garyincary

I've read different opinions about locking luggage. Some say don't do it, that the lock will end up getting broken anyway if it's inspected, etc. Other say it's a good idea to discourage theft. What do you say? If you do lock your luggage, what kind of lock do you use? Thanks.

J62

no.
here's a recent thread on the same topic with many replies.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34831039

janisj

since I don't usuually check luggage I don't lock it. But when I do need to lock a bag I just use a cable tie. Cheap, effective, and makes the bag easy to see on the carosel. (just be sure to have a nail clipper in your carry on/handbag/camera case so you can cut the cable tie aftre arriving)

The thread J62 linked has lots of good debate/advice.

murphy89

I use small locks for all little zippered compartments and a sturdy lock for the main compartment. I also bring a cable lock which was a god-send on my last trip - I was able to lock my day pack to beach chairs and other convenient things. Really helpful to at least have them on hand -especially if you are travelling alone or are hostelling.

Luisah

I use a TSA-approved lock when traveling within, and from, the U.S. TSA inspectors can unlock it, check the suitcase and put the lock back on (which they did for my flight to Italy--they left a notice that the suitcase had been inspected.). I don't use the lock when returning from Europe, that's when the lock would be cut off -- if it was selected for inspection when leaving another country.

Luisah

Maybe should have written, TSA-appproved combination lock. I have one from Brookstone and one that came with a new suitcase. I think you can buy the approved locks at Target or just about anywhere that sells travel related items.

suze

I use only plastic cable ties or regular twist ties on all the zippers. I don't see the point in locking these days because they will simply cut them off if they want to.

janisj

And having TSA locks does not guarantee the agent will have a key when needed, or that it will be broken off.

Luisah

"And having TSA locks does not guarantee the agent will have a key when needed, or that it will be broken off."

Just returned from four flights with TSA lock intact. As usual, I ask the TSA agent when I handed over my luggage if it was okay to close the lock and got the usual response: "Yes, we have keys to open it if we need to."

Of course there's no guarantee a lock won't be cut off, but in several years of locking my luggage, I've never had it happen and if it does, losing a $5.00 lock is not a big deal.

While waiting for my last flight out of Charlotte this week I saw a suitcase fall off the vehicle, open, clothes fall out, and the driver and another employee picking them up and stuffing them into the suitcase. I don't know why the suitcase opened -- maybe it wasn't closed properly by the owner or it could have been opened to be inspected and not closed properly but I was glad that I'd locked mine.

crefloors

On my last trip when I got home I found the "note" inside my suitcase that it had been opened. I just use twist ties to keep the zippers closed and those had been put back on by whoever opened my luggage. In 1999 after my first trip, before all this "stuff" was going on, my brother found the locks on his suitcase had been cut off. We left from Rome so we were thinking that's where it had to have been done.

I just keep all "valuables" on my person and don't worry about the rest.

Christina

Sometimes I do and others I don't, I really don't have a method. I know they can break them if they have to see inside, but figure the odds of that are small, and they don't cost that much. I figure (but who knows) that for a thief, it is just a small hindrance and makes it a little less likely a target than one without a lock.

Much to my surprise, my checked bag had been gone through on my recent trip from Washington DC to Prague on KLM. Nothing was missing, but I could tell it had been gone through as some things were a little messed up and in different places. There was no note in it, and I didn't have anything unusual in it that should have triggered a search from the Xray machine. I had the same type stuff as usual, and it had never been gone through before. I didn't have a lock on it that time because I was going from the US to Europe.

Carrybean

I haven't found the inspection note in my luggage since I got the TSA locks for some odd reason.

If somebody is going to steal from my luggage I want them to do a little work for it.

L84SKY

If someone needs my clothes enough to steal them, I feel sorry for them. The few pieces of jewelry I wear on vacation I have on, with the exception of an extra pair of earrings in my purse. If I buy something of value, I carry it on for the return flight. If someone wants my dirty laundry, I really feel sorry for them.

Nina66

I can't resist making a wisecrack - DH says that when Henny Youngman died, his spirt jumped into my body.

Three years ago when checking in our luggage at JFK to San Francisco, the attendant asked if I had any locks on my suitcases. I couldn't resist, because it was the truth.. I told him that I had no locks, but that I did have some bagels in one of the suitcases!

He was so cute, he immediately asked if I wanted to have lunch with him ;-)

Or as DH says, Henny is alive and well.

Nina

LoveItaly

I don't lock my checkin luggage anymore as I do not put anything in it that would be a tragedy if it was stolen (and I have had a couple of items "missing" after returning home). But does anyone use the luggage belts to put around their checkin luggage? It helps keep the luggage closed, helps ID when picking up your luggage at the desination airport and can be undone by security if they want to.

kleroux

I use small saftey pins..two, each facing the other way. I pin the two zipper tabs together. That way, its too fussy for any baggage handler to quickly open my bag to steal something, but its available for any official inspection. I too once found a note that my bag had been opened. They only replaced one of the safety pins, however.

Jean

I like the safety pin idea. We usually don't check luggage, especially on outbound flights. But a few years ago, my husband decided to check his locked bag in Milan through Zurich and then to L.A. We asked the Italian flight personnel if it was OK to check a locked bag and got an affirmative answer. When he retrieved it, the lock had been torn off the bag, taking with it the loops on the zipper pulls that it had been attached to. The airline said the lock must have become caught in a conveyor belt, but who knows?

tod

kleroux & Jean - Better, stronger and more difficult to get off in a hurry (unless you use pliers) are the metal coiled rings used mainly on keyrings.
Slipping them through the two zipper tags as you would do with your safety pin trick makes a really good lock.

Mucky

Janis,
I hope you declare those nail clippers at check in ...


;-)

Muck

Heimdall

I used a TSA-approved lock on my visit back to the USA in June. On my return to the UK, when I picked up my luggage at Heathrow, found the lock missing from my suitcase. There was no note inside the bag, so I can only conclude that the TSA inspectors removed the lock but neglected to put it back on. I now wish that instead I had used a cheap lock that would have been cut off.