Men keep losing their shirts at airports

• Unclaimed Baggage in Alabama resells items from luggage that airlines fail to reunite with owners after 90 days.
• T-shirts were the most common item found in lost luggage this year, followed by pants, jewelry, and electronics.
• Unusual finds included a suitcase of rat poison, samurai swords and a pure gold bar.

What do 200,000 T-shirts and a suitcase full of rat poison have in common? 

They all ended up in Scottsboro, Alabama, after airline passengers lost their luggage over the last year. 

Collecting those shirts is par for the course for Unclaimed Baggage, a family-owned business that for more than half a century has been receiving and reselling or donating items left in baggage lost by airlines. 

The company’s third-annual Found Report details some of the quirkiest things that turned up in the last 12 months and highlights broader trends revealed by what people are packing. 

“It’s hard to get surprised by things these days, but you wonder how something like samurai swords come through,” Matt Owens, senior vice president of commercial strategy at Unclaimed Baggage, told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview. 

Owens emphasized that airlines generally have a stellar record of keeping track of luggage, but still, thousands of bags come through Unclaimed Baggage every year. 

“The airlines do an incredible job of reuniting items with their owners,” he said. “What ultimately comes to us is a fraction of a percent of what’s traveled with.” 

Trending travel items 

According to the Found Report, T-shirts were the most common item in lost luggage this year, with nearly 210,000 of them turning up in the suitcases that went to Unclaimed Baggage. Airlines try to reunite items with their owners for at least 90 days before sending them to Unclaimed Baggage.  

“Men’s T-shirts led the category of the most frequently found item. Active and layering styles were close behind, reflecting how travelers prioritize comfort and versatility,” the report said. 

Other common retrieved items were:  

• Pants 

• Jewelry 

• Electronics and their accessories 

• Shoes 

Owens said books were also common in checked luggage, as were trending collectibles. 

“I can’t tell you how many Labubus and Lafufus – fake Labubus – have come through,” he said. 

Gold was also an increasingly common item in lost luggage, as travelers apparently try to hedge against broader economic uncertainty. One lost bag contained a 99.99% pure gold bar produced by Australia’s Perth mint. 

“We’ve seen a noticeable uptick in gold in many forms and factors,” Owens said. 

The weirdest finds 

While typical items like T-shirts and charging cables made up the bulk of what Unclaimed Baggage received in the last year, there were also many quirky, one-off items. 

“It’s like a treasure hunt every day,” Owens said. 

Among the most exotic items were:  

• The aforementioned suitcase full of rat poison. 

• 10 karat gold and diamond grills. 

• A suitcase full of fake human bones. 

• A pair of white diamond earrings with an estimated value of $43,000. 

“We receive anything that travelers traveled with over this past year,” Owens said, but added that the company rarely gets to learn why people had those items in the first place. They’re still scratching their heads over the rat poison. 

Tips for travelers 

As Owens mentioned, airlines are generally very good at returning checked luggage to travelers, but if you don’t want your bag to end up at his family’s store, there are some things you can do to make it even less likely. 

“Some tried and true tips that we’ve found to be consistent over the years: Label your bag both inside and out, particularly on the inside in case something gets snagged and falls off on the exterior,” Owens said. “Add some flair, some color, something that makes it stand out.” 

He added that trackers like Apple AirTags can be useful in tracking down your bag if it gets misplaced, although they may not prevent the issue from happening in the first place. 

The Found Report also suggests that gate-checked luggage is more likely to be mislaid than standard checked bags. 

“Bags checked at the gate are more prone to routing issues because they bypass normal tagging processes,” the report says. “If you gate-check, ask the agent to verify the tag matches your destination and keep a photo of the bag and tag.” 

How to shop Unclaimed Baggage 

The Unclaimed Baggage store is at 509 West Willow Street in Scottsboro, Alabama, but if you’re not planning a trip, you can also shop some of their inventory online. 

The company is also hosting a New York City pop-up on March 6-8.   

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York, and you can reach him at [email protected].