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Example of IATA airport code printed on a baggage tag, showing DCA (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport).

Bag tags, also known as baggage tags, baggage checks or luggage tickets, have traditionally been used by bus, train and airline companies to route passenger luggage that is checked on to the final destination. The passenger stub is typically handed to the passenger or attached to the ticket envelope: a) to aid the passenger in identifying their bag among similar bags at the destination baggage carousel; b) as proof—still requested at a few airports—that the passenger is not removing someone else's bag from the baggage reclaim hall; c) as a means for the passenger and carrier to identify and trace a specific bag that has gone astray and was not delivered at the destination.

The carriers' liability is restricted to published tariffs and international agreements.

History[link]

Invention[link]

The first "separable coupon ticket" was patented by John Michael Lyons of Moncton, New Brunswick on June 5, 1882. The ticket showed the issuing station, the destination and a consecutive number for reference. The lower half of the ticket was given to the passenger, while the upper half, with a hole at the top, was inserted into a brass sleeve and then attached to the baggage by a strap.^[1][2]

At some point, reinforced paper tags were introduced. They are designed to not detach as easily as older tags during transport.

Warsaw Convention[link]

The Warsaw Convention of 1929, specifically article 4, established the criteria for issuing a baggage check or luggage ticket. This agreement also established limit of liability on checked baggage.

Previous bag tags[link]

Prior to the 1990s, airline bag tags consisted of a paper tag attached with a string.

The tag contained basic information:

• Airline/carrier name
• flight number
• 6 digit code; at one point it was 5 and later 10
• name of airport of arrival

These tags became obsolete as they offered little security and were easy to replicate.

Current bag tags[link]

Current bag tags include a bar code. These bag tags are printed using thermal or barcode printers that print on an adhesive paper stock. This printed strip is then attached to the luggage at check in. This allows for automated sorting of the bags to reduce the number of misrouted, misplaced or delayed bags. The limitations of this technology was apparent at Denver International Airport when a fully automated cart-based system significantly delayed the airport's opening. United Airlines announced in August 2005 that the cart-based system at Denver was to be scrapped. While the inability to reliably read all bar-coded tags in the Denver installation was a part of the problem, it was one of several technical reasons for the delayed opening. Nevertheless, automated sorting of baggage using laser scanner arrays, known as automatic tag readers, to read bar-coded bag tags is standard at major airports.

For flights within the European Union, bag tags are issued with green edges. Passengers are eligible to take these bags through a separate "Blue Channel" at Customs.

Bar codes can not be automatically scanned without direct sight and undamaged print. Forced by reading problems with poorly-printed, obscured, crumpled, scored or otherwise damaged bar codes, some airlines have started using radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded in the tags. In the US, McCarran International Airport has installed an RFID system throughout the airport. Hong Kong International Airport has also installed an RFID system. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is trying to standardize RFID bag tags. There is a somewhat higher probability of reading RFID tags automatically. Physically, however, RFID tags are not more robust than barcode tags.

Identifications[link]

The term license plate is the official term used by the IATA, the airlines, and the airports for the 10-digit numeric code on a bag tag issued by a carrier or handling agent at check-in. The license plate is printed on the carrier tag in bar code form and in human-readable form, as defined in Resolution 740 in the IATA Passenger Services Conference Resolutions Manual (published annually by IATA). Each digit in a license plate has a specific meaning. Contrary to popular belief, the flight number is not encoded in the license plate on the carrier tag. The license plate is an index number linking a bag to a Baggage Source Message (BSM) sent by a carrier's departure control system to an airport's baggage handling system. It is the message that contains the flight details and passenger information, thus enabling an automated baggage handling system to sort a bag automatically once it has scanned the bar code on the carrier tag. Thus these two things are essential for automated sorting of baggage. Note that the human-readable license plate may contain a 2-character IATA carrier code instead of an IATA 3-digit carrier code. For example, BA728359 instead of 0125728359, but the bar code will always be the full 10 digits (0125728359 in the example - 125 and BA being, respectively, the IATA 3-digit code and IATA 2-character code for British Airways). The first digit of a 10-digit license plate is not part of the carrier code. It can be in the range 0 to 9: 0 for interline or online tags, 1 for fallback tags (pre-printed or demand-printed tags only for use by the local baggage handling system if it cannot receive BSMs from a carrier's departure control system due to a fault in the latter or in communication between it and the baggage handling system, as defined in IATA Recommended Practice 1740b) and 2 for Rush tags. The purpose of numbers in the range 3 to 9 as the first digit of the 10-digit license plate is undefined by IATA but can be used by each carrier for its specific needs (commonly used as a million indicator for the normal 6-digit tag number).^{[citation needed]}

Besides the license plate number, the tag also has:

• Name of airport of arrival
• Departure time
• IATA airport code of airport of arrival
• Airline code and flight number
• Name of passenger identified with the baggage (last name, first name)

References[link]

Look up bag in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A bag is a non-rigid container.

Types of flexible containers[link]

• Antistatic bag, used for shipping electronic components
• Bag-In-Box
• Bin bag, garbage bag, or trash bag
• Book bag
• Bulk bag, a name for a flexible intermediate bulk container
• Burn bag
• Diplomatic bag
• Duffel bag
• Handbag, purse
• Messenger bag
• Money bag
• Paper bag
• Plastic bag
• Popcorn bag
• Satchel (bag)
• Sling bag, worn over the shoulder
• Shopping bag
  • Plastic shopping bag
  • Reusable shopping bag
• Thermal bag
• Tote bag
• Travel bag or suitcase

Other[link]

• Airbag, vehicle safety device
• Bag (puzzle), logic puzzle
• Bag knot
• Paper Bag Records
• Punching bag, a piece of physical training equipment
• Multiset (mathematics, software engineering), bag — generalization of a set
• Perhaps-bag or netted sack
• Sleeping bag
• Tea bag
• Bag, Hungary, a village in Hungary

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Bag"
• All pages with titles containing "Bag"
• Bagger
• Bagg (disambiguation)
• Sack (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up tag in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Tag or tagging may refer to:

Identification[link]

• Pet tag, an ID tag worn by pets
• Ear tag, an ID tag worn by farm farmers
• Dog tag (military), an ID tag worn by military personnel
• A form of graffiti signature
• A vehicle registration plate
• A QR code is a mobile phone tag.

Computing[link]

• Tag (metadata), an index term assigned to a piece of information
• Tag URI, a unique identifier protocol used in internet technologies
• Tag (programming), a method for passing parameters to subroutines
• TAG (BBS), a bulletin board software program
• HTML tag, a component of the HTML programming language
• Knowledge tag, a type of meta-information that captures knowledge about an information resource
• Revision tag, a label for a specific revision of a project
• Tag system, a deterministic computational model
• Using a tag editor to edit the metadata of multimedia content
• The entries in tag files generated by ctags, indexes to identifiers in source code

Language and education[link]

• Tag (LeapFrog), an interactive reading device
• Part-of-speech tagging, the process of marking up words as corresponding to a particular part of speech
• Tag question, a grammatical structure that converts a statement to a question
• Talented and Gifted program, a type of educational curriculum
  • School for the Talented & Gifted, Dallas, Texas
• Tree-adjoining grammar, a grammar framework

Sport[link]

• Tag (game), a playground game
• Tag out, a play in baseball
• Tag team, a type of wrestling

Media[link]

• Tag (advertisement), a Nike sportswear commercial
• Tag (barbershop music)
• Tag (comics), a Marvel character
• Tag: The Power of Paint, a computer game
• Tag Entertainment, a film production company
• TAG Recordings, a record label
• TAG Theatre Company, the longest established touring theatre company in Scotland
• "Tagged" (The Penguins of Madagascar episode)
• The Andy Griffith Show, a TV series
• Post-credits scene, a clip appearing at the end of some media
• Tag, the main character of "ModNation Racers".

Natural science[link]

• Protein tag, a biochemistry method
• Skin tag, a small benign tumour
• Theoretical and Applied Genetics, a scientific journal
• Trans Austria Gas Pipeline
• Triglyceride, a chemical compound
• Tumor-associated glycoprotein, a type of protein

Government/political organizations[link]

• Tactical Assault Group, an Australian counter-terrorism unit
• Tamils Against Genocide, a peace organization
• Treatment Action Group, an HIV/AIDS activist organization
• The German word for "day", found in the names of some German legislative bodies (such as Landtag), translating to English as Diet

Logistics[link]

• Kimball tag, formerly used to identify products to a stock control system
• RFID tag, current stock control technology
• A label used in electronic article surveillance to prevent shoplifting

Other uses[link]

• TAG Body Spray
• TAG Group, a Luxembourgian private holding company
• Electronic tagging, a form of non-surreptitious surveillance using a device attached to a person or vehicle
• Triage tag, a tool used to classify victims of mass casualty incidents
• Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, an international holding company
• Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway
• The Theatre Arts Guild, a community theatre
• Timneh African Grey, a parrot
• Topological abelian group, a concept in mathematics
• Transcendental argument for the existence of God
• Transparent Armor Gun Shield, an armor system
• Transportes Aéreos Guatemaltecos, a Guatemalan airline

See also[link]

• Tagger (disambiguation)
• Tagged, a social networking site
• Tagline, a form of advertising slogan

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.