IStock Photo 9555506 © Arman Zhenikeyev

Luggage is never lost in Scottsboro, Alabama. The city of 15,000 is home to the Unclaimed Baggage Center, the only retail store in America that buys and sells orphaned suitcases from the airlines. The business draws over a million visitors each year. They sift through the loot, finding gems among the once-personal belongings. All of the merchandise, which ranges from bras to engagement rings, is 20 to 80 percent off the manufacturer’s price.

Fortunately, the odds are in your favor when it comes to not seeing your digital camera in an Alabama bargain bin. In 2008, 1 in 205.6 passengers on US airlines filed mishandled baggage reports, according to the US Department of Transportation. And even if you are one of the unlucky ones, there is a 98% chance your bags will eventually be returned to you. Suitcases are not considered unclaimed until 90 days have passed.

However, you’re not to blame if you fear the worst in the baggage claim area. Stories from friends, the media, and our personal luggage nightmares shadow air travel. Take the unfortunate fate of Professor Joel Richman, who unexpectedly died of heart disease at 74 on April 2, 2008, while flying British Air from Hong Kong to London. When his family came to pick up his belongings, they learned the airline had lost his luggage. Inside were his cell phone and address book—with all the numbers of people the family wanted to invite to his funeral.

Rosalind Wright, Book of Odds’ founding editor, experienced a bout of luggage misfortune with Continental Airlines during the 2007 holiday season. Just days before Christmas, her oldest daughter landed on a flight from Los Angeles to Newark to Boston, but her suitcase did not. When the luggage wasn’t on the next flight—or the next—Wright and her younger daughter went to the Continental Baggage Claim office and made a personal appeal. “The woman in charge was wonderful. It took five days but she found the bag—in San Antonio! We were so grateful, we came back with a bouquet.” Days later, the whole family flew on Continental to Rome. “They lost my younger daughter’s luggage for three days.”

It’s true that some US airlines, due to staffing and technology, are better than others when it comes to getting you and your baggage to the same place at the same time. According to a report (PDF) issued by the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, COMAIR, a Delta airlines subsidiary, holds the record for most mishandled luggage reports per customer at 1 in 110.9. The company with the least passenger complaints is Northwest Airlines, with 1 in 323.2. As for the other top names, the odds you’ll file a report at Delta, American, and Continental are 1 in 176.8, 1 in 189.6, and1 in 265.6, respectively. Lately, the Department of Transportation has been fining airlines for not complying with baggage reimbursement policies and other offenses. In September, 2009, Spirit Airlines was fined $375,000.

One unexpected consequence from hard economic times has been a decrease in lost luggage. As airlines began charging extra for second check-in bags and heavy suitcases, travelers started flying with less. Since the changes have been enacted, mishandled baggage claims have decreased from a rate of 6.81 per 1,000 passengers in the first quarter of 2008 to a 4.29 rate in the first quarter of 2009.

Despite the downturn, misplaced luggage is still a reality. Back in Alabama, the owners of the Unclaimed Baggage Center have found some amazing things inside lost bags, including a full suit of armor and a special camera designed for NASA’s Space Shuttle. They have opened a small museum dedicated to the oddities they discover. It includes ancient Egyptian artifacts, an eighteenth-century violin, and “Hoggle,” the dwarf gatekeeper from the Jim Henson movie Labyrinth.