Locked Luggage or Not?

Since 9/11, I never bother locking my checked luggage. Do people tend to lock it on the ship? Is the luggage safe when you put it out in the hallway the night before you disembark? I wouldn't have anything of value inside, but still, I'd hate to have anything taken.

We have TSA approved locks that we put on.

Since 9/11, I never bother locking my checked luggage. Do people tend to lock it on the ship? Is the luggage safe when you put it out in the hallway the night before you disembark? I wouldn't have anything of value inside, but still, I'd hate to have anything taken.

For flying, I leave the locks off. Once I reach the pier, I lock them.

The luggage is just fine when put out in the hallway. I have never had a problem with that :)

We never lock

Lock it, why not?

This is often debated, those who don't say whats the point! Any determined thief can break in in seconds and locking says you got something valuable.

I subscribe to the other camp that given a long line of luggage for the opportunistic thief is he going to pick the one with ties or locks or the many without. For the same reason I lock my car but don't leave valuables and my house too when I go on a cruise :D

Even when I fly I use TSA locks. Maybe another way to think about it want someone to put SOMETHING IN your bag you don't want?

Since 9/11, I never bother locking my checked luggage. Do people tend to lock it on the ship? Is the luggage safe when you put it out in the hallway the night before you disembark? I wouldn't have anything of value inside, but still, I'd hate to have anything taken.

I don't lock them when flying or cruising.

We use TSA locks all the time. They are relatively cheap (about $9 for 4 at Wal-Mart). It will not stop a professional, but may delay an amateur.

Always lock your things if they aren't in your possession!!! Aside from something being stolen (although no one puts valuables in their luggage, or so they say!),it can keep someone from PUTTING something INTO your bags that you may not want there....

You do NOT need to use TSA locks...any decent lock will do. True, if someone is determined, they can get into your things, but most will look for unlocked bags to tamper with.

You lock your house and your car...lock your bags!

I use brightly colored tie-wraps. That way, officials can get in, but I can tell if someone else has.

I look at it this way... 99% of all bags are made from a soft material, like canvas, etc. Right? Unless you have a steel armoured suitcase, If sombody wants to get in, all they need is a knife or razor blade. Just dont pack anything of value in your checked bag. If they want my underwear and Speedos, there more then welcome..:D.

We always use TSA approved locks. Not using one is like not locking your home and just inviting a burglar in.....;).

I know there are people who say someone can get in them even with a lock, but it makes it more difficult, which will usually deter someone from trying. You may lock your house and car, but most houses and cars have breakable windows, right?:)

We always use TSA approved locks. Not using one is like not locking your home and just inviting a burglar in.....;).

 

I know there are people who say someone can get in them even with a lock, but it makes it more difficult, which will usually deter someone from trying. You may lock your house and car, but most houses and cars have breakable windows, right?:)

That is completely untrue. Locking a suitcase is like locking an envelope you send in the mail, it is not comparable to locking your home or car. Assuming we are talking about a zippered suitcase, a lock does NOTHING. Zippers can be pried open in a second with something as common as a pen. It does not take hardly any additional time to open and close a locked suitcase than an unlocked suitcase - yet the lock may serve as a "red flag" that valuables are inside. So the lock serves little to no deterrent, but may attract a thief to your luggage. Same with locking an envelope you'd send in the mail; doesn't make the contents of the envelope more secure but sure might entice a thief. Locking one's door (assuming we are talking about a decent quality door and deadbolt lock) does make it more difficult to enter and does not raise any flags to attract potential burglars. IMHO locking luggage is a waste of time, a waste of money and (if anything) puts you at greater risk for having something taken.

Just like i sayed earlyer.. If your worryed about "valubles", dont check them.. Only regular clothes get checked. If they are stolen, I can always buy more on ship or in ports with no big expence. If your worryed about TSA inspection and Customs, that could be a whole differnt topic.. But usually that mostly applys to leaving ship when you get back after your cruise. It could cause delays id they want to get in your bags for imspection, but most of times they use dogs and X ray machines to look inside anyhow.

TSA is airlines...they don't work at cruise ports.

And IMHO, locked luggage does not send up a red flag that there is something of value in there. I think really expensive pieces of luggage will draw a thief's eye quicker than a locked piece of cheap luggage.

I lock my luggage, because I can. My personal items are valuable to me. If my locked pieces are in between 2 unlocked pieces, does anyone seriously think the time will be wasted on mine, no matter how quick the zipper can be pulled open? Maybe, but highly doubtful.

And if they want to look at something in your luggage at the cruise port, they will call you down and have you open it in front of them. They cannot open locked luggage without you there. But, they can open and go through unlocked luggage.

I have cruised since 1980, have always locked my luggage on the ship, and never had a break in incident.

It's a personal choice...no answer is right or wrong.

One cruise in particular comes to mind speaking about locked or unlocked luggage. After the cruise and at the place where you retrieve your luggage, there was a very frantic lady running all over the place looking for a particular bag, that was simply not there. All her other bags made it from the ship to the holding area except for this one.

Seems that someone ( probably another passenger) simply took the whole bag with them :eek: and without looking if it belonged to them. A lot of luggage ( especially black bags) look too much alike nowadays. One simply HAS TO look to make sure that bag is yours.

I know this has nothing to do with locked/unlocked bags...just saying......

we dont lock when flying, but we put the cable ties on when we go to the port and have started to do the same when we put our luggage out the night before we disembark.

anything of REAL value is always in our 'personal' carry-ons.

I always lock. I trust no one. Sorry, but I've had stuff taken from unlocked bags in the past.

That is completely untrue. Locking a suitcase is like locking an envelope you send in the mail, it is not comparable to locking your home or car. Assuming we are talking about a zippered suitcase, a lock does NOTHING. Zippers can be pried open in a second with something as common as a pen. It does not take hardly any additional time to open and close a locked suitcase than an unlocked suitcase - yet the lock may serve as a "red flag" that valuables are inside. So the lock serves little to no deterrent, but may attract a thief to your luggage. Same with locking an envelope you'd send in the mail; doesn't make the contents of the envelope more secure but sure might entice a thief. Locking one's door (assuming we are talking about a decent quality door and deadbolt lock) does make it more difficult to enter and does not raise any flags to attract potential burglars. IMHO locking luggage is a waste of time, a waste of money and (if anything) puts you at greater risk for having something taken.

I respect your opinion completely. My husband and I work hard for our belongings; therefore, it makes all our of belongings important to us. It has nothing to do with having "valuable" items inside the suitcase. Besides, most people know to keep their valuables on them anyway.

I also do not believe having a lock puts anyone at a greater risk. Having a lock is helping to protect our belongings. Is it a guarantee? Of course not! Then again, there are no guarantees in life.;)

I must just add that this makes me remember the time my husband was able to get my TSA lock open in under a minute with a bobby pin when I'd accidently changed the code. And no, he's not a professional thief...

Call it a false sense of security, but we always lock our bags...even at the airport. We use TSA locks and have never had them cut off or broken. I have had several TSA's leave the customary "we have searched your bag" notice but the locks were always secured afterwards.

Can't say that I mind them going thru my bags as it is part of their job, but I wouldnt leave this to chance while our luggage sits out in the hallway on a ship of 3k plus pax the last night. We lock it up.....

Since 9/11, I never bother locking my checked luggage. Do people tend to lock it on the ship? Is the luggage safe when you put it out in the hallway the night before you disembark? I wouldn't have anything of value inside, but still, I'd hate to have anything taken.

I use TSA lock and always lock my luggage - for both air and sea travel.

Always use TSA approved locks if for no other reason that the bags won't open by themselves, This is more to protect bags when they are being tossed around, I realize it will not deter any thief.

We always lock our luggage. But never use a "lock and key" or those zip ties. Try using those rings you put keys on. We always have extras around , I just zip up the luggage and where they meet (double zippers) hook both ends thru the key ring and "bobs your uncle". Yes it's a pain to get on which is the point of it all because it's as much of a pain to get it off. And unless one looks hard enough , you can't tell if it's locked or not.

Been doing this for years and have never had a prob. with anyone , including TSA or any other airport security. Only prob. I have is going thru the scanner and even letting them know that I have an artificial knee it sets off the machine and I get the mandatory pat down. Not a big deal to me , just slows down the line and then I get funny looks from others waiting to get thru , so I just give them right back lol.

Cheers..the..... Ump..........:D

I use zip ties. Opportunistic thieves won't mess with them and determined thieves will get into anything.

I've never had them disturbed. Of course, I still would not put anything in the hallway of value--just dirty clothes and shoes. All valuables and souvenirs are in my carryon inside the cabin with me until walk into the door of my home.

the other good thing about zip ties is that the airport security will cut them off if they need to but will always reapply them with a replacement. this will almost always be different from the ones you use so you know that it's been opened.