A flight attendant who also runs a popular TikTok travel advice account has issued a warning after repeatedly spotting passengers making this dangerous luggage tag mistake.
Ally Case, who works for American Airlines, recently shared a video on her page that highlighted the risk of putting your detailed personal information on easily viewable luggage tags while travelling.
In the viral video, which has been viewed almost 900,000 times, Ally explains that she always “flips” the information she writes on her luggage tag so passers-by can’t easily read her name, address, destination and telephone details.
“I don’t know why more people don’t do this,” she says. “Always, always, always flip your information on your luggage card backwards.”
She continues: “I cannot tell you how many people I see on a daily basis with their information displayed for anyone to see. Their name, their phone number, their home address…”
Obviously it’s important to have your personal information on your bags in case they end up getting lost in transit, but you certainly don’t want to “give your information to everyone” when you’re on a plane or train, Ally advises.
Instead, she fills in the luggage tag card and flips it backwards, so that it looks as if its blank.
People flooded the video with comments thanking Ally for sharing such a sensible safety tip.
One woman explained that she takes things one step further, writing: “I don’t put my home address on that tag; I set up a dedicated email address instead.” To which Ally replied: “Smart!”
However, a male follower expressed his confusion, writing: “What will happen if someone knows your name and address.” Ally’s stark response was: “It sounds like you might not know what it’s like to be a woman in today’s world.”
Ally’s message couldn’t be more relevant at the moment, as this week a female traveller issued a “public service announcement” after a stranger at the airport spotted her personal information on her suitcase tag and behaved in a very unsettling way.
The woman, named Kirsten, took to social media to share how she was waiting at the airport during her layover when she received a message from a stranger.
He’d noted down her name and number from the information on her luggage tag and used it to ask her out – in an extremely creepy fashion.
The message read: “Hi Kristen, my name is Nate. I saw you and thought you were so beautiful so I had to find a way to talk to you. I saw your number on your luggage tag and decided to text you. I promise this isn’t as weird as it seems. Give a guy a chance?”
Kristen went on to call the encounter an “invasion of privacy”.
Commenters on Ally’s viral TikTok video shared similar shocking stories where men had taken their phone number or other details from people’s luggage.
One woman wrote: “My daughter’s 15-year-old friend was traveling with us and a guy behind us in the gate line texted her because he saw her number.”
So remember people, stay safe – and flip those tags.
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