Originally Posted by
zencat
Part of the idea is to collect evidence for the purpose of filing reports and claims. Some TSA locks indicate whether they have been opened and searched. If a thief must damage the luggage to enter it, that's ideal because it creates evidence. But if security needs to cause damage to do their job, that's a problem.
I've been through a lot of airports and never heard someone getting paged to unlock their baggage. Sometimes people get paged for no given reason.. perhaps that's what's going on. But certainly there are numerous cases of peoples locks being cut, so I don't get the impression everyone is given the chance.
If you have suffered loss or damage, surely it is irrelevant whether that was done by security or some other thief?
I don't put anything valuable in my luggage and I doubt that the value of my lost/ damaged items would be greater than the excess on my insurance anyway, so I am not likely to be making a claim.
I use TSA locks everywhere, because those are the locks that I have and because I occasionally fly through the USA. So far, I have been to 63 countries and have yet to have a lock cut off. On the other hand, I have been paged to open luggage in China (for a small penknife) and in Abu Dhabi (for phone charging plug and leads).
FWIW, I only use padlocks to make sure the bag stays zipped and to slow down a thief looking for a quick, easy opportunity. I am under no illusion that the padlock will stop a determined thief - I just hope that, given the choice between a locked bag and an unlocked one, most will choose the easier option of the unlocked bag.
I also travel through Asia a lot and there have been stories (true or not) of drugs being placed inside unsuspecting travellers' bags. There again, I'm hoping that the unlocked bag will be chosen instead of mine.