To lock your luggage or not

[watchdiva]

Holy Cow...the original thread is 5 years old! Lock your bags...why wouldn't you? Not sure I understand.

[sprint180]

I never lock mine. I decided to once and when I picked it up at the airport the lock was missing. Haven't locked it since. I have nothing important anyway.

[cooncat_mom]

I know this is an old thread, but just a thought...I always lock my luggage, and of course since it is soft, anyone with a knife or scissors can get in. They'll be disappointed since I never travel with anything I can't afford to lose (and that includes jewelry - all inexpensive and fake!).

 

However, I lock to make sure things don't fall out, and I also lock to make it hard for anyone to slip anything IN :eek:! I didn't do a search, but I seem to recall a thread from a long while ago where someone mentions that a friend had contraband slipped into their luggage's outer pocket. It certainly doesn't happen but once in a blue moon, but... I lock anyway!

[Minoushka]

Nowadays worry about someone putting something in rather than taking it out .....I lock mine all the time

[CapCrunch]

I don't really care how old the thread is - I was just recycling it rather than start a new one on the same subject. I've never locked my bags when flying - for a long time NYC airports were so security crazy they didn't allow it at all. When my son was 4 yrs old they made him remove his shoes when we flew! I'm still not exactly clear when / why you're parted from your luggage when boarding a ship in Miiami. They don't do that at a hotel automatically, but I don't have a sense of how long it takes for your bags to go through security at the port, and I also don't know how difficult it would be to bring your own bags to your cabin I've never used a bellhop at a hotel or a porter at an airport, but I've also never been on a cruise ship. Anyway, I found a TSA approved lock I bought years ago and never opened, so I'll bring it.

[LMaxwell]

I don't really care how old the thread is - I was just recycling it rather than start a new one on the same subject. I've never locked my bags when flying - for a long time NYC airports were so security crazy they didn't allow it at all. When my son was 4 yrs old they made him remove his shoes when we flew! I'm still not exactly clear when / why you're parted from your luggage when boarding a ship in Miiami. They don't do that at a hotel automatically, but I don't have a sense of how long it takes for your bags to go through security at the port, and I also don't know how difficult it would be to bring your own bags to your cabin I've never used a bellhop at a hotel or a porter at an airport, but I've also never been on a cruise ship. Anyway, I found a TSA approved lock I bought years ago and never opened, so I'll bring it.

 

As far as bringing on your own luggage; if it fill fit through the security scanner you can bring it yourself; if not you will have to check it. Luggage delivery seems to start at 2PM; I think they say you should have it by 8PM. I've mostly had good experiences receiving luggage before sailaway.

 

I have no faith in a lock actually keeping the bag closed if a zipper fails. The lock is to stop someone from using the zipper (assuming the bag has not ripped or been broken from poor handling). I use a luggage belt around the bag; even if the zipper breaks or splits the bag stays closed and my contents intact. If you have the lock though it can only add a measure of security, so go right ahead.

[ldlewis45]

I have no faith in a lock actually keeping the bag closed if a zipper fails. The lock is to stop someone from using the zipper (assuming the bag has not ripped or been broken from poor handling). I use a luggage belt around the bag; even if the zipper breaks or splits the bag stays closed and my contents intact. If you have the lock though it can only add a measure of security, so go right ahead.

 

Yeah, the lock doesn't stop the zipper from failing. I work for CBP and have had to break into a lot of luggage (we don't have TSA keys), and people would be surprised at how easy it is to break into luggage, even when there's a lock on it. Usually, we have a bolt cutter to snap the lock, but even if we don't use those, it's easy to get into a bag. You can pry the zipper apart very easily with a screwdriver or knife. You can also pry the little metal piece that attaches the zipper pull to the zipper, pop out the zipper pull, and voila!, you're into the bag in less than 30 seconds. Even the bags that have the built-in locks where the zipper tabs lock into the side of the bag are easy to pop, using the previously mentioned method or by using a knife to hold down the little locking tab and pulling the zipper tab out.

 

The hardest luggage pieces to get into are the Samsonite hard clamshell cases that don't have a zipper and instead have three locking hard clasps. It usually takes a large pry bar and a lot of effort to get those open, and usually the bag gets damaged if you succeed. I plan on ordering a couple the next time the Samsonite website has a good sale! If they're on sale, they're not much more expensive than a regular good-quality suitcase, and considerably less expensive than brands like Tumi, which are very easy to pop. So if people are really concerned about their luggage being rifled through, get the Samsonite clamshell with clasps instead of a zipper.

[CapCrunch]

Not really related, but once with my mother when I was a kid we were flying on Eastern (remember them?) and my Mom had some really expensive, suede luggage. They slapped some huge, square early bar code sticker on it and it wouldn't come off. She flipped out, and they reimbursed her a lot for it. I know, why suede luggage? But it was the 70s - everything was suede!