From Bloomberg BusinessWeek, a video about what happens to airline luggage that is not ever claimed by its owners. Turns out it is all bought by the Unclaimed Baggage Center, a sort-of thrift store in Scottsboro, Alabama.
They have been in business since 1970 and purchase unclaimed luggage sight unseen from the airline, train and bus industries. 0.5% of all luggage and checked baggage is lost at the airport, but the airline eventually gets it to the correct owner. Personally, we’ve got a pretty good track record so far, though this summer when we flew to Reno, we had to keep track of 17 (!) pieces of luggage in the airport.
Once the Unclaimed Baggage Center gets the luggage, they sort through it to find what to sell, clean, donate, or throw away. There were some pretty crazy items that they had, including a $60,000 Rolex and a UNICYCLE!!?
There’s only the one store, and they don’t sell anything online, but still, I’m not sure about their claim that they are a “bucket list” location! They’re certainly not on my travel bucket list (at least not yet!). I double-checked and Scottsboro is in Jackson County, Alabama, which I’ve already been to as well!
What about you? Have you ever lost your luggage, or visited the Unclaimed Baggage Center?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
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