can do. Thomas Lo Sciuto, a ramp worker and gate agent at a regional airport in the US, told Quora that you should check-in last.
He said: "Bags will always be loaded front to back on the bag carts so if you check in last your bags will be in the last bag cart."
But, with the way things are at UK airports at the moment, we’re not sure that’s something we’d want to risk…
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