TSA & Locks

[Luv2CtheMouse]

• 1 - TSA information is somewhat inconsistent; I am asking for experience - not what is on their website.
• 2 - Many TSA people are ridiculous and I am trying to avoid issues when we get to the airport.
• 3 - I HAVE TSA APPROVED locks. I am not asking what to use, but what is YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Scenario: We have 2 golfers coming along on our next trip. They are bringing their own clubs. We were told by the airline that we should lock the hard case holding the clubs with TSA approved locks.

Each time we fly, if we have TSA APPROVED locks on our bags, we are told by TSA to them take them off before they will accept the bags.

So - do they only make you take them off regular bags and you can lock golf clubs or is the inconsistency something that you run into no matter what the situation?

We do not want the case popping open when they throw the bags around and the clubs getting lost. We also prefer not to have them stolen.

So, for those who actually have experience with this, what did you run into?

 

[*Belle*]

We always use TSA locks no matter where we fly. We have never been asked to remove them. They have always been locked when the bags and/or skis have arrived. Just to be certain your golf bags do not open, you can use quick release cable ties. We always use these as a backup to our locks.


Belle

 

[Luv2CtheMouse]

Cable ties is a GREAT suggestion. Thank you!

 

[Vijoge]

I use zip toes on all my luggage, no locks, TSA approved or otherwise. I have never been asked to remove them.

 

[bytheblood]

What are zip toes?


ETA - okay, I think it was just a typo and you meant "ties". I am not picking on your spelling - I just really thought maybe that was a product I was not aware of.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Cable ties and zip ties are the same thing....yes, the PP had a typo.

I always use a cable tie on my luggage. I keep a supply of them in one of the outside pockets of my bag with a really tiny pair of dollar store scissors.

If the TSA wants into your bag they will cut the tie do the search and then replace the tie with one of theirs.

 

[Vijoge]

What are zip toes?


ETA - okay, I think it was just a typo and you meant "ties". I am not picking on your spelling - I just really thought maybe that was a product I was not aware of.

I ken spel-jest kant tipe to gud.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Each time we fly, if we have TSA APPROVED locks on our bags, we are told by TSA to them take them off before they will accept the bags.

The TSA doesn't accept your luggage for check-in, airline employees do. You appear to be confused.

 

[Luv2Diz]

The TSA doesn't accept your luggage for check-in, airline employees do. You appear to be confused.

Actually - it depends on the airport. I have flown out of at least two airports where you take your luggage to the airline counter to be weighed and tagged, but you are then instructed to take it to a nearby TSA area where it is then run through the scanner and TSA then gets your luggage back to the airline.

 

[WeLuvTink!]

Actually - it depends on the airport. I have flown out of at least two airports where you take your luggage to the airline counter to be weighed and tagged, but you are then instructed to take it to a nearby TSA area where it is then run through the scanner and TSA then gets your luggage back to the airline.

That's also the way it is at my home airport. You start at the airline counter, they weigh and tag your bag, then tell you to wheel it over to TSA (for bags, not the passenger screening/body scan).

I got some grief once for having TSA locks on my bags. I explained they were TSA-approved (had the symbol right on them) and was told "Yeah, but if we can't get it open we'll cut them off". Luckily they were still intact when we arrived in Orlando.

 

[goofy4tink]

I would ask that any/all offensive terminology be removed from all posts here. If the posters who used the offending verbiage don't change their wording, I will have to do it. And I really don't like to change other people's posts.
Not to mention that this particular verbiage is very close to being point worthy!!

 

[bytheblood]

The TSA doesn't accept your luggage for check-in, airline employees do. You appear to be confused.



No need to use vulgarities, even if you have a thing against TSA employees.

This is not true for all airports. At DFW, if you do self check-in, you are instructed to take your bags directly to an area where TSA takes your bags. I have experienced this many times and they say the following: do you have any liquids, flammables, firearms or explosives in your luggage? Have you removed all locks? Then they take your bags and you go through security.

I have never had locks on my bags, but I have seen them make other passengers remove theirs.

 

[bytheblood]

At DFW, TSA often takes bags after the airline weighs and tags them. It really just depends on what time you are flying out. TSA agents at DFW will ask you to remove the locks, even if they are TSA approved.

You cannot take golf clubs as a carry-on.

Baggage check, what happens behind the scenes, is done by TSA. I have known people who have had items stolen from their bags between the time it leaves them and arrives in baggage claim at their destination. Sadly, it does happen.

 

[bytheblood]

I ken spel-jest kant tipe to gud.

I honestly was not attacking your spelling. I thought maybe I was not aware of a product and then realized that you probably just hit the wrong letter. I am only the grammar police in my own house.

 

[Luv2CtheMouse]

I would ask that any/all offensive terminology be removed from all posts here. If the posters who used the offending verbiage don't change their wording, I will have to do it. And I really don't like to change other people's posts.
Not to mention that this particular verbiage is very close to being point worthy!!

Seriously??? I did not realize that saying some people are "booties" is offensive. I have seen seen much worse go on on these forums for years and nobody says a word. I guess it all depends on who you are. I changed the word for avoid offending anybody.

 

[Luv2CtheMouse]

The airline tags and weighs the bag and TSA takes them and scans them. They have been known to tell you to remove the loack, regardless of what kind it is.

 

[Luv2CtheMouse]

The TSA doesn't accept your luggage for check-in, airline employees do. You appear to be confused.



No need to use vulgarities, even if you have a thing against TSA employees.

Wow, that was vulgar?

 

[eliza61]

The airline tags and weighs the bag and TSA takes them and scans them. They have been known to tell you to remove the loack, regardless of what kind it is.

Where? for a checked bag, airlines weigh them, tag them and then turn around and put them on the conveyor belt to that magical place below the belly of the plane? Where is the tsa agency coming into play?

May I ask where you are flying out of? from my experience (Philadelphia, Chicago Ohare, JFK and Newark) and I fly for business so it's usually 3-4X's a month. checked baggage leaves your hand long before you encounter a tsa agent.

Or are you taking your clubs as carryon?

 

[goofy4tink]

Seriously??? I did not realize that saying some people are "booties" is offensive. I have seen seen much worse go on on these forums for years and nobody says a word. I guess it all depends on who you are. I changed the word for avoid offending anybody.

Thanks for taking care of it yourself. I truly appreciate it. I try to hold everyone that posts on this board to the same rules. It doesn't much matter to me who uses the term..it's going to be offensive.
In my opinion, yes, it is offensive. The way I decide if something is vulgar or offensive is to decide if I would use it with my mother sitting next to me. The phrase you used is really just a way to get around another word that is in our word filter. And trying to get around word filters is 'points worthy'. Now, you may possibly use this term in your everyday life. And that's up to you. I also know a ton of younger people who drop the F bomb as if it were perfectly acceptable in society. After all....according to my ds (37), it's just a word. But, the vast majority of people find it to be offensive. And that is how I base my judgements.
There are other ways of getting a point across. I have stated it before...I will ot sit by and allow an entire group of people be called names based on the actions of just a few in their group.

 

[Carriemel]

Thanks to the moderator!

As a TSA baggage officer, we are not supposed to tell a passenger to remove a lock from a bag. If we need to get into a locked bag, we do first attempt to find a key for that lock before removing the lock. If it's a TSA lock, we have a specialized set of keys to use.

The zip-ties, cable ties, or whatever you want to call them are FANTASTIC to use. We generally have a HUGE supply of them on hand to re-lock your bag if we need to remove them.

As far as the posters who've said that the airline doesn't accept bags, they DO. Even if you have to take your bags to the X-ray machine, you've still stopped at the airline's desk first for them to accept the bag and tag it.

If we do ask you to remove a lock, you are more than welcome to wait for your bag to be processed. When it has finished being processed, you are then welcome to lock it for the rest of its journey. Once it's been processed at the original airport's TSA scanner, it will not go through another scanner *UNLESS you're going international*.


And for the poster who said "Where? for a checked bag, airlines weigh them, tag them and then turn around and put them on the conveyor belt to that magical place below the belly of the plane? Where is the tsa agency coming into play? The conveyor belt takes the bags to a TSA screening location. By government mandate, any bag that goes into an aircraft, be it belly storage or on board, must be screened by TSA.