Three tips to get your checked luggage first at airport baggage claim

Yes, we’ve all heard the advice from the smug “carry-on only” crowd but there are times when you simply have to check in a bag. The purgatory of an airport baggage hall is not a place you want to wait any longer than you have to. Especially if you have a domestic transfer to catch and a long Customs and BioSec queue to clear. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just get your bag to arrive first on the conveyor belt?

There are some tricks to up the odds of your luggage popping out those rubber flaps first.

1. The first shall come last

Normally, the first luggage loaded into the cargo is the last to be unloaded. The cargo area of a passenger jet is an awkward space to retrieve and stow luggage, normally using an extending roller track conveyor. If you like to get to the airport early, you can often spend ages waiting for luggage.

One way to minimise delay is to make sure you’re the last in line for the check-in counter. This high-risk strategy has obvious problems. Apart from cutting timing fine to allow yourself to get through airport screening and to the gate, there’s no guarantee that your bag will actually be the last loaded onto the plane.

Mesmerising: Sugue has earned 622,000 followers on TikTok, stacking luggage. Photo / TikTok, @DJSugue

2. Get gate check

One way around this conundrum is to ask to gate check your bag. Airlines - particularly on cramped US carriers - are always eager to check luggage at the gate and reduce the competition for cabin stowing space. It’s a good way to check unwanted duty-free shopping. There are some pitfalls, however. These bags will have to come with you through security screening. You will not be able to take liquids or other items that have to be dropped at check-in. It is often a complementary service on busy routes and, hopefully, means your bag will be waiting for you on the runway or by the carousel.

It’s worth asking at the check-in counter first. Not all airlines offer this service. Turning up at the boarding gate of some airlines could land you with a hefty oversize cabin luggage fee. On domestic flights, Jetstar charges $50 per additional carry-on item over 7kg, and $65 at the boarding gate.

3. Pay for priority

Some airlines will offer priority luggage service to business class passengers, or travellers with a certain loyalty status. These bags are tagged to arrive on the carousel first and, depending on the airport, sometimes have their own collection area.

Air New Zealand offers a Fast Bag service to Koru members, Airpoints Elite and Gold status travellers on regional flights.

The airline will leave your checked luggage by the aircraft for those times when you simply have to “grab and go”. It’s a service you have to specify when checking in.

For longer services, Koru members’ luggage will be treated to priority baggage service “wherever possible” on Air New Zealand and partner airlines. But this relies heavily on the cooperation of ground handling arrangements at the airport to which you are flying.

Good luggage habits to pick up for your next trip:

• Always remove old tags from your checked bags. You obviously don’t want your luggage to turn up at the last destination you travelled to - but this includes tags with contact information. In case your suitcase goes missing, write your old address onto the lining.
• Go bright and bold on colour. The number of black, K-Mart hardtop suitcases that arrive at Auckland Airport every day is astounding. It’s not unheard of for someone to pick up the wrong bag, mistaking it for theirs. Neon colours or at least a recognisable ribbon will help you find your luggage and stop it from walking off with other passengers.
• Checking your bags at a self-serve kiosk? On the end of the peeling luggage tag are a row of barcode stickers. Peel one off and put it on your ticket. Should your luggage get lost, you’ll have your luggage reference on you to help track down your missing bags.
• Oh, and if you have connections, always take note if your bags have been checked through to your final destination. There’s no point arriving back in Auckland if your forgotten case is still riding the conveyor belt in LAX. Then you really will be waiting for eternity.

Thomas Bywater is a travel writer and digital producer for the NZ Herald. He joined the Herald in 2018 and since 2021 has been based out of Christchurch.