After a long travel day, baggage claim is the last place anyone wants to be. While you can’t control how quickly your bag comes out or whether it arrives on the carousel, you can help yourself find it more easily (or get it back if it’s missing) with a luggage tag. While these small accouterments are usually sold with your suitcase or scribbled in a frenzy on a paper airline option, a quality luggage tag can help protect your belongings and privacy.
To help you find the right tag for your suitcase, we consulted travel experts and NBC Select staff on their favorites.
SKIP AHEAD The best luggage tags | What to write on your luggage tag
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The best luggage tags of 2024
Below, we rounded up expert-recommended luggage tags that stand the test of time and some NBC Select staff favorites.
Ovener Silicone Luggage Tag
Paul Healy and Mark Barnes, who run the travel blog Anywhere We Roam like that these luggage tags have a display window for your name, but still hide other personal information. To access your contact details, you simply unscrew the ring and slide the card out.
Vera Bradley Luggage Tag
NBC Select editor Lindsay Schneider bought a water-resistant version of this luggage tag ten years ago and still swears by it. “I like the vibrant patterns because I am never mistaking my bag for someone else's, it is easy to spot from far away,” she says.
While McAlpin cautioned against using a tag that shows all your information, we think this cotton option is a stylish addition to pair with your Vera Bradley bag or any other colorful luggage.
Linnea Design Luggage Tags
McAlpin likes these affordable colorful luggage tags that feature detailed depictions of tourist destinations on their front side, like the Eiffel tour, sailboats in Puget Sound, camels in the Cairo desert and more. The tags keep your address tucked away via its tri-fold insert and are made of pliable plastic.
Teskyer Luggage Tags
These bestselling luggage tags, which have a 4.6-star rating from over 8,000 reviews on Amazon, are made from a polyurethane leather and are durable enough for long-term use, according to the brand. Each set is sold with six duplex printed information cards, about the size of a debit or business card, and each tag has a flap cover to protect your personal information.
ComfiTime Luggage Tags
Similar in style to Ovener luggage tags, this set is made of durable silicone in multiple colors that’s strong enough to survive airline baggage tossers, according to the brand. Each tag has a stainless steel loop with a screw on collar that keeps your tag attached to your luggage. The privacy window, a feature McAlpin recommends looking out for, displays just the traveler’s name while keeping other information hidden.
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How we picked the best luggage tags
Luggage tags shouldn’t break or show too much of your personal information, according to Anne McAlpin, a travel expert and author of “Pack It Up: The Essential Guide To Smart Travel.” With that in mind, we sought out options that met the following criteria:
- Material: We looked for tags made of a flexible, but durable material (like silicone) and avoided hard plastic. “Hard plastic tends to break when you check it,” says McAlpin.
- Adequate coverage: Your personal information shouldn’t be visible for anyone to see while standing in line, says McAlpin, who likes luggage tags that cover your personal information. For more details on what to write (and not write) on your luggage tag, see below.
- Sets, or multiple tags: The experts we spoke to recommend using multiple tags on each bag, should one fall off in transit. We looked at options that are sold as a set, or under $15 if sold individually.
What to write on your luggage tag
Whatever you do, don’t put your address on your luggage tag, says McAlpin. “You don't want to advertise that you're not at home, especially with all the fraud these days,” she says. And don’t put your home phone number either so they don’t call your house before robbing it, says McAlpin.
McAlpin recommends putting your first initial and last name and your cell phone number, so that whoever finds your baggage can call you. If you have access to email while traveling, it’s worth writing your email address too. Most importantly, travelers should ask a friend or family member at home to be their spot person if they’re unreachable. “Add the cellphone number and email address of your back home person who has a copy of your itinerary,” she says. “So if you're on your way to Europe and your bag is stuck in Chicago, they can be calling your back home family member and they'll say ‘oh yeah, they're headed to Paris and they're headed to this hotel.”
If you’re headed to the airport and don’t have time to order a luggage tag, a piece of string works too. “Tie ribbon around your luggage,” says McAlpin. “Tie red ribbon, Christmas ribbon, something different and do it on each handle so that everyone can see it coming and going.”
Meet our experts
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
- Anne McAlpin is a packing expert and author “Pack It Up: The Essential Guide To Smart Travel.
- Paul Healy and Mark Barnes are travel bloggers who run the blog Anywhere We Roam.
Why trust NBC Select?
Christina Colizza is a former editor at NBC Select and has been a product reviewer since 2018. She covers a range of self care and skin care topics like shampoos, eyebrow serums and more. She also formerly wrote and edited NBC Select’s New & Notable column and Weekly Sales columns, which highlights exciting product launches and major sales.
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