Question about TSA Locks

[BunnyLove123]

Is is necessary or a good idea to lock your checked luggage with a TSA approved lock for checked baggage? I almost bought some today while I was out, but wanted others opinion on the subject. Is it smart, or just a hassle?

 

FWIW, I ALWAYS tend to fly with just a carry-on, but this time because of extenuating circumstances:rolleyes:, I will need to check a bag. I do also ALWAYS keep anything of value, jewelry, meds, passport, etc with me in my carry-on.

 

 

So, what say you avid travelers?:confused:

 

 

Please & Thank you!:)

[zoncom]

Save your $. TSA cut off my friends TSA lock.

[BunnyLove123]

Well, doesn't that just suck! :(

[CruisingAlong4Now]

Always use TSA locks when we fly. Last trip I didn't know the TSA had opened my suitcase until I got home and saw a note inside the locked suitcase telling me they had inspected my bag.

 

They neatly repacked and put the lock back on. So the bag remained locked to the casual thief.

 

They're cheap and why not use them? ;)

[Marebear]

I got very tired of having to replace the TSA locks which cost $10 to $15 each and replaced them with zip ties which I can carry in my carry-on and have had no trouble since.

[Ashland]

I got very tired of having to replace the TSA locks which cost $10 to $15 each and replaced them with zip ties which I can carry in my carry-on and have had no trouble since.

Then what if the TSA cuts off your zip ties...then you have no lock at all ?

 

I would rather use the TSA locks. I've had my luggage checked by the TSA on occasion and they have at least always relocked my bags.

 

Got some very nice heavy duty ones at Home Depot...$5.00 for a package of two.

[slidergirl]

Then what if the TSA cuts off your zip ties...then you have no lock at all ?

 

I would rather use the TSA locks. I've had my luggage checked by the TSA on occasion and they have at least always relocked my bags.

 

Got some very nice heavy duty ones at Home Depot...$5.00 for a package of two.

 

Well, if TSA cuts off your TSA lock, then you have no lock at all ;) It only takes once to swear off the locks and go zip tie or split-ring!

[thinfool]

Then what if the TSA cuts off your zip ties...then you have no lock at all ?

 

I would rather use the TSA locks. I've had my luggage checked by the TSA on occasion and they have at least always relocked my bags.

 

Got some very nice heavy duty ones at Home Depot...$5.00 for a package of two.

 

In our experience, the TSA replaces the zip ties. We use hi-viz colored ties so that if they are gone or replaced (usually with white ones) we know someone has been into the bag.

[Got2Cruise]

In our experience, the TSA replaces the zip ties. We use hi-viz colored ties so that if they are gone or replaced (usually with white ones) we know someone has been into the bag.

 

How can you prove that it has been legitimately removed or that an unauthorized individual has gone through your bag? In other words why do you bother to put the twist ties on if they can easily be clipped off by many?

[6rugrats]

How can you prove that it has been legitimately removed or that an unauthorized individual has gone through your bag? In other words why do you bother to put the twist ties on if they can easily be clipped off by many?

 

After my last trip, I'll never check a bag again, but if I did, I wouldn't bother with anything. Anyone can break into your zippered bag using a pen, no matter what you lock it with.

 

Locks and ties get cut off all the time, and I don't why you would need to "prove" who removed them. It would make no difference.

[Got2Cruise]

After my last trip, I'll never check a bag again, but if I did, I wouldn't bother with anything. Anyone can break into your zippered bag using a pen, no matter what you lock it with.

 

 

 

Locks and ties get cut off all the time, and I don't why you would need to "prove" who removed them. It would make no difference.

 

 

Exactly. But one might attempt to make a claim against the airline for pilfering. Good luck with that one. Lol. My post was rhetorical. For years I have read about these TSA locks. Folks don't get it. If the thieves want to rob you they will find a way.

[thinfool]

How can you prove that it has been legitimately removed or that an unauthorized individual has gone through your bag? In other words why do you bother to put the twist ties on if they can easily be clipped off by many?

 

We don't use twist ties. We use what most commonly call zip ties....miniature versions of the plastic ties routinely used by electricians and law enforcement.

 

We use them to keep zippers from working open by themselves. They work very well.

 

It makes no difference, authorized or not, who opens our bags. There is nothing of real value in them. Indeed, on our way home from wherever, a lot of things are dirty :o . ewwww The ties serve the purpose of keeping zippers shut so that our stuff isn't strewn all over some baggage area.

 

As already commented, if someone wants into your bag, no TSA lock, zip tie or other device will stop them.

 

Personally, I wonder if a TSA lock is not a marker to a thief that there may be some interesting and valuable goodie inside.?.

[greatam]

Then what if the TSA cuts off your zip ties...then you have no lock at all ?

 

 

TSA replaces zip ties with creme, white or gray zips. I use the brightly colored, florescent ones so I can tell in a minute if someone has been in my bag. Too many choices of colors for a thief to carry around.

 

If the zip tie is different than what I put on, I will NOT take my bag off the carousel UNTIL I find an airline agent to go through the bag with me. If we see the TSA notice, no harm, no foul. Anything else, there is verification that someone was in my bag someplace that was NOT supposed to be. And any theft, if there was one, is much more easily substantiated with the agent standing there while I open the suitcase than trying to verify the theft later.

 

TSA locks are a joke. There is only one designated person per shift at each station that has the master key. And if that one person is doing something else or "out to lunch" (most of the time), the agent handling your bag will just cut the lock off. I laugh when I go into JFK-there is a large set of bolt cutters in plain site at AA luggage check places. They are there so the luggage continues on its path to the plane without waiting for a supervisor to show up. Can you imagine the logjam of luggage if the randomly selected bags had to continue to wait for a supervisor to show up with the key? Someone's luggage most likely won't make the plane.

[Shak]

TSA replaces zip ties with creme, white or gray zips. I use the brightly colored, florescent ones so I can tell in a minute if someone has been in my bag. Too many choices of colors for a thief to carry around.

 

If the zip tie is different than what I put on, I will NOT take my bag off the carousel UNTIL I find an airline agent to go through the bag with me. If we see the TSA notice, no harm, no foul. Anything else, there is verification that someone was in my bag someplace that was NOT supposed to be. And any theft, if there was one, is much more easily substantiated with the agent standing there while I open the suitcase than trying to verify the theft later.

 

TSA locks are a joke. There is only one designated person per shift at each station that has the master key. And if that one person is doing something else or "out to lunch" (most of the time), the agent handling your bag will just cut the lock off. I laugh when I go into JFK-there is a large set of bolt cutters in plain site at AA luggage check places. They are there so the luggage continues on its path to the plane without waiting for a supervisor to show up. Can you imagine the logjam of luggage if the randomly selected bags had to continue to wait for a supervisor to show up with the key? Someone's luggage most likely won't make the plane.

 

I also use zip ties for my checked luggage but I use two zip ties. Like you I worry about not only someone taking something out of my bag but adding something as well. With two zip ties (or one long one) someone will not be able to cover their tracks by breaking into the bag though the zippers unless they have the same color ties I have. I also will mark the ties with a sharpie too.

 

I use a Lewis N Clark Triple Security TSA lock for my carry on bag. This lock works like the two zip ties but I like it for carry on so to keep the contents more secure on the plane and incase it get gate checked. This lock can also be used to secure your bag to a fixed object at a restaurant or to connect bags together so someone would be faced with taking both.

 

Shak

 

[Ashland]

So what do you TSA anti- lock experts who posted above suggest ?

 

Colored Zip-Ties (what do you use to cut them off once at destination) ?

 

Will TSA "always" replace your Zip-Ties ?

 

No way can I travel on my upcoming flight to Asia without some sort of lock...TSA locks and zip-ties :confused::confused:

[thinfool]

So what do you TSA anti- lock experts who posted above suggest ?

 

Nail clippers work well to cut them off. Easily carried either in your purse or pocket or front pocket of your suitcase.

Will TSA "always" replace your Zip-Ties ?

More likely than replacing a lock that has been cut off.

No way can I travel on my upcoming flight to Asia without some sort of lock...TSA locks and zip-ties :confused::confused:

 

Greatam's post is very helpful. She has traveled, multiple times, to places far more hazardous and in greater peril that any of us average CC members.

Edited January 5, 2015 by thinfool

[greatam]

So what do you TSA anti- lock experts who posted above suggest ?

 

Colored Zip-Ties (what do you use to cut them off once at destination) ?

 

Will TSA "always" replace your Zip-Ties ?

 

No way can I travel on my upcoming flight to Asia without some sort of lock...TSA locks and zip-ties :confused::confused:

 

As thinfool posted, nail clippers work very, very well.

 

I don't get my bags opened very often because I usually use the Priority lines and those lines seem to have fewer TSA intrusions than your average leisure traveler. But when TSA has opened my bag (and it just happened Tuesday on a LAX to PHX flight on AA/US), I have always had at least the note. I don't ever remember them not putting a zip tie back on. And I just flew 5 different airlines from PHX to Vietnam via the Middle East, through Bangkok and into Vietnam. You can generally get your luggage wrapped in a lot of places if you are really worried (I only do that in South America). I like some of the smaller airports in Asia-they actually put security bands on your luggage and it flies right through the check stations, even when it arrives USA.

 

Once you get out of the USA and arrive Asia/the Middle East, you are FAR LESS likely to have your luggage pilfered than in the USA, Europe or South America. South America puts things INTO luggage on occasion but the majority of thefts occur right here in the USA. The major theft rings have generally targeted international flights arriving TO THE USA. They cut off hands in the Middle East for theft and in Asia, thieves are sent to very harsh prisons where they frequently DIE. NOT a lot of thievery going on in those areas nor muggings or anything we normally associate with street crime.

 

What are you so worried about? Unless you have laptops, cameras or expensive jewelry (STUPID move) in your luggage, what could you possibly be missing? A few clothes, a pair of shoes??? As much as I travel, I don't really remember ANYTHING missing from my luggage. I DO check when I arrive from the Middle East to the USA before I go through Customs. But again, if the zip ties I put on are different, then I get an agent to examine the bag with me. The copier toner terrorist act made me think twice about what someone could put IN my luggage. If they want my old Dockers or my nice beaded gowns, insurance covers that. And I do take pictures when I am packing.

 

You will be FINE. Don't worry.

[Ashland]

As thinfool posted, nail clippers work very, very well.

 

I don't get my bags opened very often because I usually use the Priority lines and those lines seem to have fewer TSA intrusions than your average leisure traveler. But when TSA has opened my bag (and it just happened Tuesday on a LAX to PHX flight on AA/US), I have always had at least the note. I don't ever remember them not putting a zip tie back on. And I just flew 5 different airlines from PHX to Vietnam via the Middle East, through Bangkok and into Vietnam. You can generally get your luggage wrapped in a lot of places if you are really worried (I only do that in South America). I like some of the smaller airports in Asia-they actually put security bands on your luggage and it flies right through the check stations, even when it arrives USA.

 

Once you get out of the USA and arrive Asia/the Middle East, you are FAR LESS likely to have your luggage pilfered than in the USA, Europe or South America. South America puts things INTO luggage on occasion but the majority of thefts occur right here in the USA. The major theft rings have generally targeted international flights arriving TO THE USA. They cut off hands in the Middle East for theft and in Asia, thieves are sent to very harsh prisons where they frequently DIE. NOT a lot of thievery going on in those areas nor muggings or anything we normally associate with street crime.

 

What are you so worried about? Unless you have laptops, cameras or expensive jewelry (STUPID move) in your luggage, what could you possibly be missing? A few clothes, a pair of shoes??? As much as I travel, I don't really remember ANYTHING missing from my luggage. I DO check when I arrive from the Middle East to the USA before I go through Customs. But again, if the zip ties I put on are different, then I get an agent to examine the bag with me. The copier toner terrorist act made me think twice about what someone could put IN my luggage. If they want my old Dockers or my nice beaded gowns, insurance covers that. And I do take pictures when I am packing.

 

You will be FINE. Don't worry.

I don't think I pack anything into my checked luggage that anyone would really want...but to me everything is something I personally need and would like to return home with if I took the trouble to bring it with me.

 

I have only flown to Asia once before...and had no trouble...it's those trips from LAX-FLL for cruise's where (on occasion) my bag has been opened (yes note enclosed).

 

So you're suggesting colored zip-ties for my checked bags LAX-NRT-SIN and the return PVG-SEA-LAX ?

 

Thanks so much for your helpful experience.

[slidergirl]

I use zip ties and split-ring keyrings. I do use the multi-colored zips…

 

While we're talking TSA locks: Just had a guest call down tonight. Couldn't get TSA lock off her suitcase. Got to sent the engineer up - took just a pair of nippers with him. Brought the lock back down for us to look at - the locking bale was easily cut in two. AND, the green thing that is supposed to pop to show you that it had been open was still not flagging the opened lock. The engineer took her some zip ties to use on the trip home ;)

[Globaliser]

Will TSA "always" replace your Zip-Ties ?

IME, no. Just as the TSA won't always put zip ties on if they cut off your locks either (whether it's a TSA lock or a non-TSA lock they've just cut off).