You may have seen a viral TikTok recently about red baggage being loaded onto a plane first - if so, you're among more than 71 million people who have watched the original video.
The clip claims some airlines load red luggage first as those bags are easier to see and thus less likely to be accidentally left onboard. However, that would also mean the bags are unloaded last, so red bag owners would have to wait longer at baggage claim for them.
But actually, it's all a load of rubbish.
It would be extremely unlikely that airline or airport staff have the time to sort baggage by colour and then load it accordingly onto aircraft.
Losing luggage is very stressful and it is understandable people are excited by a potential way to decrease their chances of falling victim. But having a red bag is not one of them.
In a statement provided to Simple Flying, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) confirmed a 'red bag first' procedure does not exist and they believe the TikTok video was made "purposely to mislead or provide false information".
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines responded with a TikTok video labelling the red bag theory "nonsense".
So how about Aotearoa?
"While we might admire your choice of suitcase colour, it's not something we take into account when loading our aircraft," Air New Zealand general manager airports, Kate Boyer, told Newshub.
"To offer customers additional peace of mind, last year we rolled out a baggage tracking feature in the Air NZ app. This allows users to track the last recorded status of their bag as it makes its way through the airport processing system, onto the aircraft, and finally, arrives at its destination."
This is just another reminder to not trust everything you see on the internet, especially if it's in a viral social media post.
But while the colour of your bag won't change its likelihood of being left on a plane, you may want to choose any colour that isn't black if you want to make it easier to find if it does go missing. Multicoloured luggage straps or a brightly coloured name tag will also help it to stand out if it ends up amongst a whole bunch of other lost luggage.
