Just before the airline agent could hit the print button to spit out the passenger’s baggage tags, the power went out at the small African airport. The airport switched over to a generator, but the agent still could not get the printer to work. With a line of passengers literally out the door of the two-window terminal, the agent decided to hurry things along.

“I’ll hand-tag your bag to Nairobi, your transfer airport. You can pick it up there and then check it in for your long-haul flight back to the States,” she said. The passenger, who was part of a missions team, was ready to agree when his team leader stepped in.

 “We can’t do that,” the leader told the agent, “because then he will have to buy a visa and clear passport control before he can get his bag to re-check. That will take a lot of time and money.”

The team leader was a veteran international traveler and had overheard the conversation with the airline agent. They were flying from another country and getting a connecting flight in the capital of Kenya. He knew that in order to get the luggage, his colleague would first have to “enter” the country by purchasing a visa and going through immigration.

The airline agent responded, “You’re correct,” and then waited for power to be restored so she could electronically check the bag all the way through to its final destination.

The team leader had similar instances happen to him before—not power outages but times where airline agents for various reasons failed to check the bag all the way through. He had gone through the hassle of waiting in line at passport control, finding his luggage, clearing customs, re-checking his luggage and then going back through security screening. Not an enjoyable process and one he had determined not to repeat.

This time he made sure it didn’t happen to his colleague. But while they were able to get the bags checked through, the baggage tag printer at the small airport malfunctioned and didn’t print part of the barcode and bag number. This happened to everyone on the team and they didn’t catch it until they went to check into their connecting flight. Fortunately for them, the connecting airline realized the problem and visually checked to make sure the team’s bags were transferred onto their flight. They also re-tagged the bags.

The point of the story is to always look carefully at your baggage tags before you leave the check-in counter. Know the three letter airport code for the airports you are traveling through and make sure the airport code for your final destination is at the top of the tag. Also, make sure the tag printed properly. In addition, don’t leave the counter until you see the agent physically put the tag on your bag and give you your claim tag. By paying close attention to how your bags are tagged, you have a better chance of avoiding lost bags or having to retrieve your bags and re-check them.