Locks On Luggage?
 

I will be traveling to Ireland for two weeks in August. I've never put a lock on my luggage, but I'm considering doing so on this trip. Of course, it would be a TSA approved lock. Are there any reasons not to do this? I understand that the lock will provide more security for my belongings, but am wondering if there is a down side to doing this.

Thanks for all your help in planning our dream trip.

I never bother but then don't pack anything in my suitcase that I can't stand the thought of losing.

Why would you do it for this trip if you don't for others?

nah, who wants my dirty underwear :-)

I always use TSA locks when I travel. Not sure it prevents much, but gives me some extra peace of mind.

I use tie downs which will show if someone unauthorized has been in my luggage. It doesn't prevent theft (but there is nothing valuable in my checked bag) but it does deter theft and keeps the zippers closed.

I think tie downs as well as TSA-approved locks are illusory at best.

I use a closing device of some kind if only to prevent accidental openings during transit.

I use tie-wraps and not TSA locks. For some reason they seem to like cutting locks instead of tie-wraps. Sometimes, they are careless and cut the zipper loop instead of the lock and render the luggage useless.

If you think that any sort of lock will make your suitcase less susceptible to opening, perhaps this short video will change your mind. Locks on zipped luggage are meaningless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf-DGKUNffI

I use locks only to prevent accidental opening of my bag.
There is nothing of value in it.

If you don't normally use locks I see no reason to start now.

Whether you use a TSA lock is up to you - but that really isn't an issue re Ireland . TSA is a US agency. Not sure I understand why you feel this trip might be different than others.

If you just want your suitcase slightly secured (a lock is not a guarantee of anything) use cable ties.

Have a look on Youtube... you will see people open suitcases by driving a pen into the zipper... locks really do nothing but make you feel secure. Might stop a sneak thief in the street but
don't bother.

Re: TSA locks. Only American TSA employees (or others?) would have the key. The Brits, in particular, don't like to see that lock. Like Greg, I had mine cut off, such that I could no longer lock the bag.

We use a cable tie, more to keep the bag shut than anything else. But I do think it would discourage the impulsive thief. Who is more likely to be found handling bags at the airport.

I'm mystified as to why you think that going to Ireland makes you luggage more susceptible than going to somewhere else.

we use a combination lock and a strap to deter casual theft but the career thief will take no notice of that or anything else.

Thanks for the responses. There isn't anything about Ireland or this particular trip that has caused me to wonder about locking my luggage, other than that I read something recently which suggested that it would be a good idea. I appreciate all of the comments I've received about this, and other topics, which are extremely helpful to me in planning my trip.

ok, gary, understood.

good luck with the trip.

to give you a flavour of the country you're about ti visit, I recommend this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Round-Irelan.../dp/0091867770

Locks are fine by me, unless you go through the Miami Airport.

The luggage folks seem to know every trick in the book, and then some, to extricate anything and everything out of a suitcase.

Even the U.S. customs agent in SFO recently commented on the luggage handler thievery.

As others have mentioned, TSA is a US agency, and there's no guarantee that other countries' customs officials have the keys. When I flew to the UK recently, I asked a United agent at Newark whether I was allowed to use my TSA lock on my checked baggage. His answer was an unequivocal yes. He told me that British customs officials have the same keys as TSA, and so I was welcome to use my lock.

He was, apparently, wrong. When my luggage made it to the UK, the lock had been removed, but my suitcase was otherwise undamaged, and nothing had been stolen from within it. I guess the UK customs officials had cut off the lock so they could inspect my belongings.

The UK isn't Ireland, of course. My point is only that, if you use a TSA lock for an international flight, it will provide only the usual slight level of protection, and you should be prepared to lose your lock. Because outside of the US a TSA-approved lock is just like any other lock, and you're probably not allowed to lock your checked luggage.

I have read on professional photographers' web sites that the best way to ensure the security of items in checked luggage, when flying within the US, is to pack a firearm in there with them. That requires that you fill out a lot of extra paperwork, and they track your luggage much more carefully, so that it's much harder to steal anything. Apparently, one can buy a cheap flare gun which, for luggage declaration purposes, suffices as a firearm. But of course, that's a whole other topic, and one that has nothing to do with international travel.

I always put TSA locks on my luggage. TSA will unlock if they want to check.

I do it to prevent opportunists for putting something in my bag I don't know about. Can get into lots of strife if its drugs or something.

I guess you didn't watch the video I posted above, Debin. A lock on a zippered suitcase would not give a seconds' pause to someone who wanted to slip something into your luggage. It would take about ten seconds on a slow day. The lock would still be intact and there would be no sign of tampering. All you need is a ball point pen.

If those silly locks make you feel better go ahead and use them, but they are merely decorative.

The only real purpose those locks serve is to provide the illusion of security for the user and slow down baggage handlers with sticky fingers.

I always lock my luggage and have been locking it since the 1970s. When we all had to change over to TSA locks, then I changed over. I don't want my belongings to possibly fall out and end up all over the place, and as for theft, I figure if a thief wants to try to steal my belongings then he/she can work for them as I had to work for them. To me it's sort of like leaving one's car doors unlocked or house door unlocked. Also, I've been in countries and during decades where it was best to lock one's luggage as to not have someone possibly sneak something illegal into the luggage.

Happy Travels!

You do have a point, Guenmai. Straps around your luggage will help prevent the bag from popping completely open when the baggage apes bash it about. The shrink wrap they apply in some places will both prevent the bag popping open and discourage thieves. The locks do neither. After some light fingered rogue disappeared my new and expensive camera many years ago I simply never put valuables in checked luggage.

re: someone possibly sneak something illegal into the luggage...

Unless somebody is specifically trying to frame you, what would be the purpose? How would they get their "something illegal" back? Accost you after you bring it through customs?

~Liz

I would imagine that a potential thief would assume more value in a locked bag than in an unlocked bag. I use cable ties.

I never lock my luggage. I do use a suitcase strap just to be sure it doesn't pop open (if the zipper broke or something).

I suspect that the warning about you being responsible for "something illegal" that's been put in your bag is meant for those who carry drugs or whatever and then claim the drugs are not theirs--that someone else must have put the illegal item in their bag.

This reminds me of all those years when as a teacher I had my stint at "potty patrol" and found some girl holding a lit cigarette. Invariably, every single time this happened, the girl would claim they were just holding the cigarette for a friend.

Or the guy who was arrested here in Spokane and who claimed that the drugs he had hidden in his crotch are were not his.

Well, Peg, he clearly needed a lock on his crotch!

Or a zip tie?

Ouch!

Nukesafe..HEE HEE HEE! Well put (the joke not the zip tie)!!!

Suitcase locks are very nearly useless with zippers as you can see in this youtube demonstration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5mvvZl6pLI

Maybe use a zip tie while in transit to deter the casual thief but don't waste your money on a lock.