Atomic dogmA

I’m no stranger to lost luggage so before I left for Canada I agreed (via the good folks at FMB) to review ReboundTAG, a microchip bag tag. Fortunately for me, my suitcase was not lost on this trip. Unfortunately for this review, my suitcase was not lost on this trip.

Lost Luggage by lopolis on Flickr

I received my ReboundTAG when I arrived in Calgary and tore open the instruction package. According to the company information sheet:

The patent-pending ReboundTAG Microchip Luggage Tab is a permanent, robust RFID tag [...] with a barcode and human readable ID number.  … We use a patented military-grade encapsulation to insure robustness [...] and a second microchip that allows RFID-enabled airports to automatically encode their own flight data onto the tags.”

The tag itself is definitely robust.  So robust, in fact, that I had a difficult time opening the twisty thing that allows you to attach the tag to your luggage.  But this is less a criticism of the product and more a harsh reality for arthritic hands.

For some reason my instinctive reaction was to hide the tag, to keep it private from prying public eyes.  But after some logical analysis* I realized that it was safer than my normal bag tag which contains my personal contact information.  In fact, ReboundTAG allows you to remain anonymous; which means that airlines will not be able to see your details and will only be able to send you messages through the ReboundTAG system. I also think the price is reasonable (£19.99 for a 3-year membership) with family and corporate discounts.

The website (www.reboundtag.com) is basic but functional.  Tag holders log into the Members Area to record personal details, tag status, register tags, purchase tags and enter travel itinerary.  Finders of lost luggage use the website to report found luggage and to contact the tag owner. Of course, this assumes that everyone has access to the internet and will make the effort to report your found luggage.

Had my luggage been lost, it would have been interesting to test the ReboundTAG system. In theory, it sounds fantastic. It’s kind of like drawing up a business contract for custom software.  You do it in the hopes that you’ll never need it.  But if things go wrong, you’ll be thankful that you did.

* No spreadsheets were harmed during the analysis of this product.

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PS: Muito obrigada to Alice, Penfold, daisyfae, Esta(!), Daddy P and KPX for their comments on A Rocky Mountain Afternoon.