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Topics: Travel
William Morgan
Anyone looking forward to a nice relaxing vacation to break these late winter blues should think twice before packing their belongings into a black, navy, or gray suitcase, a security expert has warned.
Black is by far the most popular suitcase color that jetsetters pick for their time away, with roughly 45 percent of travelers picking the shade for its nondescript appearance, according to recent research.
For similar reasons, navy and gray are the next popular color choices for luggage, with 30 and 25 percent of travelers going for suitcases in these understated colors - meaning that 95 percent of suitcases come in these three tones.
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We have already covered how travel theft specialists argue that wrapping your suitcase in plastic only lets criminals know that you have something worth protecting, but travel safety specialist Aran Dharmeratnam is now also arguing that the very color of your carry-on could be luring thieves in.
The expert told Metro that the first lesson he teaches clients is 'how to blend in to an environment', or at the very least, not to look like an 'easy target'.
"But thieves can also be skilled at blending in', he said. Explaining: "They will enter a venue dressed in an ordinary way aiming to appear unassuming, and then clock who has dropped their guard or who has luggage that’s easy to extract."
Paradoxically, picking a suitcase that blends in with 95 percent of all other luggage is the opposite of what you want. This is because a thief can simply grab your bag and blend into the crowd.
To understand why this is such an issue, imagine shouting in a busy airport, 'Hey! That person stole my bag, it looks just like that one there, and that one there, and that one there...'
Dharmeratnam added another dimension to this travel safety issue: "Dark luggage means as [a thief] walks away, they’re less likely to be spotted should the person suddenly get alerted to their bag being stolen."
This advice has been echoed by other travel experts ahead of the Spring rush, with former UPS adviser Ed Burnett telling the Independent that travelers should opt for the much less prevalent colors to keep their valuables safe.
He explained: "Bright colors are a deterrent. Thieves prefer anonymous black or navy bags because they can walk away with them without standing out. A neon green bag, for example, is a liability for a thief. If you yell, ‘Stop that man with the green bag,’ everyone sees him."
This issue has even been flagged by airlines, many of which are inundated each year with lost baggage claims. It is estimated that as many as 33 million pieces of luggage go missing each year, with millions never found.
Budget airline Ryanair even blamed these black, navy, and gray suitcases for difficulties in tracking down missing possessions, stating that '99.9% of the population' use these similar colors - making it even harder to track them down by their descriptions.
But this does not necessarily mean chucking all your luggage in the garbage, Dharmeratnam advised that you can just add a colorful strap to help it stand out from the crowd.