TSA Locks for Baggage

[dvcdisney]

Just curious, how many people regularly uses TSA locks for their baggage?

 

[pr surfer]

Not I. All locks tell a potential thieving TSO or Baggage agent is "there's stuff worth stealing in there!"

 

[goofy4tink]

I have never locked my checked bags. There's nothing in there of much worth. I did have one necklace stolen many years ago. Flew out of Boston into San Fran. It was a really good heavy costume jewelry necklace...looked like it cost much more than it really did. I'm sure someone thought they were getting a very expensive piece of jewelry....well, at least until they tried to dump it.
Nope, have no reason to lock my bags.

 

[rflorek]

I don't lock my bag. TSA would break the lock anyway if they had to check inside the suitcase. I've had friends who purchased the TSA approved locks and they even came out missing or broken - they were told that during busy times, many TSA employees don't have time to unlock the locks to check bags so they are told to just break them to speed up the process.

 

[dudspizza]

I do use TSA approved locks, but not because I am worked about anything being stolen. I just want to make sure the zippers stay shut.

Duds

 

[pamjb]

I don't use locks either. Anything valuable goes in my carryon. I have a bunch of zip-ties that I use to keep the zippers closed. DH gets them from work but I have seen them at Walmart. I just make sure I put a nail clipper or small scissors in the outside pocket of the bag so that I can get them open when I get to my destination.

 

[lilyv]

I never lock luggage. I do zip my luggage all the way around to the side, both zippers. Much more secure than leaving both zippers at the top.
I can't imagine TSA carefully, ever so gingerly unlocking anything, approved or unapproved.

 

[BillSears]

I just use twist ties to hold the zipper shut. Those little locks aren't going to stop anyone from getting into my bags if they really want to.

 

[DVC California]

I use zip ties that are used to bundle wires and cables.

Not so much to "lock" up my bags but to keep the zippers closed so my socks don't spill all over the carousel at baggage claim.

Steve

 

[joellyn23]

I do use TSA approved locks, but not because I am worked about anything being stolen. I just want to make sure the zippers stay shut.

Duds

me too. I bought them for our last trip and expect i'll keep on using them going forward

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't lock them---if someone wants my out-of-date clothing that wasn't even in style last year, they are welcome to it, as they must need it more than I.

 

[LCrawford]

I haven't used them but am thinking about it for our next trip.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I lock my bags, not only to keep people out, but to keep them from potentially putting anything in my bag. We curb check at Newark, so once I leave my bags and the curb, I really can't attest to what's in there. I would assume that if someone was up to no good, they wouldn't bother with a bag with a lock, but would rather find one with no lock. (Just my own personal paranoia).

 

[Hedy]

I use them for more of the keep stuff in, than keep people out concept. I also use them if I'm travelling with my laptop.

 

[suzimar57]

no locks - just cable tiewraps

 

[tjmw2727]

I use a key ring to keep my bags closed and they have always been put back on after the TSA has searched the bags.

My SIL bought the TSA locks and they have been cut off on two separate trips so far.

TJ

 

[pxlbarrel]

I use the TSA locks. I've never had them cut off. Now once, at LAX, we watched as they reached for the bolt cutters but then they saw us watching them and asked if this was our luggage. We confirmed it was and they asked for the key. They had "lost" theirs. Whatever. (I should add that the suitcase they chose to open up had a huge poster tube in it, surrounded by a wired hammock that my cousin had purchased from Tijuana, and lots of plastic action figures purchased in a comic book convention.... it must have been quite the picture on the X-ray machine.... I wasn't too pleased with the TSA guys when they opened it up and started playing with the figures or reading the comic books....)

I lock it because more often than not, they're not going to open up the bag anyway. And since most of you don't lock your bags, anybody who wants to get into a bag, whether to steal or put something in, will choose your unlocked bags over mine (convenience sake). My odds of having my luggage undisturbed have just gone up.

 

[pezheadmeg]

I use the zip ties, mainly to keep the zippers actaully shut. It would be my luck that the zippers would unzip mid-flight. I just pack the a pair of scissors in the outside pocket. Granted, the last time my bag got checked for secondary screening post-check-in was January 2001, when they were checking something like 1 in 3000 bags.

I do however use a master caliber lock on my carry-on when I'm travelin with the lap-top. That way when I put the bag in the overhead, I'm not woried about someone going in without my knowledge. That's where the paranoia really comes in. But that developed after riding in the LIRR for a Friday night class with rowdy hockey fans.

 

[dvcdisney]

At this point it seems almost 50/50.

Thanks. I'm bumping it up so it can keep going.

 

[Lewisc]

A lock indicates there may be something worth stealing in the bag.