You drop your bag on the scale, watch the check-in agent slide that ribbon of sticker through the handle and press a button to send it jerkily down a conveyor and through a rubber curtain.
That’s the last time most of us think about our baggage at the airport. After that it’s all about which line is quickest for security, and whether the TSA guy is going to call you out over the toiletries you didn't put in a plastic bag.
But that bag you paid yet more cash to check has its own path to follow. To reach your plane at the same time you do, it flies through the bowels of the airport on a roller coaster ride that would make Six Flags jealous. It covers miles of underground tunnels, rolls through scanning machines, and encounters friendly robots.
Like with all migrations, not everyone makes it. Out of the 3.2 billion bags the global flying public hands over each year, airlines lose, misplace, or steal more than 20 million. You'll feel better when you hear the number of mishandled bags fell to an all-time low in 2015, despite increasing passenger numbers.
For that, you can thank swanky new tech like RFID tags, better tracking, and tricked out robots, all which are better than ever at making sure you don't have to spend your beach vacation in a borrowed swimsuit. Here’s a look behind the scenes at this evolving, unseen journey.
