It’s nothing short of tragic: you spend months planning a dream vacation, weeks shopping for that perfect swimsuit and matching flip flops, and hours packing your suitcase. Then you arrive at your sunny destination only to find that the your suitcase didn’t make it. Perhaps it’s sitting on a tarmac somewhere or in a lost and found in Dubuque. And there you are: swimsuitless and forced to spend valuable vacation time trying to track down your bag or shopping for tourist-priced replacements for all your stuff.

The silver lining: your airline must refund your checked bag fee thanks to DOT regulations that went into effect last year. And if you have travel insurance, you’ll get reimbursed for the stuff you need to purchase while waiting for your luggage to turn up.

How to keep a disaster like lost luggage from ruining your whole trip? It’s simple: use the buddy system. If you’re traveling as a couple or as a group, split half of your stuff between suitcases. Pack a day or two worth of essentials in large Ziploc bags and put them in your travel companion’s suitcase. Reserve a bit of space in your own so that he or she can do the same. Now if your bag ends up in Dubuque, Timbuktu, or Narnia, at least you’ve still got half your gear and your trip is saved!