Was I robbed on board?
Nov 6, 2014, 11:49 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DXB/JFK/LHR
Programs: BA GGLfL, ex-EK IO, IC Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador, Amex Centurion
Posts: 267
Was I robbed on board?
I took a flight between DXB and HKG recently. I had exchanged around USD2,500 which when I got on board I put into the zip on my wheelie bag and loaded it into the overhead locker.
The flight load was really light. I would guess on 10-15 people in the whole of J on a 333.
Flight was uneventful and I slept for the most part. When we landed I headed of to the Wing and checked for my cash....to my horror it had gone!
I can only assume I was robbed whilst I slept
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do you think I would have had any recourse?
The flight load was really light. I would guess on 10-15 people in the whole of J on a 333.
Flight was uneventful and I slept for the most part. When we landed I headed of to the Wing and checked for my cash....to my horror it had gone!
I can only assume I was robbed whilst I slept
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do you think I would have had any recourse?
Nov 7, 2014, 12:08 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Silver/ows, CX AsiaMiles (not even GR anymore!) missing my GO days
Posts: 1,581
Was I robbed on board?
For Pete's sake, for that amount if money has it not occurred to you to go to the police and file a report with the airline yet? That's liked to yield a more helpful response than anything you'll get here.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:11 am
#3
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,690
Nov 7, 2014, 12:11 am
#4
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,810
Nov 7, 2014, 12:15 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DXB/JFK/LHR
Programs: BA GGLfL, ex-EK IO, IC Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador, Amex Centurion
Posts: 267
My assumption was both the police and airline would be polite and take notes but that little would happen. My main interest is seeing if this had happened to any other PAX before.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:15 am
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,690
On a serious note, it is unfortunately probably a good idea to have a lock on our bags if we plan to store important things like wallet, cash, or passport in them and put them in the overhead.
Sorry to hear of your loss, OP, hopefully you still have your passport and credit cards
Also unfortunately, since you didn't notice till an hour later, it could have been a sneak thief/pickpocket anywhere along your path leaving the airport.
Sorry to hear of your loss, OP, hopefully you still have your passport and credit cards
Also unfortunately, since you didn't notice till an hour later, it could have been a sneak thief/pickpocket anywhere along your path leaving the airport.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:17 am
#7
Suspended
Join Date: May 2006
Location: HKG
Programs: A3, TK *G; JL JGC; SPG,Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,952
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B142 Safari/8536.25)
Has been on news before and they caught a few thievies.
Wouldnt call this an empty thread but it would b better if we are careful of our belingings onboard.
Has been on news before and they caught a few thievies.
Wouldnt call this an empty thread but it would b better if we are careful of our belingings onboard.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:20 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DXB/JFK/LHR
Programs: BA GGLfL, ex-EK IO, IC Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador, Amex Centurion
Posts: 267
Nov 7, 2014, 12:21 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DXB/JFK/LHR
Programs: BA GGLfL, ex-EK IO, IC Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador, Amex Centurion
Posts: 267
On a serious note, it is unfortunately probably a good idea to have a lock on our bags if we plan to store important things like wallet, cash, or passport in them and put them in the overhead.
Sorry to hear of your loss, OP, hopefully you still have your passport and credit cards
Also unfortunately, since you didn't notice till an hour later, it could have been a sneak thief/pickpocket anywhere along your path leaving the airport.
Sorry to hear of your loss, OP, hopefully you still have your passport and credit cards
Also unfortunately, since you didn't notice till an hour later, it could have been a sneak thief/pickpocket anywhere along your path leaving the airport.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:24 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,580
File a police report.
I know it doesn't help in the retrospective case, but for future reference,
- probably not a very good idea to keep cash in the outside zipper pocket of a suitcase (or for that matter, any other place where it can be accessible to people with minimal handling and in a 1-3 seconds). Your own pocket is probably the safest place, or deep inside a locked suitcase where one would need to take out the case, open it, and rummage to find the cash would also be safer,
- probably not a very good idea to show/take out/move cash and show where you are putting it before multiple hours without moving, better do the sorting in an airport toilet cubicle a bit ahead of time to be less conspicuous,
- if you have precious belongings, check out that they are still there before leaving the plane rather than after.
I know it doesn't help in the retrospective case, but for future reference,
- probably not a very good idea to keep cash in the outside zipper pocket of a suitcase (or for that matter, any other place where it can be accessible to people with minimal handling and in a 1-3 seconds). Your own pocket is probably the safest place, or deep inside a locked suitcase where one would need to take out the case, open it, and rummage to find the cash would also be safer,
- probably not a very good idea to show/take out/move cash and show where you are putting it before multiple hours without moving, better do the sorting in an airport toilet cubicle a bit ahead of time to be less conspicuous,
- if you have precious belongings, check out that they are still there before leaving the plane rather than after.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:27 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DXB/JFK/LHR
Programs: BA GGLfL, ex-EK IO, IC Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador, Amex Centurion
Posts: 267
File a police report.
I know it doesn't help in the retrospective case, but for future reference,
- probably not a very good idea to keep cash in the outside zipper pocket of a suitcase (or for that matter, any other place where it can be accessible to people with minimal handling and in a 1-3 seconds). Your own pocket is probably the safest place, or deep inside a locked suitcase where one would need to take out the case, open it, and rummage to find the cash would also be safer,
- probably not a very good idea to show/take out/move cash and show where you are putting it before multiple hours without moving, better do the sorting in an airport toilet cubicle a bit ahead of time to be less conspicuous,
- if you have precious belongings, check out that they are still there before leaving the plane rather than after.
I know it doesn't help in the retrospective case, but for future reference,
- probably not a very good idea to keep cash in the outside zipper pocket of a suitcase (or for that matter, any other place where it can be accessible to people with minimal handling and in a 1-3 seconds). Your own pocket is probably the safest place, or deep inside a locked suitcase where one would need to take out the case, open it, and rummage to find the cash would also be safer,
- probably not a very good idea to show/take out/move cash and show where you are putting it before multiple hours without moving, better do the sorting in an airport toilet cubicle a bit ahead of time to be less conspicuous,
- if you have precious belongings, check out that they are still there before leaving the plane rather than after.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:49 am
#12
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 2,172
There were in fact a feel reports of people stealing from bags in overhead bins, in the past year or so. What I find it strange is that it seems quite stupid of these thieves. First, there are so many pairs of eyes on an aeroplane. Secondly, on the airside and on a plane everyone's personal particulars have been verified, it will be stupid to commit a crime. Thirdly, there is no way of escaping from a plane or even escaping from the airside of an airport. Summarised, it is difficult to justify stealing in the circumstances.
Nov 7, 2014, 12:58 am
#13
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,690
There were in fact a feel reports of people stealing from bags in overhead bins, in the past year or so. What I find it strange is that it seems quite stupid of these thieves. First, there are so many pairs of eyes on an aeroplane. Secondly, on the airside and on a plane everyone's personal particulars have been verified, it will be stupid to commit a crime. Thirdly, there is no way of escaping from a plane or even escaping from the airside of an airport. Summarised, it is difficult to justify stealing in the circumstances.
Nov 7, 2014, 1:16 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
Programs: United 1k, Marriott Lifetime PE, Former DL Gold, Former SQ Solitaire, HH Gold
Posts: 11,886
I took a flight between DXB and HKG recently. I had exchanged around USD2,500 which when I got on board I put into the zip on my wheelie bag and loaded it into the overhead locker.
The flight load was really light. I would guess on 10-15 people in the whole of J on a 333.
Flight was uneventful and I slept for the most part. When we landed I headed of to the Wing and checked for my cash....to my horror it had gone!
I can only assume I was robbed whilst I slept
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do you think I would have had any recourse?
The flight load was really light. I would guess on 10-15 people in the whole of J on a 333.
Flight was uneventful and I slept for the most part. When we landed I headed of to the Wing and checked for my cash....to my horror it had gone!
I can only assume I was robbed whilst I slept
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do you think I would have had any recourse?
Nov 7, 2014, 2:19 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: VA Velocity, SQ KrisFlyer
Posts: 92
There has been a few reports suggesting Mainland Chinese robbers bought tickets on flights and they do steal money and other valuables during the flight to Hong Kong & Macau.
For your safety and security, before disembarking the aircraft and plane doors open, if you do carry some amount of cash, remember to check if it is still there in your sight.
If not, notify crew immediately. Crew can put the plane in lockdown to find stolen goods for you. Usually it should be found quite easily and at the same time you can catch thieves too.
For your safety and security, before disembarking the aircraft and plane doors open, if you do carry some amount of cash, remember to check if it is still there in your sight.
If not, notify crew immediately. Crew can put the plane in lockdown to find stolen goods for you. Usually it should be found quite easily and at the same time you can catch thieves too.