Luggage is a necessary evil in holidaying and traveling for business. Most of us will have had at least one suitcase-related disaster whilst at the airport, with research from Gocompare.com revealing that 7% of travelers have had a bag lost by their airline. Even if it’s just the tedium of waiting in line for the check-in desk, it can still drive us crazy when all we want is to get to our destination. Those are precious moments of your life that you will never recover.

Rest assured, however, we mere mortals aren’t the only ones; even celebrities and aristocracy aren’t immune to baggage gone astray. In 2006 the Duchess of Argyll lost a Victorian tiara and an emerald ring on the way to Glasgow. Rocker Alice Cooper managed to mislay props for his show including a giant syringe and fake blood in 2010. Reality star Kim Kardashian lost something of sentimental value in 2012 when her suitcase was tampered with and vintage sunglasses from her late father were taken.

Here are the latest gadgets that can relieve the stress of packing, lugging suitcases around or at worst, losing them:

Self-weighing luggage

High on most people’s most irritating airport hassles list has got to be overweight luggage. Sometimes you will get a lovely check-in administrator who will let you off the surcharge if you’re a little way over. Often, however, you will be stung for a charge when you least expect it. A happy solution is available though in the form of ‘Intelligent Luggage’. These self-weighing bags have a digital display telling you if you’re nearing your baggage allowance. Reasonably priced, you can buy a set of three for £99.99 (around $63).

Luggage tag makeover

British Airways is introducing a new type of luggage tag that it promises will take the bother out of check-in (a bold claim!). This re-usable tag talks to your smartphone. It has a digital display which has your flight details and barcode on it, which works with all the existing technology at the airport. The airline estimates that checking your bags in will take less than a minute. This should roll out for 2014, so keep an eye out.

Luggage charger

Whilst the launch of a new range of wheeled luggage isn’t usually worthy of newspaper inches, the internet is abuzz with the news of the ECBC Falcon Rolling Duffle Carry On. It measures 26” or 30”, has a fast pass for your electronic items, is made of tear-resistant ballistic material and skid plates. Plus, in a stroke of convenience genius, it has a portable recharging unit. So no longer will you be desperate for a plug in some far-flung airport.

Unlosable luggage

Just as your smartphone has a tracking system and can be found if stolen (with the right app downloaded), a new luggage attachment can do the same for your suitcase. This could be slightly frustrating if you end up watching your bags fly to a completely different destination after take-off, but at least you know where they are. The prototype is called Bag2Go and is from Airbus.

Robotic Suitcase

Like your very own luggage pet, this smart little gizmo of a suitcase will follow you around the airport. There are three sensors in the ‘hop!’ case which are picked up by your phone. The suitcase follows the signal from your phone using caterpillar tracks that propel it along after you. If it gets lost then it will stop and lock itself and send a message to your phone (if only this was applicable to small lost children as well). This is in the very early stages of development, having been picked up by James Dyson (of vacuum fame) but keep an eye out for it in the future.

Author: This article was written by Caroline – a travel and tech enthusiast who has lost her suitcase one too many times!