Does the baggage check-in time affect the speed of its arrival at the airport?

Those moments after the plane lands may seem longer than the flight itself. Whether you’re running to catch your next connecting flight or eager to get to your hotel after a long day, the last thing you want is a long wait for your bag to arrive at baggage claim. But is there a way to guarantee that your bag will be among the first to reach the luggage belt?

According to the travel website Smarter Travel, many people believe that the bags that are checked in first are the last ones to be unloaded from the plane. In some cases, the timing of delivery of the bag may slightly affect the speed of its arrival. But the truth is much more complicated than that.

On wide-body aircraft, baggage distribution depends almost entirely on the weight balance within the aircraft, and not on the baggage check-in time. The bags are collected inside huge boxes, each of which contains a large number of bags that can be transported as one unit. Before take-off, these boxes are weighed and arranged inside the baggage hold to ensure the plane is balanced.

That is, the location of your bag inside the plane depends on the weight of the box and the plane’s need to distribute the load, and not on the time you hand it over. As for international flights, the bag’s arrival time is not only affected by the order of unloading, but also by the security and customs inspection processes. Your bag may be subject to further security inspection, which delays its appearance, even if it was one of the first bags to be removed from the plane.

On small-body aircraft, luggage is carried individually instead of in boxes. In this case, the bags are first collected in a waiting area before being transferred to the aircraft. If you drop your bag in early, it may be at the back of the storage area, making it the last to be loaded onto the plane, and therefore unpacked first upon arrival.

But in the end, there is no fixed rule that determines the order in which bags are taken out.

How do you get your bag faster?

Passengers in first or business class often get a “priority” sticker on their bags, meaning their bags are unpacked before others. But the result is not always guaranteed, as the accuracy of compliance with this policy varies between airlines.

Some airlines also offer a time guarantee for the arrival of luggage, but the cheapest and safest way to avoid all this waiting is to travel with your carry-on bags only. In this way, you completely avoid waiting for luggage or worrying about losing it, and you will be the first to leave the airport.