Okay here are some of my questions....
6) Is there anything special we should be taking with us other than the usual vacation items?
Something else I just thought of, is some of the smaller plastic zip ties, if you dont have TSA locks, for your bags.Simply zip tie the zippers closed, when you drop your bags off, and it will keep the honest people honest. A car key or nail clipper will break the zip tie.On your luggage tags, mark your bags 1 of how ever many so when the porter or airport porter ulls your bags, he knows how many and which one.
Also, in your luggage in several places, put a sheet of paper with your name, address, phone number itinerary etc.If your luggage tags happen to get torn off, you can still id (and the airlines will also) your bags from the sheet inside.Any camera you take, take a pic of your luggage tag,or itinerary with your name on it, also, so if it gets lost, and someone scrolls thru the pics, they can id it also and return it.
1 Final thing (for the moment anyway) is something to make your luggage stand out.On the last day, in the terminal, with over 5000 bags, they all start to look alike after while, even though they are separated by colored tags.