Talking About a Revolution
It's about time for a luggage revolution. The last significant development was the now-ubiquitous roller bag, invented some 15 years ago by a Northwest Airlines pilot. No telling how many backs and shoulders were saved. But bags are still unwieldy, still annoying, and they still get lost.
Especially garment bags. Long, wide, and flat, the traditional fold-it-in-half garment bag is a hassle to carry, and too big to fit in an airplane's overhead bin. We all know what happens to checked luggage - it ends up in Ohio when you need it in Florida.
A few companies are offering innovative solutions for those who need to travel with a suit or a dress. Instead of folding the garment bag in half and attaching a strap, Virginia-based SkyRoll rolled it up; the SkyRoll ($99) garment bag lies flat on the floor for hanging clothing, then wraps around the core bag - which holds toiletries and shoes and such - making a tight, easy-to-carry cylinder. The only drawback, according to some consumer Web sites, is the difficulty in getting into the bag on short notice, when hunting for a book or passport, for instance. To compensate, the company designed the Skyroll on Wheels ($150). Now the garment bag wraps around a more traditional wheeled suitcase, but the suitcase has a lid on the top for easy access.
Victorinox, the makers of the Swiss Army Knife, solved the bulkiness problem more simply by de signing a tri-fold bag ($250). The bag bends suits and dresses three times, and is held together with a strap. Easy to carry, the bag is also small enough to fit beneath an airplane seat.
Sometimes our gear and clothing are too hefty to be carried onboard, and we must consign the luggage to the hold, at which point there's a one in 100 chance, according to Delta Airlines, that it will get lost by the airline. To handle that problem, baggage-maker Tumi installs a plate on every bag it makes. The plate is inscribed with a 20-digit serial number registered to the bag's owner, as well as a telephone number. If the misdirected bag is found, the finder is expected to call the phone number and read off the serial number to arrange a pick-up. The system is clever when it works, but depends on too many people to be foolproof.
Delta is going the high-tech route, with plans for radio frequency identification tags. Instead of the barcode system airlines use now, the airline will embed tiny RFID transmitters into the luggage tags handed out at the luggage check. When a worker sweeps a stack of luggage with a special scanner, each tag will respond to the signal with its destination information, hopefully ensuring it will get on the right plane. Currently, Delta loses about $100 million a year on lost bags. The system will require about two years and $25 million to get in place. It should launch sometime in 2007. But hey, I can wait.
