According to Wahlqvist, from the Scandinavian outdoor brand 'Db,' something that can make a huge difference for travelers is choosing a durable, hard-shell suitcase. This helps protect their belongings, "especially when bags get tossed around during handling."

"Packing smart helps too—using packing cubes and padded inserts keeps things organized and cushioned from impact," he told Bored Panda via email.

Meanwhile, we also asked what airports and airlines can do on their end to protect travelers' bags more. "Airports and airlines can improve this by investing in more modern baggage handling systems and training ground staff to handle luggage with care. Adding padding to high-impact areas (like conveyor belt edges) could also prevent some of the more common damage points."

Naturally, it's hard to stay positive when your luggage ends up missing or shows up broken when you land. "But having a well-packed carry-on with essentials (change of clothes, toiletries, valuables) gives you some breathing room while things get sorted. Travel insurance/buying from brands that offer a warranty that covers baggage issues can also ease the financial sting," Wahlqvist said.

"Emotionally, mindset matters too—focusing on the experiences you’re having, not the stuff you’re missing, helps keep the trip on track. If you can lean into the adventure and laugh about the mishap later, it becomes a story to tell, not just a frustration."

Wahlqvist suggested that travelers consider choosing bags with distinct designs or colors to help avoid mix-ups at the carousel. Meanwhile, something else that can give some added peace of mind is using tracking solutions like Apple AirTag, etc.

Wahlqvist was kind enough to share a few more pieces of advice with Bored Panda. For example, travelers should strive to pick the right bag setup. "For shorter trips or city breaks, a well-designed carry-on paired with an under-seat bag can eliminate the need to check luggage altogether—saving you time at baggage claim and reducing the risk of lost gear," he said.

"This streamlined approach means you can hit the ground running and spend more time exploring, not waiting around. Bonus tip: opt for bags with dedicated compartments to keep essentials like tech, toiletries, and snacks easily accessible during the journey."

Nobody should have their baggage damaged, delayed, or lost. It’s something that we wouldn’t wish on even our very worst frenemies. But the reality of the world is that mistakes can—and often do—happen.

The staff working at the airport and the airlines can make small mistakes throughout the process of your bags being scanned, tagged, and transported to and from the plane.

There are so many different moving parts when it comes to processing people’s luggage that there’s lots of room for error, no matter how talented and well-trained everyone is. Given a long enough timeframe, small accidents and baggage mishandling will happen. The only thing you can focus on is minimizing the frequency of these mistakes, not eradicating them altogether.

According to Poente Technical, the first step of baggage handling is checking it in. Each piece of your luggage is tagged with a unique identifier, including destination codes and routing information.

That way, your bags and suitcases can be tracked throughout the airport using automated systems.

Next, your tagged bags then make their way through the airport’s vast network of conveyor belts. The luggage is automatically scanned, sorted, and routed toward the flights it needs to be on. Naturally, each piece of baggage is carefully screened to ensure that they don’t contain any illegal items or dangerous materials.

Once your luggage is checked and deemed safe, it’s then loaded onto carts and transported to the airplane, where it’s placed in the cargo hold before takeoff. Something that the ground crew and airline staff need to keep in mind is the weight distribution of the baggage throughout the plane.

The entire process is reversed for planes that land, culminating in you picking your bags up from the reclaim area carousel.

Here’s the thing, though, even if every single person employed is well-paid, highly trained, highly motivated, skilled, and responsible, small mistakes can still happen. Human error is one aspect to think about. But even automated systems can break down at times, and your luggage can get damaged as it gets tossed around or stuck.

But the fact is, just like in any other part of the job industry, the staff employed at airports and airplanes aren’t always motivated, trained, or dedicated to doing their jobs to the very best of their ability.

Even if their jobs require a lot of responsibility, it’s a very human tendency to strive to do the least work possible. There are plenty of careful and disciplined baggage handlers working at airports around the world… but you’ve probably seen a few who couldn’t care less about their jobs. Some of them throw around suitcases and bags without a care in the world—like they’re playing a violent sport.

You look at the baggage sometimes being energetically tossed into the carousels, into carts, and into the cargo hold, and you secretly hope that your stuff is getting more respect.

According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, if your baggage is damaged, you should report this when you arrive at the airport. You’ll likely need to write up a report and put in a written claim to the airline ASAP. If your claim is accepted, the company may pay to repair your luggage, or they might provide you with a replacement suitcase.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Transportation notes that airlines are required to compensate passengers if their bags are damaged, delayed, or lost.

“Airlines are responsible for repairing or reimbursing a passenger for damaged baggage and/or its contents when the damage occurs while the bag is under the airline’s control during transportation. Airlines are not responsible for pre-existing damage to the bag or if the damage was caused by improper packing,” the DOT explains, adding that if the damage can’t be repaired, the airline will negotiate a compensation amount based on the value of your bag.

Have you ever had your luggage damaged, delayed, or completely lost when traveling by plane, dear Pandas? What happened? How bad was the situation? Did the airlines or airport compensate you for the incident?

What do you do to protect your baggage and your things while traveling, whether by plane, train, or bus? Feel free to share your nightmare travel stories in the comments.