Costco Connection

Baggage c laim

with a zip Babes on a plane

FOX PORTRAIT STUDIOS

WHEN COSTCO MEMBERS Tim and Megan Cassidy decided to take a Celebrity cruise to the Caribbean through Costco Travel, it inspired a dream come true. The couple worked in real estate and talked of starting a home-based business, but had yet to find an idea that resonated. When they disembarked from the ship they beheld a sea of black luggage waiting to be claimed, and a concept was born.

“We saw all these people scrambling to find their own bags among many look-alikes,” says Tim. For many, it’s a frustrating and time-consuming experience.

Megan used her design skills to create iron-on emblems for people to apply to luggage to have it stand out in a crowd, and the result was Zippy Tags™ (www.zippytags. com). Custom designs can be ordered for an additional cost (“Our nephew asked us to do a label with a skull,” says Tim), and the Cassidys are in the process of talking to businesses about making tags with corporate logos.

The appliqués can be used on luggage, beach bags or pet carriers, and on most fabrics, although it’s not recommended for hard-shell luggage.—Steve Fisher

Have cards,
will travel

“THERE’S NO END end to the variety of situations that can spell disaster when traveling with your beloved offspring,” writes Costco member Sarah

Franklin. She should know. By the time he was a year old, Franklin’s son, Jonah (with his mom and dad), had already clocked 36 hours of international flights and four trips across the Atlantic.

The Seattle-based British-born writer decided to share her and others’ hair-raising yet hilarious accounts of traveling with children in a collection of stories, How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel (Seal Press, 2008). Tales such as “King Henry and the Field of Frogs” and “Mosquitoes Be Damned” will help others put their own family travel horror stories into perspective.

“[My] experiences made me hungry to hear how others had fared,” says Franklin. Was she alone? “The women in this collection answered with a resounding ‘no!’ ”—T. Foster Jones

IN AUGUST 2007, travelers on a Costco Travel Kirkland Signature™ Princess Cruises Alaska Cruise Tour shared an impromptu “show us your card” moment under a section of the Alaska pipeline in Fairbanks. Shown here are just a few of the 227 card-carrying Costco members who signed up for the 14-day trip.

We want to hear from you

IF YOU HAVE a note, photo or story to share (it should be about Costco or Costco members in some way), you can send it to “The Member Connection,” The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088, or e-mail to connection@costco.com with “The Member Connection” in the subject line. Submissions cannot be acknowledged or returned.