Wrapped luggage

How do you get all that wrap off the suitcase after flying? Not allowed to have knifes or scissors in carryon. Some of these things looked like mummies. What if your bag is "selected" for "enhanced" search/verification? I find I get the slip of TSA paper about 1 out of 3/4 times flying.

To me, I just put my "looseable" :p stuff in the suitcase. Funny on my last flight I nearly fell out of my seat as the young business person next to me complained that she wished she had her laptop in the cabin to watch a movie instead of in her checked bag. Me Do you think it safe? Her Sure I locked it and I have the only key! OH MY I said no more.

How do you get all that wrap off the suitcase after flying? Not allowed to have knifes or scissors in carryon. Some of these things looked like mummies. What if your bag is "selected" for "enhanced" search/verification? I find I get the slip of TSA paper about 1 out of 3/4 times flying.

 

To me, I just put my "looseable" :p stuff in the suitcase. Funny on my last flight I nearly fell out of my seat as the young business person next to me complained that she wished she had her laptop in the cabin to watch a movie instead of in her checked bag. Me Do you think it safe? Her Sure I locked it and I have the only key! OH MY I said no more.

I think the only time I would be interested in having this done was when I have concerns about my luggage zipper being broken (compromised) from the first leg of my trip...Many times I have waited and hoped my luggage would roll down the shoot still zipped closed :eek:

I think the only time I would be interested in having this done was when I have concerns about my luggage zipper being broken (compromised) from the first leg of my trip...Many times I have waited and hoped my luggage would roll down the shoot still zipped closed :eek:

A LOT depends on where you are traveling. And since wrapping luggage is expensive most places (even in SA, it is $5-10 per bag), it is a waste of money for most just to keep suitcases together. Those belts or similar (isn't that why everyone has a small roll of duct tape in their suitcase) should be fine for broken zippers, holes in luggage, etc.

BUT if you travel to certain parts of the world, wrapping your luggage provides a LOT more than just something to keep your luggage together. My younger brother, who is the chief environmental scientist for one of the world's largest mining companies, travels to A LOT of places normal tourists don't go. But you can sure bet, when he gets on a commercial flight BACK to the US from Africa or South America, his luggage is wrapped before he checks it in. He has usually spent 2-3 weeks in some very weird places (his company has $10-30 million in kidnap insurance on him) and it would be so easy to stick something in one his suitcases and then have him "kidnapped/arrested for ransom" for whatever it was that got stuck in his luggage.

I also travel frequently to South America, the Middle East and parts of Asia for business where I have my luggage wrapped. Just too darn easy for someone to slip something into your suitcases overseas in certain places-be it a bomb, drugs, stolen intellectual property or some other type of contraband.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/dea-american-airlines-workers-smuggled-cocaine-miami-york/story?id=16509719#.UeBfxazmvT4

13 years ago, the same problem happened with AA and in 2007 and 2010, other airlines flying from South America had baggage handlers busted for either secreting drugs in the plane itself or stuffing drugs into passengers luggage.

The one thing that keeps me spending the money wrapping my luggage in certain places in the world is Schapelle Corby. Whether she knew the pot was in her luggage will never be totally known. But damn, what if she REALLY didn't know??? 20 years in an Indonesian prison (and it could have been a death penalty in a lot of places in this world) make the luggage wrapping very cheap to me. Would I spend the money in the US, Europe or China? Nope

But South America, Bangkok, Vietnam, Djibouti and every place in the Middle East, if there is a wrapping station, I use it. Just my own little thing.

Certainly an eye opening way of looking at the situation -- never ever thought of that. I can certainly see the benefit of wrapping in those situations. Thanks once again for the expertise and thoughtfulness of people who travel for business and share that professional knowledge with the pleasure traveler. Smooth travels to you and your brother.

And here's what you get when the TSA decides to do its own wrapping job on your bag. This is my ski bag on arrival at MUC (searched/wrapped in ATL):

The zippers worked fine, but in the process of searching the bag the agent shifted some things around and apparently couldn't get it re-closed. Fortunately nothing was lost. My skis are hand searched, per the TSA love note, almost every time I fly with them.

As to an earlier post about taking the wrong bag, I once went to grab what I thought was this bag in ATL only to have a guy say, wait, that's mine! I purposely bought it in blue so it would be easy to spot, that's the only time I've seen another one just like it. And duh, mine is monogrammed & I still went for the wrong one. :rolleyes: After that is when I started using the bright green thingy on the strap.

In the past our luggage was opened with and without TSA notes more than 1/2 of the time. I gave up on locking our bags with tsa locks and now use multi colored zip ties and luggage straps (which I also secure with zip ties).

I apply these after the bags are weighed. Our bags are now opened less than 10% of the time and now always with a TSA note.

In addition to the reasons others have previously stated I would use the wrap service to protect the bags from rough handling, soiling and rain/snow damage. I have sat on a plane and watched our soft luggage sit unprotected in a downpour while it was loaded.

But, I'm confused if the bags are wrapped before they are checked wouldn't TSA be more likely to think it may contain banned items?

TSA often swabed the handles and zipper pulls looking for bomb residue. If flagged the bag is opened on the spot. One of my bags was flagged and the TSA agent told me that hand lotions often contain glycerin. How do they swab a wrapped bag? Or do they just X-ray now?

Would you be allowed to wrap your own bags? You can buy the wrap in various widths on a spool at the lumber box stores. My husbands company uses it to wrap cabinets before delivery.

More reasons why we switched to carry on only.

Just returned from South and Central America. Eight flights. The only 2 flight/airports where we did not see a wrapping station were Calgary and Houston.

Did you note this thread was almost four years old?

We just flew with Air Canada from Puerto Vallarta to Montreal and then on to Ottawa. We had about 5 hours layover in Montreal and it was raining quite hard. Guess what? We opened our luggage the next day and we had three suitcases with wet clothing and all of the articles were either wet or damp. Ever try to dry out 3 suitcases of stuff? Our house looks like a Chinese laundry.

If I have a chance I will:eek: pay to wrap our luggage in plastic in future.

WWe opened our luggage the next day and we had three suitcases with wet clothing and all of the articles were either wet or damp. Ever try to dry out 3 suitcases of stuff? Our house looks like a Chinese laundry

Or buy hard shell luggage....and a tumbledryer! I have a Samsonite Oyster that's about 20yrs old and with about a billion miles on it. It was out in the heavy rain for a connection a few years ago (I watched it sit out on the tarmac during a torrential thunderstorm!) everything inside was completely fine.

Did you note this thread was almost four years old?

I'm glad it was resurrected. :) I always wondered about that shrink-wrap! My luggage is regularly searched so I could never figure out how people got away without having their wrap cut off. The comment about zip ties was invaluable. Customs doesn't care whether you have TSA-approved locks or not. They will still cut them off. :mad:

Usually, you are with your bags when you clear Customs, so you could unlock them yourself.

If your TSA lock is cut off in the US, a TSA officer who didn't have easy access to the key was responsible.

When we fly Air France out of San Francisco... have our luggage wrapped... have done enroute to Rome through Paris and the Middle East ... protects the luggage, prevents thieves...