Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - To lock or not to lock ...that is the question.

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)

- Caribbean Islands (https://www.fodors.com/community/caribbean-islands/)

- - To lock or not to lock ...that is the question. (https://www.fodors.com/community/caribbean-islands/to-lock-or-not-to-lock-that-is-the-question-280799/)

To lock or not to lock ...that is the question.

It is very confusing - no one seems to know what to do.

I for one will definitely continue to lock our suitcases - the risk of something being stolen, or the even greater risk of the suitcase opening by mistake due to rough handling, certainly exceeds any guidelines which are useless anyway, in my opinion. If anyone really wants to smuggle a bomb on board, he or she will certainly succeed at any airport or with any airline (except Israel and Elal).

Go right ahead. Lock away. They'll just break the locks if they have to or if they want to. And if you happen to use combo locks (rather than those with the key which opens any and all suitcases) you just won't be able to close your suitcase. Not a problem!

U.S. Issues Advice on Packing Baggage By LESLIE MILLER .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The government has some advice for packing that bag you plan to check at the airport: No cheese. No chocolate. Shoes on top. And by all means leave it unlocked. Federal transportation officials announced new guidelines on Thursday because they're ramping up luggage screening during the holiday season. James Loy, head of the Transportation Security Administration, traveled Thursday to Jacksonville, Fla., to tour the airport and talk about the guidelines. Jacksonville's airport was among the first to install bomb-detection machines for baggage. Loy said travelers should put toothbrushes and other personal belongings in plastic bags so screeners won't have to touch them. He said books should be spread out rather than stacked, and food and beverages are prohibited. Books - and fruitcake - can be too dense for bomb-detection machines to read through and will set off an alarm, said Richard Lanza, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist. Food items, like cheese or chocolate, can be mistaken by bomb-detection machines for explosives and generate a ``false positive.'' Federal screeners will check bags by hand that register a positive reading.

Among the recommendations and requirements: Shoes should be packed last to make it easier for screeners to hand-search luggage. Bags should be left unlocked so screeners won't have to force them open to search them by hand. Loy recommended that people use cable ties or zip ties, which can be purchased at hardware stores and cut off easily. Don't put film in checked bags because screening equipment will damage it. Leave gifts unwrapped. Screeners may unwrap those that aren't. Put scissors, pocket knives and other sharp items in checked bags. They are prohibited from being carried on planes. The security agency, created after the terrorist attacks, was given a Dec. 31 deadline by Congress to implement a program to screen all checked baggage for explosives. Lawmakers extended the deadline because some large airports weren't able to add SUV-sized bomb-detection machines to their existing bag management systems in time. Installing the machines, which were in short supply, can require months of construction to shore up floors to support them and build new electrical substations to power them.

Still, the new agency believes the vast majority of the nation's 429 commercial airports will be able to screen all bags by Jan. 1, although not necessarily by machine, spokesman Brian Turmail said. By Christmas, about 320 airports will have equipment and screeners in place, he said. Some bags will be screened by bomb-sniffing dogs, others hand-searched or checked with wands that detect explosives residue. Some airports will use a system, known as ``positive bag match,'' where a bag won't be loaded onto a plane unless the passenger it belongs to is aboard. David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said bag screening will mean longer lines for some people. But, he said, the use of positive bag matching will alleviate those lines. In some airports, screeners will hand-search a bag without its owner present. Loy said they'll leave a note inside saying it's been searched. Stempler said in that case the passenger won't know to check if something is missing or damaged until he gets home. ``The indication should be on the outside of the bag,'' he said. Steve van Beek, senior vice president of the Airports Council International-North America, an airport trade group, said he's concerned about liability for lost or stolen items. ``If something gets lost, what will the customer do?'' van Beek asked. The agency has a customer response center in Washington that people can call in case something is lost or stolen, Turmail said. The toll-free number is 866-289-9673. On the Net: Bag-packing guidelines: http://www.tsatraveltips.us

Just a note about the locks on luggage....We have a set of Travel Pro (top of the line) with a combo lock, 3 numbers. On our recent trip our checked luggage was 5 lbs overweight. We had to remove the 5 lbs and re - distribute items to carry on. our combo lock somehow reset itself and our combo did not open, my husband very easily ripped and twisted the lock off with his hand in 2 seconds. So lock away, they are not that sturdy anyway!!!

Nitroglycerine..... Anybody who has heart problems and carries nitroglycerine should be aware that the new explosive sniffing machines are so sensitive that the residual traces on the outside of a nitro bottle is enough to register a false positive. This is apparently so for either the tablets or the sub-lingual spray. These items should be carried with your carry-on luggage along with a copy of the original prescription. Steve