Luggage advice needed

[npphotog]

Good Morning - Need advice from anyone who has done a Yangtze/China cruise tour. Been told to lock our luggage when in China. I know that leaving the states we have to have our bags unlocked. Since we will be doing 5 inner China flights and one train trip will we be able to lock our bags for each flight? Also on the flight home, Hong Kong to the west coast (Frisco or Lax) may we lock the bags when we leave Hong Kong (United Airlines)? I know that when we get through customs and depart to Dulles we have to have bags unlocked. Many thanks for your answers. Willard

[letsgo39]

Hi Willard,

 

Have you checked with your airline on this? I thought you could now lock your bags in the States but you have to use a particular type of lock that is approved by the airlines. They are able to open the bags if needed if you use the kind of approved lock that they have master keys for. I'm not sure if this has changed since the last UK incident.

The thought of no toothpasre on an overnight flight is really gross. I have to brush my teeth after sleeping. Oh well,probably won't sleep anyway.

I bet you could get the info on locking suitcases on your airlines web site.

[Pam in CA]

You should be able to lock your luggage using a TSA lock. An alternative is to use plastic ties (available at Magellans.com) -- if your suitcase is opened, you'll know it immediately and you can always put another one on. It'll deter casual theft.

 

As an FYI, you can get toothbrush/toothpaste travel combos at Magellans as well. (http://www.magellans.com/store/Health___SanitationKR519N?Args=) The toothpaste is not a gel or liquid so you'd be able to put it in your carryon.

[hobse]

It has never been a requirement by the TSA that you HAVE to leave your checked baggage unlocked, only a suggestion. When the bags are screened, if they detect something for further investigation, they will cut the locks unless they are the approved type and they have a key. We ALWAYS lock our bags and have never had a problem.

[BJS]

..

As an FYI, you can get toothbrush/toothpaste travel combos at Magellans as well. (http://www.magellans.com/store/Health___SanitationKR519N?Args=) The toothpaste is not a gel or liquid so you'd be able to put it in your carryon.

Have you tried these Toothettes? Don't waste your money we got some and they are horrible. Using them is like running a dry sponge around your mouth.

[Coral]

Do TSA locks work outside of the country? Every time I have used them when I fly out of the US - my bags come back with no locks. They are being cut off somewhere. This has happened a few times - I have given up using them outside of the US.

[BJS]

You should be able to lock your luggage using a TSA lock. An alternative is to use plastic ties (available at Magellans.com) -- if your suitcase is opened, you'll know it immediately and you can always put another one on. It'll deter casual theft.

 

We tried purchasing those ties and they were so weak that they broke off. We also had two TSA locks broken off and Magellans.com refunded our money.

 

The best things we have found are plastic wire tires, from hardware type store, because they are strong and cheaply priced. The TSA has removed them when needed and then replaced them with extras we have placed inside our suitcase and also they have used their own similar ties just a different color. We knew they opened the bags because there was a note in them.

 

Some times, it depends on the airport, the bags are opened in front of you but other times it is done after you have checked them in.

 

 

.

[letsgo39]

Oh no,I had such big hopes.Do you think you could put toothpaste on the toothbrush and put the whole thing in a baggie and then in yor carryon?

 

Do you think you could use those plastic ties the cops use for handcuffs only MUCH bigger?

[smeyer418]

You are required to lock you luggage on flights within China. But they will also occassionally break the locks off. It happened to us twice. I actually had extra small locks(really cheap ones) anyway. Nothing was taken. The plastic Ties are ok too. The Chinese will do what they want which is probably different from the TSA(maybe its the CSA)....

 

enjoy your trip we love China and the Cruise

[TataTom]

I Just bought two cheap TSA approved locks and I'm wondering whether it would worth it to use them on a flight from Peoria IL (small airport, relaxed bag searches, etc) thru Chicago then Frankfurt then Budapest. If these are going to be cut off somewhere outside the TSA jurisdiction, then I will not bother to put them on. Twist ties will do to keep the zippers from inadvertantly opening in handling. I'm interested in your opinions and experiences.

Thanks!

[BJS]

I Just bought two cheap TSA approved locks and I'm wondering whether it would worth it to use them on a flight from Peoria IL (small airport, relaxed bag searches, etc) thru Chicago then Frankfurt then Budapest. If these are going to be cut off somewhere outside the TSA jurisdiction, then I will not bother to put them on. Twist ties will do to keep the zippers from inadvertantly opening in handling. I'm interested in your opinions and experiences.

Thanks!

 

As I posted earlier we had the TSA locks and they were cut or broken off. This was done within the TSA jurisdiction. The information that we have received regarding any of the security searchers, including the TSA, is they might not open them with the key they are provided and they just might cut them off.

 

Plastic wire tires would give you more security than twist ties because they need something sharp to remove them.