A bar code is used to identify a traveler's luggage, permitting the luggage to be tracked and, if desired, to be delivered to the traveler's ultimate destination (e.g., a hotel). If the traveler is traveling on an airline, a corresponding bar code is applied to the traveler's boarding pass. A bar code reader is used to read the boarding-pass bar code of each emplaning passenger; comparison of these bar codes with luggage bar-code data permits an alarm to be raised if each item of checked luggage is not matched by an emplaned passenger. The boarding-pass bar code may take the form of an integrated passenger identification code for use by, e.g., rental car companies, hotels, and the like.