Bag-retriever tags

The June ’09 “Departure Lounge” mentioned Magellan’s Retriever Tags. My husband and I have used them on our luggage for years. Fortunately, we have never had to put them to the test. On the other hand, we have taken advantage of the excellent service of Magellan’s (800/962-4943, www.magellans.com).

In 2007 one of our tags got chewed up by an airport conveyor belt. I called Magellan’s to reorder a pair of tags, and when I explained why I was reordering they offered to replace the tags free of charge, saying I was a good and loyal customer. Their catalog does mention their 100% guarantee, but this went way beyond that.

A note about using the tags — I have always included the name and telephone number of our local travel agent, along with a specific itinerary showing our hotels and their telephone numbers. I figure the more information we can provide, the more likely our bags will catch up with us.

Of course, if bags are lost in transit, the airline should ask for this information on the lost-bag form. I keep an additional copy of this itinerary in my camera case whenever we travel, to have it handy.

JANE B. HOLT

Hinesburg, VT