Heading Off a Headache: Have Bags Shipped

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AS travelers adapt to the inconvenience of climbing into airplane cabins without their makeup,

toothpaste and mocha lattes close at hand,

they are also discovering another consequence of the new security rules:

more time lost to the rituals of checked bags.

Not only are people who once took pride in packing everything for a trip into a single carry-on suddenly waiting at baggage carousels,

but also, because of the increased number of bags being checked,

airline luggage-handling systems are being stretched to their limits.

To comply with the ban against carrying liquids and gels on board,

Steve Mandel of Parsippany, N.J., packed his toiletries in his bag for a recent Continental flight

from Newark to Dayton, Ohio, and checked it.

Waiting for his little bag to arrive at the luggage carousel added about 30 minutes on the way out and nearly 40 minutes on the way back for a flight of two hours or so.

And that was in addition to the time spent checking the bag before takeoff.

“All because I had toothpaste, after-shave lotion and shaving cream,” said Mr. Mandel,

who flies often for business.

Those extra minutes were enough so that he is now considering avoiding air travel altogether when he can.

“I can drive to Boston in five hours,” he said, citing one of his business destinations.

If he flies, “It’s four hours by the time I get there and get everything,

and I’d still have to rent a car and drive someplace.”

Although security lines have mostly shrunk back to normal levels,

lines at airport check-in counters have lengthened.

And though the coming of fall means fewer leisure travelers checking luggage,

business travelers are making up for that by checking what would normally be carry-on bags rather than leaving toiletries behind.

Airlines and airports continue to report anywhere from 10 to 30 percent increases in checked luggage, though the immediate surge in checked bags has subsided from 50 percent increases in the days just after the new carry-on restrictions were put into effect.

After years of staffing cutbacks,

the airlines appear ill prepared to handle the influx of bags.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,

which represents bag handlers, ground workers and other airline employees,

said it had lost about 43,000 members because of airline cutbacks since Sept. 11, 2001.

So far, some airlines are having baggage handlers work overtime or are asking other employees like gate agents and ramp workers to pitch in.

But if the amount of checked luggage doesn’t subside,

they will have to consider hiring extra workers.

Besides greater capacity,

there’s the continuing problem of making sure all those bags get where they are supposed to go.

“Now is the worst time to check a bag,” said Joe Brancatelli,

the publisher of the subscription travel Web site www.Joesentme.com.

“The system was breaking down before. Mishandled baggage numbers have been spiking.”

The longer wait times to check in and retrieve bags are the latest addition to increasing inconveniences and reduced services on commercial flights in recent years — some attributable to increased security,

but many others to cost cuts in an era of cutthroat competition.

For most travelers, the tipping point that makes air travel something to be avoided,

altogether is probably far off.

But inevitably, people will look for ways to escape the extra wait.

For those who don’t mind paying for convenience,

companies with names like Luggage Forward and Virtual Bellhop will pick up and deliver bags to a destination, bypassing the airline baggage system altogether.

Prices vary depending on a bag’s weight, destination and shipping time.

Luggage Forward charges $103, for example, to ship a medium-size bag weighing up to 40 pounds from New York to Los Angeles in five days. Overnight delivery costs $201.

Other companies let customers drop off their suitcases at check-in centers far from the airport.

Baggage Airline Guest Services in Orlando, or Bags Inc. for short, has agreements with the major airlines to allow passengers to print boarding passes,

check in and drop off their luggage for domestic flights at a variety of locations

including the Disney resorts and hotels in Orlando.

The price is $10 a person, and the service cuts time only on the trip out.

Go to www.aa.com/aadvanceBagCheck for a list of participating hotels and cruise lines.

HYATT Hotels is working with Bags Inc. to establish drop-off stations in its hotels in Denver,

Seattle, San Diego, Boston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa by the end of the year.

Fliers don’t have to be staying at one of the hotels to use the service.

Bags Inc. said using its service won’t increase the odds that a bag would be lost,

even though more people may be handling it,

because the company has direct access to airline reservation systems and typically delivers bags to airports at times when crowds are diminished.

Then there’s the option of not taking toiletries at all.

Travelers who decide to pick up their cologne or nail polish after landing can log onto www2.bcbsmo.com/pharmacy_finder/PharmacyFinder.asp to find stores by zip code.

And many hotels, including the Omni chain and Wyndham,

have begun stocking extra toiletries for customers who arrive without supplies.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has reinstituted its Luggageless Travel program,

a laundry and storage service for guests staying at the same hotel four or more times a month.

For passengers whose major concern is avoiding lost bags,

picking up a sample-size tube of Colgate at the destination,

is likely to be far more attractive than checking a bag.

In London, in the days following the strict new security rules,

amid the chaos of canceled flights and stranded passengers,

tens of thousands of bags were reportedly misplaced.

In the United States, mishandled baggage complaints were growing before the latest terror threat emerged, increasing to 6.04 for every 1,000 passengers last year from 4.91 in 2004,

according to the Department of Transportation.

After her suitcase didn’t arrive on a trip from her home city, Houston, to Fort Myers, Fla.,

last month, Ava Jean Mears, 79, had to borrow something to sleep in from a friend she was visiting.

“I saw them load my suitcase onto the flight,” said Ms. Mears,

who spotted her bright blue bag as she watched the baggage handlers from her window seat on AirTran.

“I knew it was going somewhere. I don’t know what happened to it.”

Fortunately, AirTran quickly corrected its mistake. Ms. Mears’s bag was found and delivered to her friend’s doorstep in Naples, Fla., the next morning. And she returned the borrowed nightie.