John

<BR>Flew for 20 years on business,now retired ,fly a lot, never had a bag lost or anything stolen!!!

RufusTFirefly

Locks or ties don't just discourage theft, they will significantly reduce the chance of your suitcase coming open by accident. A halfway competent thief can get into just about any suitcase in a few seconds--the locks or ties discourage petty pilfering by amateurs and, again, accidental openings. You can carry nail clippers in your pocket--at least you could when I travelled last month.<BR><BR>For hard side suitcases, you can use a strap.

Deloris

Back to square 1:<BR>Pack only what you can afford to lose...<BR>carry on board the rest, including cosmetics, medicines, jewelry, fine suits/and or dresses but...pack light.<BR>Lock and padlock your bag that is checked in, if they break in..they break in.<BR>Keep a list of contents of that bag and if anything is missing, use the airline and your credit card insurance protection to replace what is lost.<BR>Remember, any lock, tie, belt, etc, is a detriment to a casual break in.<BR>Ship any extremenvaluables to you your destination, insured...ditto purchases of value to your home!<BR>Now go and have a ball!!!!

jsmith

To answer my own query - have flown domestically since 1955 and internationally since 1958 without anything being stolen or a suitcase lost. Have had them go astray but show up as late as 3 days later.<BR>

Ronda

There are a couple different sizes of zip ties. The airline uses the small ones, I buy the larger size. They are more difficult to cut. Haven't tried cutting them with nail clippers yet or the child's siscors. <BR><BR>My husband flies all the time and has never had anything stolen. I fly seldom and they loose my bags! Go figure.

flyaway

The problem as I see is that the luggage needs to be accessible to the TSA when you depart or they will break the locks. So one has to have a device that the TSA can access that then they can reapply that will deter theft at the other airports, esp. international. You can lock your bags, but the TSA (since their equipment does not work) will break your bag if they mistake your books or chocolate for bombs. Then your luggage will be sent on its way completely exposed.

Lesli

Well, here's some not-so-good news....<BR><BR>Four airport workers sentenced in thefts from checked baggage<BR>http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...-bag-theft.htm

MGB

In 1997 Northwest cut off our locks before our arrival in Germany and searched the bag. Since then, we have never locked the luggage (1 more trip to Europe, 1 to Australia/NZ, Hawaii and other domestic.) We have never had a problem. The luggage is soft sided zippered ( which should not easily open). We do not pack breakables or valuables in the luggage (clothes/shoes only in checked baggage). As said above, any thief can get in if they want to or just take the bag.<BR>The only thing we ever lost was a belt, which I am sure was my fault.

ita

aIR cANADA HAS INFORMED ME THAT THET DO NOT OPEN YOUR SUITCASES WITHOUT YOU PRESENT, SO THE LOCK DOES NOT HAVE TO BE OMITTED OR BROKEN.

KimberleyDK

I just flew Air Canada to London, and when I checked in I was told to remove my locks and that they were absolutely not permitting checked baggage to be locked.

quepasa18

I recently flew from Chicago to Madrid and and put those little plastic ties on my luggage. I was told that I shouldn't put those on because different color ties mean different things. But then she left it on so I don't know how big a deal it was.<BR><BR>But how are we supposed to know what to do if they keep telling us different things? I put those things on specifically because that's what we were told to do. Sheesh! <BR><BR>Anne

kayd

It is not the airlines who screen baggage -- that is the work of the Transportation Security Administration. <BR><BR>Procedures vary by airport, not airline, because in some places the only place TSA can install the big new scanners (about the size of a pick-up truck) is somewhere away from the check-in area.<BR>I've recently had checked bags opened by TSA behind the scenes in Baltimore and San Antonio. One time they left the required &quot;we opened your bag&quot; note in the bag, one time they did not. Neither time was a new plastic tie applied. I e-mailed a complaint to TSA; I received a form reply saying they had run out of the replacement ties and would soon have a new supply.<BR><BR>If you are leaving from an airport where you hand the bag over to TSA at screening machines near check-in, you should be able to have a TSA screener fasten the lock after screening; at least that's been my experience at Washington National.<BR><BR>The TSA website is the authoritative source for info on locking luggage http://www.tsa.gov/public. Apply your own common sense after reading it.<BR><BR>P.S. I've never had anything stolen from checked bags (5 trips/yr for 15 years).

GaryCA

The last time I flew (on Qantas), all the zipper handles had been removed, not just the locks.

jor

OK, this might sound a bit paranoid to some people. There are other reasons for locking luggage. I was touring Turkey the summer after the movie Midnight Express came out. The true story of a guy who gets busted for drugs on a flight out of Turkey, and spends years in a smeely prison.<BR><BR>After hearing stories about people who plant drugs in your luggage, then steal the luggage when you get home, I checked everything carefully before leaving, and locked the hell out of my luggage!!!<BR><BR>

ChristieP

Good question about the big, hard-side suitcases with built-in locks and nowhere to put a zip tie. I have one of those, and it has been all over the world before the TSA federalized the airport I fly out of. Frankly, I'd be afraid to fly without locking it just because it could then easily come open! We'll see what happens next time I use it...

Scarlett

<BR>they sell these big straps that are specifically for the hardluggage with built in locks. And you can put a piece of tape across the locks so they don't get opened.