Travelers are warned against discarding airline baggage tags carelessly. While fears of credit card exposure are unfounded, these tags do contain booking references and flight details. Aviation experts advise tearing through the barcode to protect personal information and prevent operational confusion. Responsible disposal is key for privacy and efficiency.
All these busy schedules, with the hustle and bustle of jobs and monotonous daily life, grabbing your bag, boarding a plane, and heading into new adventures to travel to your favourite destinations is one of the most surreal experiences.But those little baggage tags we all rip off and toss? They might hold more than we think.
Do airplane tags contain your sensitive information? THIS is the reason why you should tear them off vertically!(Photo via Canva)
The viral baggage tag warning
An Instagram video by Ariya recently went viral, urging travelers not to simply throw away airline baggage tags. She explained, “The tags that you get to put on suitcases, you should not just take them off and throw them away. Here’s why. You see, these barcodes contain all of your personal information. You might want to keep those, as your information is on them.
Your credit card information, your address, all of it is on it.
Don’t know how or if anybody has the capability to access it, but the world we live in.”However, aviation expert Amit Mittal pushed back on fears of credit card exposure, clarifying, “The barcode on your luggage tag does not contain your credit card information.” He noted it mainly holds a 10-digit License Plate Number (LPN) that points to the airline’s database, per the same Indian Express report.
What’s actually in the barcode?
Mittal broke it down further, the barcode typically encodes the LPN, flight number, destination airport code, and Passenger Name Record (PNR), which is a six-character booking reference. “The barcode itself is not a storage device of detailed personal data. It links to backend systems,” he said, as quoted in Indian Express.Scanners won’t reveal finances easily. At most, a smartphone scan might show a last name and PNR.
Even on booking sites, details like credit cards are masked, with CVV hidden and passports partially obscured, Mittal added.
Privacy Risks and Access Concerns
While secure overall, there’s a small caution. “Basic booking details could potentially be viewed if someone misuses the PNR and surname combination,” Mittal warned in the Indian Express piece. Tossing tags poses no threat to plane safety, but responsible disposal helps lessen littering and protects privacy.Old tags can also snag operations. “Leaving previous barcodes attached can confuse automated scanners, causing unnecessary system load or even baggage misrouting,” Mittal said.
How to dispose of flight tags
Mittal’s advice is simple, “Once you reach home or your hotel, remove the tag and tear vertically through the barcode. This makes it unreadable to optical scanners.” Shredding or marking out the PNR and name with a permanent marker works too, as shared in Indian Express.
