I either lock or twist-tie my checked bags, primarily for either deterrence (figure it's an extra step to discourage pilferers-in-a-hurry) or as a signal of tampering. I don't expect the luggage to stay locked, necessarily, but if the lock or twist-tie is gone when I pick it up, I IMMEDIATELY check the contents in case I need to file a claim before I leave the airport. If there's a TSA sheet in the luggage, that's one thing. If there isn't and stuff has been disturbed, I want to be able to report it promptly.

By the way, I also use the twist-tie or a lock in a hotel, again as a discouragement. A determined thief won't be stopped, but the thief of opportunity may give it a pass.

thanks JJ...just the info I was looking for! I will definitely use the cable ties when I travel in a few weeks.

No I don't see any point in locking my luggage. The zippers are secure, they are not going to pop open.

I don't care if the bag gets searched. Reporting a theft of anything that I had in a checked bag would be a waste of time. There is not going to be anything valuable to someone else in it. Maybe some people have to-kill-for sneakers in their luggage, but not me. If some poor bastard wants to steal my pants he can have them. But that it not going to happen.

<<< The zippers are secure, they are not going to pop open. >>>

You'd be surprised how easy zips and catches come undone when roughly handled

I lock my suitcase just so that, as others have said, it makes it harder for a lazy or amateur thief to get into. If its a pro thief, I doubt much would stop them from getting into the bag.

Yes, I would be extremely surprised. Can't say it won't happen but the risk is very small with the quality of luggage that I have (and it is not so expensive that the luggage itself would be an object of theft). It is such an insignificant chance that I am willing to take it. This is not advice, just my view.

Locking your suitcase so no drugs or anything illegal can be put into the bag is a very good reason to lock or use ties.

A young girl had drugs put into her boogie board bag in Australia and it was found in Indonesia. She did not lock her bag. She is now in prison for life unless Australia can eventually get her released.

If your ties are cut off you know someone was in your bag. It is just a deterrent. If a thief or someone up to no good wants in your bag they will get in - but they will look in the bags that aren't locked first.

I always lock my suitcases with (TSA) locks . Decades ago, in the 70s and 80s, I didn't always lock my luggage. I've had things stolen from baggage handlers.

First, if someone wants to steal something of mine, then they had better work for it. I'm not handing it over on a silver platter. And some say they don't have anything valuable anyhow...well that may be true, but stolen items have to be replaced and it's not free to replace things. So, it's all valuable to me.

Secondly, there are baggage handlers who do go through stuff depending on where, in the world, you're traveling to. And they do steal. There was just a post, not long ago, on the Argentina forum, that in Buenos Aires this is a regular occurrence.

One must also be careful at the ex-ray machine area. There was a big report, just a few years ago, here in L.A. where the ex-ray guys were stealing. A passenger lost his Rolex watch, I think it was, that way. And people have lost money. A TV news reporter even went to the thief's house and talked to him through the screen door and the guy admitted that he'd stolen the watch.

On a flight to Bangkok, via Singapore about a year and a half ago, when my suitcase arrived in Bangkok, the TSA locks were off. The TSA people didn't put the locks back on. When I got home, I filed a claim. On the claim was a question of whether anything was missing. Nothing was missing except my $10.00 TSA locks, which I got reimbursed for.

I rebought one lock in Bangkok, which cost me $20.00 there, so that the luggage wouldn't have to travel all the way back to L.A. totally unlocked.

Friends laugh because I use the Club on my car steering wheel and have used one regularly since 1980. I tell them that if a car thief comes, and wants to steal a car, then he might just overlook my car and steal the one that's easiest to get to. And yes, I'm aware that the Club can be sawed off, but most criminals probably won't go through all of that with a lot full of non-Clubbed cars.

Plus, I'm going to make it as tough for thieves as possible. I'm not just handing over my new 2008 easily. I once came out of a store, one afternoon, and a young guy was screaming that his car had been stolen. This was in Woodland Hills, the Valley (L.A.) in a grocery store parking lot.

Two people at work had their cars stolen within a month of each other. One in front of her house and the other in the parking lot of a Target and in broad open daylight and in supposedly "safe" areas. They no longer laugh at my Club.

So, as far as I'm concerned, the same goes for luggage. Make it harder on the criminals. Happy Travels!

Does anyone see the irony in the need to lock luggage?

If TSA protects the security of airports, why lock luggage? If luggage or its contents are stolen, that can only be because TSA has <i>not</i> maintained the security of the airport (unless TSA is stealing the stuff itself).

So if luggage needs to be locked, that's a tacit admission that TSA cannot keep airports secure. And if employees at airports can walk out with baggage and personal property belonging to other people, terrorists can walk in with bombs.

&lt;&lt;After viewing on TV video of baggage handlers unzipping suitcases and pawing through them I decided I didn't want my clothing pawed through. If they have to take the time to clip the ties they will naturally go to a suitcase that is easy to get into.&gt;.

I saw the same video and have locked my luggage ever since.

&quot;If TSA protects the security of airports, why lock luggage?&quot;

To protect it from baggage handlers -- the more flights you have on an itinerary the more it's handled. The TSA protects the airports, not your luggage.