Swifty merch and toilet seats: The priciest and wackiest unclaimed items found in 2024
- Unclaimed Baggage, a store in Alabama, resells and repurposes lost luggage, revealing travel trends and unusual items.
- Trending items in 2024 included Taylor Swift merchandise, Stanley tumblers, athleisure wear, and pet accessories.
- Expensive lost items included a diamond ring, a Rolex watch, and a Louis Vuitton suitcase.
While airlines are pretty good at reuniting passengers with their lost luggage – albeit a stressful experience – some lost bags simply never get returned and find a new home instead.
Of those that are well and truly lost, many wind up at Unclaimed Baggage, a store in Scottsboro, Alabama that specializes in the recovery, resale and repurposing of travelers' lost stuff.
"The world of lost luggage is full of stories to ponder and surprises to behold – some more unexpected than others," Unclaimed Baggage CEO and President Bryan Owens said in a statement.
Every year, Unclaimed Baggage releases a report of its most interesting and most frequently found items. The report's authors say travel trends are easy to spot when you rifle through lost luggage.
"We say every bag tells a story, and whether its contents reveal a personal journey or contribute to bigger cultural narratives, the ‘Found Report’ gives them a voice," Owens said.
Most common lost luggage finds in 2024
According to the report, many travel and pop culture trends filter down to how people travel. With Taylor Swift's Eras tour in full swing last year, Unclaimed Baggage reported an uptick in sparkly clothes, friendship bracelets, and concert merchandise in the inventory.
Other trends included social media favorites like Stanley tumblers and a growing number of packing cubes.
Apparel trends are also apparent, with Lululemon and other athleisure brands common in the store's finds.
The report said people also seem to be traveling with their pets more and more, with pet accessories being a more common sight in lost luggage.
Since 2024 was a presidential election year, Unclaimed Baggage said there was more political apparel than usual as well.
Most expensive lost items in 2024
Unsurprisingly, jewelry accounted for the most expensive lost items. Among the finds in 2024 were an 18-karat white gold solitaire diamond ring valued at $39,000 and an 18-karat gold Rolex President Oyster Perpetual Day-Date watch valued at $20,000.
Someone also mislaid their $10,000 Louis Vuitton Horizon 55 Rock Climbing in Chalk Taurillon Monogram Suitcase. Other pricey items included designer clothes and tech gadgets.
Strange items lost in 2024
The report from Unclaimed Baggage said the store often takes in unexpected oddities, and 2024 was no different. Among the weird things people left behind were a full sheet of uncut $2 bills, a toilet seat, silicone butt pads, a rattlesnake preserved in a jar of whiskey and an antique French guide to performing exorcisms.
Packing tips from Unclaimed Baggage
If you don't want your stuff to wind up at Unclaimed Baggage, the store has some tips.
Buying a suitcase in a color other than black or putting an identifiable marker on the outside of your luggage will help you find it more easily at baggage claim.
Keeping your jewelry on the plane or getting a more flexible wedding band (maybe silicone instead of gold) to travel with will help keep your altitude-swollen fingers comfortable and your jewelry safe.
If you do take off your jewelry or move any other valuables out of your bags when you travel, Unclaimed Baggage recommends getting in the habit of making a quick sweep of your seat area before you deplane.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for Paste BN. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.