SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (NewsNation) — Have you ever wondered what happens to unclaimed luggage?
After 90 days, if no one claims the luggage, it’s sold to an unclaimed baggage center where the items inside are resold. If the passenger’s bag is truly lost, airlines pay out a claim to the passenger.
Sonni Hood at the Unclaimed Baggage store in Scottsboro said they welcome over a million guests every year. The shop offers major discounts on everything that they acquire.
Hood said their rare, one-of-a-kind shop is “kind of a bucket list destination” for folks.
The bottom line is, if you don’t grab your bag at the airport, the airlines sell it.
But luggage doesn’t go unclaimed very often. In fact, 99.5% of bags are reunited with their owners.
But with millions of passengers flying every single day, there’s a lot of luggage that’s never reunited with its owners. And Unclaimed Baggage workers said they’ve seen some pretty wild items.
“To me the most shocking thing we’ve ever unpacked was a live rattlesnake,” Hood said. “That was back in the ’90s. We have found real human shrunken heads, suits of armor.”
Hood said the shop has something for everyone, and it restocks with 7,000 items every day.
It has everything from wedding dresses, diamonds and sports gear to all types of clothing and even electronics.