is there much theft on planes and how do you protect yourself?
 

my friends says her two passports went missing from jetway to de-planing, on longhaul flight. she says it must have been theft. i rarely fly alone, so i am less worried (perhaps foolishly) about leaving my bags while i walk around onboard. what is the real lowdown about what is going on up there?

Never put one's passport inside carryon's

I always wondered if thefts happened frequently on flights, especially on overnight flights. I have been lucky and I always try to sleep as much as I can on flights. I have been on some flights where it would seem to be easy to rifle through carryons up in the overhead bins, especially when a large majority of the passengers are asleep.

To the OP: Could it also be possible she might have dropped it somewhere inside the a/c?

of course. she replaced them and all is fine now. nothing else was missing.

Glad she got them straightened out at the end. ^ Nonetheless a good thread to make us all more vigilant of our important belonging whilst traveling.

I don't think there is much theft that goes on inside a plane. If I were going to steal something the last thing I would want to do is be kept in a metal tube for another X hours until I am able to make my escape...lol.

And to the person that says not to put your passport in carryon luggage....where do you suggest to put it? If you put it in your checked luggage you won't be able to get through immigration!

This is one of those possibilities that never, ever would have occurred to me before I came to FT. I'd never dream of leaving my purse behind when getting up to go to the restroom in an airport, but once I'm on the plane I have no qualms about trusting strangers (and I usually fly solo).

But since the airline knows exactly who is on each flight and in each seat, I'd think thieves would hesitate to take the risk. Anyone gotten burned before?

Carry it on your person.

I was on a NWA flight SEA/MSP where a man who was sitting right in from of me stole $250 from an FA's purse which was stowed behind the seat right in front of the lav. There was a flight marshall sitting across the aisle. He saw the man snag the purse, take it into the lave and return it to its previous home behind the seat. The marshall advised the FA, who checked her purse and found $250 cash missing.

The FA came roaring back and tore a piece out of the thief. When we landed in MSP, all passengers were required to remain in their seats while the police boarded and removed the thief.

He wasn't really the sharpest knife in the drawer. :(

Best solution (if you can't keep valuables on your person): get a lock and use it on your carry-on bag at anytime it will be out of your line of sight or you will be otherwise distracted (sleeping, watching a movie, going to the lavatory, etc.).

My son had an MP3 player stolen FROM HIS BODY, whilst asleep on an LTU flight from FRA to the Dominican Republic. When he reported it to the FA, she told him that theft occurs regularly on routes to the Carribean.

A relative had his passport stolen from his suit jacket (which he was wearing) while sleeping on a flight from LHR to ORD. As this was pre 9-11 he was able to enter the US by paying a $50 fine. He was also told by customs that this was not uncommon as a US passport is quite valuable because an American can have any look and any accent.

This was a very careful and cautious guy, too.

I always put my carry-on in the compartment directly above my head, or at my feet. On a flight, if there's the slightest bit of movement, I will wake up, so if someone is above my head rustling around I'll awaken. I'd hate to wake up with someone's mangy paw in my bag. I'd imagine it would take a FAM to restrain me, because I'd probably want to beat someone. I truly detest thieves.

There was a well-publicised case of a SA FA who nicked a goodly sum of cash and travellers cheques from a sleeping pax in F on a flight from LHR to JNB. Another pax saw her, alerted the purser and she was arrested at JNB. A shocking incident - but at least SA took prompt action and didn't try to hush it up.

I became a lot more careful with my personal effects after reading about that. :(