Lost Luggage
 

I have lost luggage on different occations when flying and the airlines have found all but one that had an expensive laptop computer in it. I have a friend who puts a small GPS unit in her luggage that can track its whereabouts anywhere in the world. Sounds like a good idea to me. Does anyone know the downside to putting a GPS unit in your luggage? This is my first post and I hope this question is inline with the topics discussed in this area. Thanks. T. Williams

How does she secure the unit? I suppose if the unit is in place and the luggage gets mis-directed, it might be helpful in locating it. But if it isn't secured somehow, it could get 'disappeared' if someone gets into her luggage while in transit. I'm sure you could make a case that the device could then be used to track down the thief, but I suspect you might have a hard time actually doing that tracking down/follow-up for you.

She could secure it to the case, but I have often wondered if TSA would react in a retaliatory manner if something was secured that way. (I have thought of using a cable lock to secure contents I didn't want stolen, but I'm afraid that TSA might consider that some sort of violation and cut my cable).

Like the idea but:
1) I suspect you may know where your bag is but the airline will refuse to take any notice when you try to tell them where the bag is. It would mean they have to send a dedicated person to the location you tell them. Nice thought but I do not think that's how the airlines tend to operate.
2) if you bag indoors or inside one of those containers, will the GPS device register or must it be outdoors?

Correct me if I err, but for the life of me, I'm not quite sure how communications with or tracking of a "small GPS" unit can be maintained unless the unit is exposed and able to "lock on to" one (actually more than one) of the NAVSATS.

Then there's the additional problem....Unlike cellphones, pure GPS sets don't provide two way communication with the sats. They simply read and display the sat data on their internally-stored map or other display.

Lost Luggage
 

Thank you for your comments ! T. Williams