So landed this evening in Beijing after flying KA906. Got halfway through customs when a lady tapped me and handed me one of my shirts and said this fell out your bag. I thought for a second can't be one of my shirts as my bag is zip locked , then on further inspection I found my originally zip locked sealed bag had been opened and was actually half way unzipped. I wasn't about to publicly inspect my baggage in the arrival hall , so I waited until I got to the hotel.

Once at the hotel I opened my bag and the contents had been clearly ripped out and thrown back in, nothing compared to how neatly I packed my bag then subsequently restrained with bag straps.

Nothing seems to be taken nor was there any valuables in the bag , but now who would cut off the cable ties I locked my bag with ? Doubt it was customs officers doing an inspection , but more rather a sneaky ground baggage handler who thought the first class bag tags might be a indication to valuables contained inside along with the 2 hour delay to maximize "searching " for valuables.



Is it worth to complain or should I just take it on the chin ?

I would send an email and notifying the airline/airport. If nobody complains, then they won't necessarily be aware of this problem. I had the TSA mess around my suitcase but 9/10 cases, everything was properly stored and the only trace of their presence would be the TSA notice inside.

You can doubt all you want, but 99.999998% chance, that is exactly what happened.

lol china. You should report. But mind you, in china they have what is called a washing-hair boat. You get to go to chinawithout using a passport.

i suspect securing your bag with cable ties is the equivalent of placing a large notice saying "SEARCH ME" on the front!

Well , better then keeping it unlocked as that would be too easy for opportunists.

Actually the opposite logic may apply. The baggage handlers may worry that it is a set up if the luggage can be accessed that easily.


Sometimes I won't even bother to lock the luggage when travelling into/from China, just to see if anyone would want to take my dirty laundry

90% of the time, baggage handlers are far too busy to go digging around in passengers luggage. Especially with all of the security cameras that are placed around the air-side area.

I remember seeing in the news that certain chinese airport baggage handlers need to put on camera when they work? But its probably not PVG or PEK otherwise i would have remember.

The news was either damage luggage or stolen goods, that particular airport state that all staff wear camera on duty so it must be the other airport (PEK/PVG dont remember) and police review the tape and caught the suspect.

Interesting , I have reported it to KA via email and even if no arrests or evidence/intel is gathered , then hopefully the heat will be turned up on potential bag theifs so they know that these things are followed up on properly.

hahahahahahaha

For many years this has been occurring on most all airlines.

I use TSA-approved padlocks. The idea isn't to prevent opening and theft, -- we know that that will happen. My approach is to make it a little harder, so the miscreant will decide that my bag isn't worth the effort and move on to the next one.

When flying with CX or KA and have bags to check, I usually ask for a serial-numbered plastic lock/ strap to tie up the zips. Again, this is not to prevent theft, but rather to dissuade theft as well as to make sure my zips won't open by itself during its journey. I do miss this lock when flying with other airlines as most do not provide an equivalent.

Just a little update....


I have yet to receive anyform of contact from KA since my email to them on the 27/06 and subsequently no reply to my follow up email on the 14/07. Terrible CS !