New Report Details Trends and Top Items Found in Abandoned Luggage
SCOTTSBORO, Ala., April 1, 2024 — Have you ever wondered what gets left behind in travelers’ lost or abandoned luggage? Your curiosity ends here. The first-ever Unclaimed Baggage “Found Report,” released today, offers a comprehensive overview of the curious, unusual and most valuable items found in the orphaned luggage of air travelers in 2023, providing a time capsule into last year’s traveling trends.
With more than 850 million passengers making the trip to 30,000 feet in 2023, less than 0.05% of their bags don’t make the journey with them. Following a rigorous 90-day search initiated by airlines to locate the rightful owners or provide compensation, bags land at Unclaimed Baggage, where lost treasures are donated, recycled or sold to eager shoppers.
Released today, the inaugural Found Report delves into the analysis of the over two million items that found their way to the renowned Unclaimed Baggage store. The report details:
The 10 Most Frequently Found Items
The 10 Most Expensive Things Found
The Top 40 Most Fascinating Finds (including two live snakes, an Ethiopian Begena, a funeral casket key and a 13.3’ women’s pole vault)
2023 Travel Trends; and
Travel Tips & Tricks: How to Not Lose Your Luggage
This comprehensive review not only satisfies the innate curiosity of readers eager to unzip lost treasures but also highlights year-defining and emerging trends in fashion, popular brands and media consumption habits.
"These bags are a glimpse into 2023. From the surge in Taylor Swift t-shirts to an array of Nintendo Switch games and Stanley water bottles, each item our team uncovered tells a story of its own," said Jennifer Kritner, Vice President of Retail and Company Culture at Unclaimed Baggage.
The Found Report underscores the ever-changing preferences and lifestyles of travelers nationwide. “Each bag is like a time capsule,” says Bryan Owens, CEO of Unclaimed Baggage. “Twenty years from now, we can look back at the Found Report and see what people packed in 2023. It’s an exciting and curious way to take a snapshot of our culture.”
Bryan’s father, Doyle Owen, founded Unclaimed Baggage in 1972 with a borrowed pickup truck, a $300 loan and a one-of-a-kind idea. Since then, Unclaimed Baggage has launched an online store, expanded their charitable partnerships and created the enchanting Unclaimed Baggage Museum. The Found Report represents the newest expansion of Unclaimed Baggage as the experts and leaders in all things lost luggage.
“The items discovered in unclaimed bags are endlessly fascinating. You never know what you are going to find!” says Bryan Owens.
The inaugural edition of Unclaimed Baggage’s annual report can be found here: https://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/blogs/news/the-2023-found-report.
About Unclaimed Baggage
Located in Scottsboro, Alabama, Unclaimed Baggage is a one-of-a-kind retail store and the country’s only merchant of unclaimed and lost airline baggage and its contents. Unclaimed Baggage offers a treasure trove of goods that airlines have been unable to reunite with their former owners. The store has made national news for its ever-changing array of unique items from around the world, all sold at an incredible value. As part of its commitment to service and generosity, the company created the Reclaimed for Good foundation which has given millions of dollars’ worth of product and profit to meet needs around the globe.
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Media Contact:
Lauren Briggs, A. Larry Ross Communications
972-267-1111