I’m an ex-flight attendant – the 3 packing mistakes that risk ruining your hols

A FORMER flight attendant has revealed the biggest packing mistakes that holidaymakers make which could ruin your trip.

They shared their top tips on a forum on Reddit about how to make sure your suitcase doesn’t get lost or broken when going on holiday.

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Here are the top three tips the ex-cabin crew worker said all families should follow.

1. Put your contact details both inside and outside your bags

They said: “Put your contact information into every single bag you are checking, in every exterior pocket as well as interior.

“Bags can get torn to bits in the machines that move the bags, the conveyor belts can tip them to the ground, and more. Better they have a way to contact you.”

The best things to put as your contact information are your name and phone number – but leave off your address, experts have warned, in case your suitcase is stolen with your keys in it.

2. Don’t put fragile items at the bottom of your bag

Another tip the former flight attendant gave was how to pack valuable or fragile items.

They explained: “Fragile items need to go in the center of the suitcase, not the bottom or the top.

“That way, if your bag is loaded standing or laying down in the cargo hold, your fragile items have a chance of making it to the destination.”

Another airport worker said another cheeky way to protect your fragile items is to get a fragile sticker for your suitcase, so staff know to be extra careful with it.

3. Take off all your previous baggage tags

The final tip from the former cabin crew member said to take off all the old tags from your previous tips.

They explained: “Get rid of all of the past trip zebra strips on your luggage. We get it, you’ve been to other places in the world.

“Don’t make the baggage handlers job any harder by having to figure out which tug to send your bag to.”

Not only that, but they said the more tags there are, the more likely it could be damaged in transit.

They added: “That is stuff the conveyor belts can grab and destroy your bag. Don’t use yarn or ribbon either. Same reason.”

Here are some other packing tips from flight attendants.

And we’ve rounded up some of the best suitcases for your holidays this year.

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