Baggage handler reveals the best time to check in luggage if you want to avoid waiting – as he lifts the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes at the airport

Have you ever checked your bag in early hoping it would come out the other side first?

Well, you don’t have to worry about that, according to a baggage handler.

In a ‘Ask me anything’ thread on Reddit, Adam Tazul received several questions about the best time to check luggage to get it to its destination faster.

The British-based airport worker responded that there is no ideal time because everything generally gets mixed up.

One Reddit user joked: ‘Any tricks to getting your bags out first? For example, does the shape/size of the bag make a difference, or how early/late you check the bags?’

Adam’s response to this is that it is virtually “impossible” to tell because “the bags are mixed up.”

Another employee questioned the airman to see if there was any truth to their baggage theory.

They wrote: ‘I’m not sure if you’ll see this, but I have a theory that the sooner you check in, the lower your bag will be.

‘Then it’s loaded onto the plane and it’s now at the top of the pile. Upon arrival at the destination, the suitcase is unpacked again and placed at the bottom of the stack, which means that your suitcase is the last to be placed in the carousel.

‘Is there truth in this? I was curious because I just got back from a trip.’

Giving his opinion on the matter, Adam replied, “There is some truth in this, but it is not a hard and fast rule.

‘When dollies (trailers that we use to take bags from the terminal to the aircraft and vice versa) containing bags are picked up by the disaster team, they often get mixed up.’

In addition to check-in times, some Reddit users asked Adam about the best type of luggage to invest in.

The UK-based airport worker responded that there is no ideal time as everything generally gets mixed up (stock image)

From his experience of handling hundreds of bags a day, he replied: ‘The worst bags you can buy are those that don’t have wheels.

“At my airline, none of our holds have bins, so we have to manually stack the bags in each hold, and they can get quite long.

‘If your bag has at least two high-quality wheels, we can quickly roll them through the hold, which makes it easier for us.

‘Otherwise we have to throw the bags to stick to the planned times.

“My absolute least favorite bags are the ones with four wheels, but one of them is stuck, so we try to roll it down, but it just falls over after moving six inches.”

While some people put ‘fragile’ stickers on bags in the hope that they will be handled more carefully, Adam says this is another pointless measure.

He explained: ‘Some of us are tempted to treat [these bags] worse, but we never do that. Having a vulnerable label actually makes no difference.’

To protect valuable goods, Adam suggests a suitcase with “four good wheels, with soft lining on the inside and a hard outside.”

One Reddit user was concerned about employees stealing luggage, but Adam reassured them by saying that “it’s a big no-no.”

He added, “I’ve known some guys who got fired for trying so much.”

He also offered advice on making bags more visible on the baggage carousel, writing: ‘We see a lot of bags that look exactly the same going on the same flight.

‘A good way I’ve seen is to put your own label with your name and address on the bag so you can read it and make sure it’s yours. Other ways include using unique straps that wrap around the bags.”

A commenter left the topic of luggage and asked Adam about the health implications of his job and working for long periods in the holds of airplanes.

He admitted that it is a physically demanding job and that people considering this type of work should invest in knee pads.

The Brit revealed: ‘I’m 6ft tall and have to bend over in the hold.

“If you don’t have knee pads, your knees start to hurt A LOT. Even after a number of years of working, you can expect severe back problems, because you always have a bent back.

‘You become physically strong, but almost everywhere this comes at the expense of pain.’