I travel all the time, and while the following is a matter of common sense, I hadn’t thought about it all that much before. I just saw that the US Department of State has issued suggestions about the information to put on one’s luggage tags. The DOS recommends using tags with flaps that cover up your information and, if traveling in countries where anti-American sentiment exists, not putting anything on the luggage tag that identifies you as a US citizen.
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/not-put-luggage-tags-13407.html?UTM_SOURCE=obrain
Further, one should limit and be judicious about the contact info one puts on such tags. Use an office address rather than a home address, and create a free email account to list rather than one’s principle email account. Also, do not use a home phone number! Gleaning that you are traveling from home, a thief who sees your phone number could do a reverse phone search and find your home address. Use your cell phone number instead. The one thing the experts agree you do need and should put on the tag? Your full name. Seems ironic, somehow. If I’m being coy and careful about everything else, how can I write “Jack Simony” for the world to see? The tag, we should not forget, is there in case your luggage loses its way…and the airline can track you down and reunite you and your luggage far more quickly if they have your name, can match it to your ticket, and can find out where you’ve gone.
-Jack Simony
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