can I lock my check in luggage with..

[minnieandmickeymouse]

TSA approved locks?

I bought the locks mainly to use at the hotel to lock my luggage so nothing important gets stolen out of them. They say on the lable that they are TSA approved so my luggage can be locked at the airport also? Has anyone used them before with their check in bags? I just don't want the locks to get broken by TSA. I wont be putting any in my check in luggage that is valuable.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I honeslty wouldn't bother, although they are TSA approved, if they have ANY difficulty, they will just cut them.

 

[Candikayne]

The TSA locks can be opened by TSA staff to search your luggage.
I have never had a problem.

 

[CarolA]

I hate to tell you this, but those locks are VERY easy to defeat. (Give a GOOD tug and OPEN SESAME!) So don't count on them to secure anything valuable, use the room safe!

And of course the TSA is not above stealing (or telling the luggage handlers where the goodies are)!

 

[Candikayne]

Most crimes are crimes of opportunity....an open pocketbook, money sticking out of your pocket etc.

The lock is a deterent...but it is not foolproof. It's just an extra step...a precaution. I'm not going to make it easy for someone to steal my property.

PS...My locks didn't budge...and I did tug on them.....hard.

The hotel safe is your best bet...but what do you do when traveling through the airport?

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would just go with plastic cable-ties. And a pair of blunt-tipped scissors in your carry-on or the outer pocket of your suitcase, so YOU can get into it.

 

[Halbleib1]

I used TSA approved locks on our last two trips to Disney World without any problems at all. They even opened one of our bags on the first trip we used them. They relocked our luggage and everything was fine. Our first trip to Disney World in 2007 I did not have TSA approved locks so we used regular locks. We figured worst case is they would cut them off if they needed in our bags but we felt more secure by locking our luggage anyway. Luckily they did not have to get into any of the bags that had locks on. I made sure not to lock the suitcase with food in it as I knew they would probably open this one because of the Peanut Butter we had in it. Sure enough they did open that suitcase up but the rest were fine. Even with the TSA locks I did not lock the suitcase with food in it as this is most likely to be hand checked. Just don't put anything valuable in that one suitcase.

 

[Lewisc]

Maybe not. A TSA lock suggests the suitcase may contain items worth stealing without providing any real protection from theft.

Most crimes are crimes of opportunity....an open pocketbook, money sticking out of your pocket etc.

The lock is a deterent...but it is not foolproof. It's just an extra step...a precaution. I'm not going to make it easy for someone to steal my property.

PS...My locks didn't budge...and I did tug on them.....hard.

The hotel safe is your best bet...but what do you do when traveling through the airport?

 

[Candikayne]

Maybe not. A TSA lock suggests the suitcase may contain items worth stealing without providing any real protection from theft.

May not provide "real protection" but I'd rather lock them..and pray than not not lock and pray!

 

[TheWog]

Yes, you can and if they are opened by TSA there should be a red tab that pops up or something similar should TSA open the lock and relock it. I bought them through Brookstone and if they are cut you can get a refund from the manufacturer. Obviously anything is possible, but it does give you a little peace of mind that someone would go through something unlocked before the effort of cutting a locked one. One would hope.

 

[Candikayne]

Yes, you can and if they are opened by TSA there should be a red tab that pops up or something similar should TSA open the lock and relock it. I bought them through Brookstone and if they are cut you can get a refund from the manufacturer. Obviously anything is possible, but it does give you a little piece of mind that someone would go through something unlocked before the effort of cutting a locked one. One would hope.

My point exactly!

 

[jenndisney]

We used them on our trip in 2005 and TSA cut and removed all of them. We were just upset that we spent the extra money for them. This trip, we had locks to use in the hotel room, but figured TSA has "permission" to get in anyone's luggage anyway, so why bother.

 

[aubriee]

We've bought the TSA locks twice and twice had the TSA agents cut them off. Consequently, we started just using the colored zip ties and keep a pair of small kids scissors in the carryon.


I recently bought a couple of the Heys lightweight hard sided suitcases. The bigger bag has a built in TSA combination lock. I can set the the combination lock to any combination I want, but it also has an opening at the bottom, where the TSA agents can use their master key, if they need to get in. I'm afraid to use the lock though, because of my bad history with TSA locks, so will probably not even bother putting the little zip pulls inside the lock and locking it. I'd hate for them to tear up my whole suitcase trying to get in. I will probably just continue to use the colored zip ties, like I have been.

A lock is just a sign to a thief that something valuable might be in there. My grandmother used to say that locks were just made to keep honest people honest and a thief can always get in anyway, so why bother. Besides do you really think that the only people who have the keys to the TSA locks are the TSA supervisors? lol I have a friend who is a pilot with Southwest Airlines and he says those keys are floating around everywhere and not just the TSA agents have them anymore.

 

[dburg30]

Maybe not. A TSA lock suggests the suitcase may contain items worth stealing without providing any real protection from theft.

May not provide "real protection" but I'd rather lock them..and pray than not not lock and pray!

I think what Carol is saying, is while the lock is a step of protection, but not a very large one, what it does show is that there could be something worth stealing since there is a lock on it. So while it may be a small step in protection, it could be a large "I think there's something valuable in here, so I'm locking it" spotlight

 

[Candikayne]

I still feel more comfortable locking my bags. I will continue to do so. I guess I'm lucky that no one has broke my lock, cut the lock or stolen items while conducting a seach. But for me.....i'll keep locking my bag.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here.
....just sharing my experience.

 

[kellia]

For the zip ties, do you just put those on the zipper pulls where the locks would go?

Personally, it just creeps me out thinking that someone is going through our stuff and you don't know where their hands have been! Ewww!

 

[TheWog]

I still feel more comfortable locking my bags. I will continue to do so. I guess I'm lucky that no one has broke my lock, cut the lock or stolen items while conducting a seach. But for me.....i'll keep locking my bag.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here.
....just sharing my experience.

I'm with you, plus the bright green lock (along with orange tape) helps me identify my black luggage when claiming it.

 

[JoliBug]

For the zip ties, do you just put those on the zipper pulls where the locks would go?

Personally, it just creeps me out thinking that someone is going through our stuff and you don't know where their hands have been! Ewww!

They wear gloves everytime they check someones bag. They don't know where the stuff has been.

 

[Uncleromulus]

These days a lock is nothing but eye candy to TSA and baggage handlers.

 

[RustManFan]

I bought TSA locks and we were never able to figure out how to set a combination. Instructions provided did not work. So I either don't bother with a lock at all or leave it at default combination of 0 - 0 - 0 but spin it.

May keep people from trying to get in and may not. Cutting the locks wouldn't be much of a loss after all! They are crap....

May want to try something for next WDW trip so my luggage (without valuables) cannot easily be done through in room.