Do you lock your checked luggage?

[Dax]

Agreed.
And locks are simply "eye candy" that suggest to TSA (or airline employees) that something valuable just might be inside.

THIS is an untrue statement. I work at an airport, and I also have 1st hand knowledge of the baggage handling system in place.

There are miles of conveyor that your bag travels on when you give it to the gate agent. That barcode that gets put on its the unique identifier of each bag on the system. Basically we can pull up where ANY bag is on the line at a given time.

TSA does not pick and choose what bags to search. ALL and I mean ALL bags go through a very large Xray. That machine then tags the bag clean or further inspection. There is a machine that then sorts the bags onto additional conveyors to either be picked up by the airlines people, or to the waiting TSA station for inspection. About 6 TSA people are basically standing in an area waiting for the bags to come in. They check them, then they get placed BACK on the line and to where they need to go.

Its actually a VERY cool system. Now be warned with locks on baggage...or ANYTHING on bags for that matter...these things can and WILL get caught in the conveyor belts, causing both damage to the locks/bags and belts. We have a TON of calls per week of locks stuck causing jams. So if you can do without, it may be best to keep all danglie items off your bags.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

THIS is an untrue statement. I work at an airport, and I also have 1st hand knowledge of the baggage handling system in place.

There are miles of conveyor that your bag travels on when you give it to the gate agent. That barcode that gets put on its the unique identifier of each bag on the system. Basically we can pull up where ANY bag is on the line at a given time.

TSA does not pick and choose what bags to search. ALL and I mean ALL bags go through a very large Xray. That machine then tags the bag clean or further inspection. There is a machine that then sorts the bags onto additional conveyors to either be picked up by the airlines people, or to the waiting TSA station for inspection. About 6 TSA people are basically standing in an area waiting for the bags to come in. They check them, then they get placed BACK on the line and to where they need to go.

I understand this is your opinion and it may be the case for the majority of the time. However if it was always true, people would never have stuff stolen out of their luggage. For a true theif, whether a TSA agent, airline employee or just another person wandering the airports, a lock definately stands out as an increased concern on the baggage owners part. Whether the concern is justified or not doesn't matter, it will make a theif more interested in the luggage from a pure statistic perspective.

The fact is items are stolen, it happens, that is why you do not pack valuables in checked luggage. Locking it offers no protection outside make sure the zippers do not open, but zippers typically do not just open from luggage being moved around in transit, they're not that weak in most cases. I'd be more afraid of a zipper seperating (failing) due to pressure on the side or top of the luggage (or due to overpacking), not the zipper coming unzipped due to the two zip tags not being hooked together.

 

[bookgirl2632]

I never put anything valuable in my suitcase, but yet I still lock it. I just do. I feel better having done that. It's not so much the TSA folks I'm concerned with. It's also the bellhops who store my luggage at the resort. Or perhaps the ones that bring me my bags. It's any number of people. If they see the lock, they are more likely to move to the next bag without one. That's the way I think about it.

 

[AnnaS]

We do not lock our luggage.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

If they see the lock, they are more likely to move to the next bag without one. That's the way I think about it.

Unfortunately studies have shown the opposite effect.