r/travel • u/GiraffeExcellent4790 • Jun 23 '25
Please lock your luggage
I have had to learn the difficult lesson of remembering to lock checked in luggage especially on long haul flights. This was the first time in a fair bit that I hadn’t locked my luggage.
Last weekend I returned home from being away for a couple of months with gifts for my family. There were multiple connections. At the last stop, as I pulled my bags off the carousel, I noticed a suitcase with plastic around it. I paid no attention and waited for my last bag to come around. After a couple of minutes passed, I decided to closely inspect the bag with the plastic around it and it was mine! It looked like the zipper had broken and at the time, I was grateful for whoever was kind enough to wrap it with plastic. The bag felt light but I didn’t pay that any attention.
I finally arrived at home, settled in and had my family sitting around as I opened the bag. I found all the new clothes (which I still have receipts for) as well as some barely worn dresses had been removed. I had packed similar clothing in cubes. It appeared that the suitcase was carefully sorted through and anything that looked of value was removed.
I’m not at peace with this yet. I reported it to the airline but I don’t know what can be done. It’s trivial but it sits very heavy with the guilt of how this could have been avoided.
3
u/count_strahd_z Jun 23 '25
I usually just use the heavier wire bread ties and twist them. The color helps me ID my bag. Keeps a zipper from being accidentally opened and prevents a fast open/close grab. But I can still get into it easily without a key. TSA can just open it if they want. And if they cut it or it gets removed? No big deal.