TSA Locks
 

Hi, flying to US in May. Just read about not locking bag and then read about TSA locks. Can anybody recommend a good one. I know they are not expensive, so that is not really a problem, just want to make sure it lasts for a few trips.
I take it that people on here would recommend using them.

Mick

Loads of discussion in this an other forums. Lazy TSA officer has a cutter next to him but needs to share one TSA key will all the other TSA officer. What is the TSA officer going to do - cut it!

What are you going to do? You only see your bags on arrival so its too late any way. You personally question/challenge a TSA officer and they call the police and have you arrested. You write a letter of complaint, is anyone going to do anything about it?

Do not waste your time and money.

Looked in search and could not find anything that recommended a brand etc, sorry if discussed before.

So you say travel without any locks there and back. That does make me a little nervous I must admit, so may buy some anyway and hope ok.

Mick

I use them on my checked bag (sorry, don't remember the brand, it was whatever was on the rack at the luggage shop). Both times that I'm aware of TSA opening the bag (they left a note), they used their master key. I carry a spare lock, just in case the first one gets cut.

I echo that, I purchased a lock that has the TSA approved logo on an airport shop and every time the TSA opend my bag, they left the lock intact (i.e used their key) and left the Notice of Baggage Inspection in the bag.

In chicago the TSA officer actualy commented that more peope should use it (you know next to the SAS check-in where you hand over your bag to the TSA officer).

So far my lock never got cut and I travel a lot over.

I guess I really hadn't thought about that. Over the last year, we have probably lost 5 or 6 TSA locks--if not more. It's not just the $10/piece that bothers us, it's the fact that almost everytime we get our luggage, the TSA lock is gone. Last time I went from LAX-HKG-MNL, when I arrived in MNL, not only was the lock gone, the two zipper handles were gone but the suitcase was still zipped up.

Not sure how that happened.

I guess based on reading this thread, I'll just use zip-ties.

Edit: Clicked on this link from the front page and didn't realize this was a BA thread... Oh well.

Sorry but I can't agree with this at all. :td:

I have TSA approved locks on my bags and they have never once been cut off, but I know they've been in the bags as they leave their notices inside. My parents have had the same experiences. I've had my TSA locks for 3-4 years now and thoroughly recommend them. In the 12+ trips we've made in that time none of the TSA approved locks have been cut off or taken from us.

I'm not aware of anywhere in the UK you can buy the locks but I'm sure there must be somewhere.

However, you can buy them in WalMart, KMart, Target and other stores like that in the US. They are about $1 more than a regular cheapie lock and well worth the buy. My last two were $4.99 from WalMart just a couple of weeks ago.

Hi, thanks for help. Went on the TSA website and it had a couple of very good links, can buy them in John Lewis up the road from me, can also buy them from Amazon and a few others, seem to be about £5-6 each, so a bit of a pain, but better than the alternative. Now just have to find one with a large loop, I know that is not the correct word but could not think of another, as my back is dificult to fasten.

Mick

BA sell them on board at £6 each. Not much good outbound, perhaps, but OK for the return journey.

Buy 9 to earn 1,000 bonus BA Miles :) (or mix and match with something you might actually want to buy).

you can buy them at loads of places, there was a stand of travel type thingys in Woolworths the other day with them on, Debenhams is another one I have seen in the last 5 days as well, I had mine cut off ex PHL and now I use cable ties

I never put anything I can't replace in a checked bag and I don't lock them. Though I sometimes feel my bags are magnets to TSA. Nearly every time I travel they open my checked bags...nothing has gone missing, but they have cut near the lock on a hard side bag, cut off locks. and cut off straps that were not even locked. Now this raises a strange question...what do they do with bags that have that shrink wrapping around them? Anybody know?

I used a TSA lock when I flew from Chicago to Miami. When I got to Miami, the bag had a notice inside to say the bag had been checked, but the lock was missing.

Either the TSA officer could not be bothered to find the correct master key, or they just forgot to put the lock back on afterwards. Either way, I was very annoyed.

A colleague just uses a cable tie to keep the zips together. Fine for preventing your suitcase spilling its contents over the luggage belt, but no use in stopping baggage handlers from pinching anything.

In the 3-4 years I've been using them, I have had a couple that I can only assume were cut open or the TSO forgot to place it on my bag properly after an illegal inspection of my private property.

On one occasion, I did a daft thing and placed a TSA lock on the zippered outer pouch of a bag I had to gate check on a turboprop commuter plane. Unfortunately, the keys to the TSA lock were in that zippered pocket. No problem, I'll ask the TSA for a lock when I land, I thought. TSA response: We don't keep keys! We just cut the lock off! bar$tid$

GBP17 gets you a nice Tumi one, probably USD17 (or less) in the US of A!

The 2nd one's my favourite.................

http://www.tumi.com/search/tsa_combi...?modelid=46338

http://www.tumi.com/search/t3_tsa_co...?modelid=57870

I always lock my bag as I have a domestic UK hop. I'm not sure of the selection process for checking bags, but I'd have thought that the unlocked ones are easier for Mr TSA to get into than bother with a locked one.

I've never had mine opened yet!

For £5 John Lewis/Peter Jones do them and I've bought a few there. Never had them cut off, but have had other locking methods removed by TSA who then left a note & the remains of the lock device.

Moving this to the Travel Products forum. Thanks!

From experience by the key ones NOT the tumbler number ones. These tend to jam and you cant open them at all.

I've owned these locks since they first came out and haven't lost any. I prefer the 3-number combination ones; hate messing with keys. None have ever jammed.

I use the SearchAlert TSA locks. They have an indicator on them that turns to red if the TSA unlocks them. This is nice when they "forget" to leave one of their love notes in the suitcase so I know to check to see if anything is missing.

http://www.tamperseal.com/searchaler...0ccb843b29d41c

I never lock my bags. Never have. My bags have been lost and returned and nothing lifted, despite it being packed with tripod, cablingm chargers for cameras etc. Haven't had an issue what so ever.

My last trip Gothenburg - Frankfurt - Toronto I just simply took gaffa tape around my hard sided bag. Mostly because it was FULL and I didn't want it to explode and spread it's contents. The tape is also a good indication if your bag has been tampered with.

I believe that within US you alwasy get your bags checked anyway.

I'm not sure the TSA system has rolled out across Europe so should you fly within with a locked bag, it will be cut. If you have a hardsided bag with builtin locks your bag will be broken in to, no matter what you would think is right or wrong, and you can claim zero money for it. TSA in any country have the right to look in to your bag once you have checked it. If you have locked it, they have the right to use whatever means necessary to open the bag.

The only time I lock a bag is a rollaboard, should I leave it unattended. But anyone could walk off with it anyway, so what is the point, really.

More then likely the lock got caught in the conveyor system. Your lucky the handles came loose before you bag tore. I stopped using the locks with cables instead of steel because I could see where they had been caught on something.

I use TSA locks all the time and in the US they have never gone missing. I have had the notice in my bag that the bag was searched but the lock was back in place.

The only issue I have had was coming back from Australia. In Europe and such they do not honor the TSA logo or locks. They will cut them off if they have to check your bag and will toss the lock. When I came back from Australia, I requested a hand check of my checked luggage, they hand checked it, I put my lock on the bag and they marked the bagged security checked and let it go. It arrived with lock in tact at LAX.

It may be a false sense of security, but I do like to use the locks.

I've used the TSA locks with success.

Traveling to certain portions of the world without locked bags is retarded. You don't want somebody talking things out or putting things in your bags.

Have gotten the SearchAlert TSA locks on eBay. I just buy 6 at a time and hand them out as "stocking stuffers" to my travelling friends. TSA has left me their love note of baggage inspection 20+ times, but the lock stays intact. Would absolutely recommend!

Most likely they just cut off the zipper toggles you had the lock running through. Easier to cut them off then the locks.

Distinctive colored zip ties should fulfill the function of showing whether someone (TSA or otherwise) has opened your checked baggage. If you choose to use TSA locks, get ones with the indicator that shows when a TSA key has been used to open them.

I have actually gotten my luggage back and the lock had grooves worn in it were it was dragged along a piece of steel. This happened on three different trips. So there is still a chance the lock got stuck in the conveyor system.

I second that
 

I have been using them for many years, and have never had them cut. I have had the ones with the solid shackle bent beyond use, and have had my luggage opened several times, but the lock is always there when I get the bag. First, I only use the combo locks - keys are too small to keep track of. Second, I prefer the locks with the cable shackle, like http://www.tamperseal.com/tsa-cable-lock-p-159.html but I really liked the locks that have a window that turned red to show when they were opened. It was resettable, but those all have the hard shackle, at least I have not found any. The most trips a lock has lasted for me was about 60. That's pretty darn good. Of course, there has been the new lock that got bent on the first trip, but that is rare. The cable lock has been going now for over 1.2 years and has not been broken.

I recently bought a 2 pack of TSA locks for $4.99 at a no-name discount store. They were made my Tourister I think.

I buy them from amazon for $$$?, well you can see below:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...d+lock&x=0&y=0

My own experience has been positive for domestic travel; not so lucky for couple of times on international flights (locks cut).

I've been using them for a couple yrs, maybe just coincident but the 2 times that I used 4-ring combo lock they got lost but all my 3-ring ones are fine.

My checked pieces are Samsonite hardshell cases. I've bought the TSA approved straps and found them to be pretty good. One of them did get destroyed on its first trip but I bought it from Safe Skies Locks and they replaced it free of charge.

Can get them in some pretty lurid colours so it helps with identifying them on the carousel too.

I used a Lewis and Clarke TSA lock recently. After its first flight the shackle was kind of bent back and the lock did not open smoothly. The bag's zippers were fine. I unsuccessfully tried to bend the shackle back, and it seemed to me a pair of pliers and a screwdriver were all that might be needed to break the lock.

I may start using zip ties. But the knife I'd use to cut off the zip tie, at my destination, would be inside the bag secured by the zip tie.... :confused:

I've had two TSA locks broken with a note left inside the bag over the past four years, and I now use cable ties and have a small set of nail clippers in my carry on which are fine for cutting the ties at my destination. When I arrrived in Sydney 18mths ago I noticed the ties were cut, and no note left inside the bag. Maybe paranoid, but took the bag to customs and inspected it in their presence, and all clear. I also have additional cable ties hidden in the bottom of the bag, and I think this is good option.

After losing $20 worth of TSA locks on my cases everytime I flew, I found this page on the TSA's own site ...

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/custome...agedlocks.shtm

Could be a cover for employee laziness, but I doubt it.

Now, I use zip ties. If they're there, no one's been in my bag. If they're gone, there should be a note inside. If there's not ... Well, fortunately that's never happened. :cool:

BA TSA locks
 

As well as buying inflight on BA. You can also buy TSA approved locks from their online shop at http://www.highlifeshop.com/

My wife and I always use them, have never been lost and the indicator has shown that the luggage has been opened on several occasion.