Practical Travel Safety Issues - TSA stole my lock :(

On arriving in LHR I noticed my TSA-certified combination lock was missing form my checked baggage. I opened up the bag and as expected there was the usual TSA letter confirming the bag had been examined.

The lock is probably worth only a couple of dollars, but it's still annoying :(

I assume the TSA won't ever give me any compensation - anyone else tried?

Probably got removed with tools since they rarely know where they placed that very useful master key for such locks. Locks on bags are fairly useless. Anybody can get into a suitcase with a screwdriver or less so stop wasting your money.

TSA do not compensate for keeping you safe. edited by moderator

TSA has stolen or otherwise destroyed 6 of my TSA approved locks over the years. I have never gotten a TSA notice in the bag.

I've had a TSA letter before but never bother to lock my bag.

What do they do when you wrap your bag in that cling film stuff? Do they rip it all off?

You're not really supposed to have a locked bag going to LHR. TSA-certified locks are fine if the TSA guys have nothing to do and can run around fiddling with keys in locks, but they are allowed to cut through the nonsense when they're in a hurry and have a lot of bags. As far as I know, you are not entitled to compensation. In future, if money is a concern, use ziplock ties. They're pennies each so it is not an annoyance when an officer cuts the tie. You will have plenty more packed away so you can again "lock" your bag against petty pilfering on the tube or what have you...but if you're traveling by commercial air, the first rule is that you have already agreed to a search and the second rule is don't be a nuisance. A lock, even a TSA approved one, certainly violates the second rule in the eyes of many officers because it wastes time. So they cut it.

I feel like the sellers of these TSA approved locks are scammers and know they are, and I wish the whole enterprise of selling these locks would be shut down, but travelers are viewed as acceptable marks for these small rip-offs, and too frequently it is allowed to sell us useless junk. Let the buyer beware!!!






On arriving in LHR I noticed my TSA-certified combination lock was missing form my checked baggage. I opened up the bag and as expected there was the usual TSA letter confirming the bag had been examined.

The lock is probably worth only a couple of dollars, but it's still annoying :(

I assume the TSA won't ever give me any compensation - anyone else tried?

Anybody can get into a suitcase with a screwdriver or less so stop wasting your money.

Depends on the suitcase and the lock. I wouldn't recommend using the "firearm case" dodge going to LHR, though.

The TSA website even says:

"TSA has worked with several companies to develop locks that can be opened by security officers using universal "master" keys so that the locks may not have to be cut."

Bolding mine.

IOW, depending on the laziness of the screener, you may or may not get your lock back.

IOW, depending on the laziness of the screener, you may or may not get your lock back.

You may or may not get any valuables back, either.

File a claim ... I did, not for a lock but for a cutting open a box that the TSA was not smart enough to figure out how to remove from a duffle. In that case, a TSA contact at the SLC found the tapes, reviewed them, and agreed his officers were not smart enough to figure it out so they cut open the box.

I got $7 from the TSA for the box and another $5 bucks for shipping the box :-)).

As for the lock, here is TSA best efforts to remove one of my locks:

http://i42.tinypic.com/21bt9i8.jpg

Probably got removed with tools since they rarely know where they placed that very useful master key for such locks. Locks on bags are fairly useless. Anybody can get into a suitcase with a screwdriver or less so stop wasting your money.

So how does the TSA handle hard bodied cases with combination TSA locks? Has anyone had a checked Rimowa wedged open with a screwdriver?

I used to work as a baggage handler at PIT, I can tell you from first hand experience that luggage locks are generally pretty flimsy and really easy to open. I don't know that from breaking into people's luggage mind you I know it because the ramp is littered with snapped off locks. There is a half way decent chance that it came off by getting snagged on any one of a hundred things between you and the plane. It's usually not from anyone being uncareful either, when you have to lift 200 peices of heavy heavy bags, you tend to put a decent amount of effort into lifting each one, if the lock was snagged on some luggage below it well enough, POP. I couldn't tell you how many suitcases I broke just because it was completely overloaded and the handles couldn't support its own weight.

On arriving in LHR I noticed my TSA-certified combination lock was missing form my checked baggage. I opened up the bag and as expected there was the usual TSA letter confirming the bag had been examined.

The lock is probably worth only a couple of dollars, but it's still annoying :(

I assume the TSA won't ever give me any compensation - anyone else tried?

Had the complete opposite happen to me. As always,I leave my bags locked. I don't carry the keys for that exact reason. When I arrive in Bangkok the other day,I check into the hotel and discover TSA locked my bag! I eventually had to call maintenence to rip my bag open with a screwdriver. As always, not a big TSA fan at all.

On arriving in LHR I noticed my TSA-certified combination lock was missing form my checked baggage. I opened up the bag and as expected there was the usual TSA letter confirming the bag had been examined.

The lock is probably worth only a couple of dollars, but it's still annoying :(

I assume the TSA won't ever give me any compensation - anyone else tried?

Stuff happens. Get over it. Carry a spare lock.

You're not really supposed to have a locked bag going to LHR. TSA-certified locks are fine if the TSA guys have nothing to do and can run around fiddling with keys in locks, but they are allowed to cut through the nonsense when they're in a hurry and have a lot of bags.


You can lock your bag with anything you like when going into LHR. LHR has no requirement to have your bag unlocked. If you think otherwise, please cite your reference. I go through LHR frequently and have never before heard of what you say.

TSA certified locks are fine for the USA, which is where the TSA operates. In the rest of the world, you can use any lock you like.

Having said that, I realise that no sort of locking device will deter a determined thief. By locking my bags, all I aim to do is to prevent the zippers from opening accidentally, and to slow down a potential thief, in the hope that he/she will choose easier pickings than my bag.

Stuff happens. Get over it. Carry a spare lock.

You are 50% right. Stuff does happen and get over it. But, locking a suitcase is completely useless.

If anything, a lock signals that you are carrying valuables and one of the hundreds of people at departure, connection and arrival points, who handle luggage, is more likely to target your bag than somebody else's.

You are 50% right. Stuff does happen and get over it. But, locking a suitcase is completely useless.

If anything, a lock signals that you are carrying valuables and one of the hundreds of people at departure, connection and arrival points, who handle luggage, is more likely to target your bag than somebody else's.

See my post no 14, immediately preceding your post. In my experience, most of the bags I see at the baggage carousels are locked in one way or another.