Hmmm, that's interesting. Since they cannot search all passenger on that plane w/o warrant and the warrant is not likely to be obtained, that sounds like a perfect opportunity to steal :eek: :td:

>Never put one's passport inside carryons

Amen to that. Your passport should be in a breast pocket, preferably buttoned closed, along with a credit card. That way if you have to deplane in a hurry in an emergency, you've got everything you need.

Or, heaven forbid, you're dead or unconscious, they can identify you.

Regards,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

I'm really paranoid, because I had my wallet stolen once and my whole purse stolen once while I was living in Chicago (not on a plane) and the effort it took to fix the damage the thief did with my credit cards and checkbook took months to straighten out. It was an unbelievable hassle. I now always take my purse to the lav with me in airplanes, and I never, ever put my laptop in an overhead bin but always under the seat in front of me.

I read a story once about a guy who put his laptop in an overhead bin several rows ahead of his seat, and when he went to retrieve it, it was gone. He did run down the airport corridor after deplaning and spotted a woman with his laptop bag. She gave it back to him and kept walking--she made it obvious that she just didn't mistake his bag for hers, as she didn't head back toward the plane.

What the heck? Didn't the guy confront her?

I keep it in my shirt pocket.

I keep my carry-on bag locked and under my feet (I'm only 5'1" and use it as a foot rest if I'm in coach). I have a small purse inside it with my wallet and passport and if I need to use the rest room, I take the purse with me (and re-lock the carry-on, of course). Maybe it sounds a bit paranoid, but I've had my wallet stolen twice from my (former) desks at work and have learned that you can never be too cautious.

I don't remember the ending to the story. I don't recall that it ended in an arrest, though.

I remember this story being posted also. The guy's young daughter had plastered stickers all over the laptop case so that's how he knew it was his when he saw the woman with it. Based on my memory of the posting, he didn't immediately twig to the fact that the woman didn't return to the plane to get a different laptop - which is why he didn't confront her.

Crowded flight to FRA from ORD, we had to put one case and a heavy coat for grand-daughter a few rows in front of us as we boarded exit row 30 on a 777 a bit late in Y due to late inbound to ORD. When we got out our bags close to our seats, overhead, and started out, her case was there but coat was long gone from just 4 rows up....FA at exit row could do nothing of course. Lesson: do not put anything OH that you cannot afford to "lose" (weather on landing was blowing snow. Great that we were taking train from the airport station to Wien.

People sure have some nerve is all I can say. In addition to the moral qualms most "normal" people would have about stealing something from someone, can you imagine just taking it right there only feet away and then hoping to make your very slow escape. Sociopathic to the extreme.

I was on a NW flight about a year and a half ago when it was discovered maybe an hour before landing that a young woman had had all her "starting college money" and some other stuff (camera, etc.) stolen during the flight. Repeated PAs were made asking people to look carefully around their seat areas to see if they could find anything. Then the ante was upped and we were told that LEOs would be meeting the flight if the missing items weren't "found." Nothing. When the flight landed we were prohibited from unfastening our seatbelts until permission was given, even after the plane was at the gate. We sat & waited for a while, some TSA & local sheriff types were there when the door was opened & consulted for a while and then they finally announced that everyone other than people in some range of rows could finally unbelt and leave the plane. I got the heck out & never found out what happened, but always wondered. One of the FAs in first who looked like she had flown quite a few miles, shall we say, said she had never had such an experience. I don't think it is *that* common.

Telfes, did you learn if the "lost" articles were removed from overhead vs under seat baggage? What a shame!!! This is why any carry on of mine or family on UA refardless of class ticket items now has at least cheap locks.
Cheers

I don't recall it being completely clear if it was bins or under the seat, but I know I was thinking under seat -- in my recollection it sounded like stuff that I would not even consider putting in an overhead bin -- even if I were for some reason not thinking my hundreds of dollars getting stolen, I would worry about my electronics getting crushed & I know some of the stuff at least was that sort of stuff. But that's me. That said, she also had a boyfriend along, so if it was stolen from under the seat, that would be 2 of them that didn't notice, so maybe it was in a bin. :eek:

It was a sad scene -- she was up in the front galley with an FA crying her eyes out. :(

Yeah...I keep my passport in a place where it could not be taken without my knowing even if I was asleep over the ocean somewhere.

After reading this I will probably do the same with wallet, cash, etc.

^ ^