At first glance, adding a ribbon, strap, or extra tag to your suitcase seems like a smart travel hack. After all, you want your bag to stand out on the baggage carousel, right? Unfortunately, what many travelers don’t realize is that these small accessories can actually create big problems behind the scenes and airline staff quietly wish passengers would stop using them.

The hidden reality of automated baggage systems

Modern airports rely heavily on automated baggage handling systems. After you check in your suitcase, it doesn’t travel gently from one person to another. Instead, it moves at high speed along conveyor belts, scanners, rollers, and sorting machines designed to read barcodes and route bags efficiently.

Loose items like ribbons, straps, and dangling tags can easily get caught in this machinery. When that happens, the system may stop entirely or eject the bag from the normal flow. This leads to delays, manual inspections, or worst-case scenarios—your suitcase missing the flight altogether.

From the airline’s perspective, these accessories are not helpful identifiers. They’re hazards.