A reader requested me a query that I figured would make an fascinating matter of dialog, as I’m curious to listen to what OMAAT readers assume. If you’re in an airport lounge, do you permit your baggage unattended at any level? If that’s the case, underneath what circumstances?
Unattended baggage in a lounge are a difficult matter
Sometimes once we’re at airports, we’re advised to not depart our baggage unattended. That makes excellent sense, because you don’t need anybody tampering together with your baggage. On some US-bound flights, you’ll even be requested particular safety questions, like whether or not your baggage have been unattended at any level.
In the event you have been sitting within the gate space and wished to get one thing to eat or drink, you’d virtually actually take your belongings with you, moderately than leaving them unattended? Do completely different guidelines apply in airport lounges, although? In any case, should you watch folks in airport lounges, virtually nobody will take their bag with them once they go to get one thing on the buffet or bar.
For that matter, the logistics can be sophisticated, particularly because you usually want two arms to serve your self meals or drinks, so baggage can be falling over, and so on.
So I feel it’s vital to discover a cheap center floor. Admittedly some would possibly say “effectively then aren’t you mendacity should you’re requested about your belongings being unattended and say no?” I imply, type of. The query is so past foolish.
Each time I’m going via an airport safety checkpoint, I’ve a short second the place the bag isn’t in my possession and I can’t see it, so I suppose the trustworthy reply would virtually at all times be {that a} bag hasn’t been in my possession always. However I additionally don’t actually need to cope with the results of admitting that.
My method to leaving baggage unattended in lounges
With the above out of the way in which, what’s my method concerning leaving baggage unattended in lounges? There are a number of concerns, and admittedly they largely come all the way down to elements like what kind of a lounge it’s, and the way crowded it’s. Right here’s my common take:
- I’ll depart my bag unattended in nearly any lounge after I’m going to get some meals or one thing to drink, assuming I don’t need to stroll too far; nevertheless, I’ll at all times do what I can to look at my bag as a lot as attainable
- I’ll at all times attempt to preserve my ID and pockets in my pocket when leaving my bag unattended, and I additionally place my bag zippers in a particular approach (so I can inform if somebody tampered with them), simply to be on the protected facet
- If I’m going to the restroom briefly, I’ll depart my bag unattended, assuming nobody round me offers me a bizarre vibe
- If I’m leaving for an prolonged time period, wish to take a bathe or to hang around in a nap room, then I at all times take my bag with me
- My willingness to go away my bag unattended additionally varies vastly primarily based on the kind of lounge and the place it’s; I really feel rather more comfy leaving my bag unattended in Singapore Airways’ The Non-public Room Singapore than within the Turkish Airways Lounge Miami (which is a Precedence Go lounge)
Whereas we’re on the subject of this, it boggles my thoughts how some lounges simply have baggage storage areas that don’t have any locks, just like the Turkish Airways Lounge Miami. Critically, how is that this a good suggestion for anybody?
Backside line
Whereas it’s a finest follow to have your private belongings in your possession at an airport, it’s not at all times sensible. In any case, you don’t see most individuals in airport lounges taking their bag with them each time they go as much as the buffet. I feel there’s a cheerful center floor method to take, although I’m curious how others method this.
What’s your method to leaving baggage unattended in airport lounges?
