Before You Go:
Make sure your carryon bag actually carries your essentials - an alternate outfit, a few toiletries you really need, and any necessary medications. Also, consider including this item that I've found to be a tripsaver on many occasions.
You may also want to purchase travel insurance to cover lost luggage.
When you book your ticket:
Avoid tight connections. Think you're running between gates to make that flight? So is your luggage.
Make the minimum number of connections
Every time there's a chance you may miss your plane, there's a chance for your luggage to go astray.
At the Airport:
Stand out in a crowd.This is one time when subtlety is a bad idea. Go for vivid colors and patterns. You may not look sophisticated at the airport, but how sophisticated would you look at that business meeting stark naked?
But even if you've found psychedelic 1960's fuchsia flower-power patterned luggage, add something unique to it. It's just your luggage luck that the only other person who ever bought that same set of bags will be on your flight, and neither of you will ever believe there could be another bag like yours. Wrong.
If you already have drab, could-belong-to-anyone luggage, dress it up with stickers. Avoid major sports teams and national emblems - these are both too common, and if some thief has a grudge, why let them choose your bag to steal rather than the more anonymous one next to it?
Tying a bright scarf, ribbon, or hair scrunchie onto the handle will work in a pinch, but those can get caught in luggage-handling equipment.
Want to go high-tech? Consider getting an electronic luggage locator which will beep and and flash lights if you're within 50 feet or so of your bag. You can find it here with other Gadgets for the Paranoid Traveler
Don't Believe All You See - Or Hear Greek airports sometimes deliver luggage from one flight to several carousels in succession. For example, at Heraklion Airport on Crete, the screens at the baggage carousels are not updated as often as a monitor bank in the adjacent area, so the screen will sometimes show one flight while the luggage belongs to another. If it doesn't seem like your luggage is appearing as indicated, do a quick check on all the other carousels.
New luggage? Save the sales tag
When you buy luggage, there is often a hang tag on it with a picture of the bag. Slip this into your wallet and you'll never have to wonder what the brand name was or if you had two outside zipper compartments or just one when it comes time to pick out what your lost bag looks like from the chart at the lost luggage desk.
Once it's lost, smile
Lost luggage often flocks together. If you've lost a bag, it's not uncommon that someone else will have lost one as well. Usually, there is not much the desk clerk can really do until the next plane arrives or new information comes in, but if you can be pleasant, you may be rewarded with more cooperation and maybe an extra phone call or two on your behalf. The yelling person next to you will be usually be ignored, or, worse, will receive a quick visit from security. Fill out the forms and go on to your hotel or next destination. At these moments, remember: most lost luggage is recovered in the first 24 hours.
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