This Video Shows Your Luggage's Journey From Check-In to Plane

Frequent flyers know the drill. They check in at their airline's kiosk of choice, and often drop off a bag or two of luggage that won't quite fit in an overhead bin.

But what exactly happens to those bags when they get dropped off hours before a flight? How do the baggage handlers ensure that a person's bag makes it on the proper flight? 

It all comes down to the baggage tag, according to this video from the Smithsonian Channel. Baggage tags include a passenger's name and final destination, but they also include valuable pieces of information most passengers take for granted or completely ignore. There's a 10-digit barcode that clues the airline into a passenger's 3-digit airline code, a 6-digit number that's only found on a particular piece of luggage. The final number is single number that clues other baggage handlers into certain messages, like whether or not the luggage is of high priority or not.