If you think locked, secured cases are safe ... WRONG!

[EC-ILS]

I work in baggage claim, Im not a thief and sometimes have to open locked suitcases to see if I can trace their owners.

Ive never come up against a suitcase that I couldnt open. But I prefer when people tag their bags on the outside.

My advise to you is, dont put non-replaceable stuff in your bag because there is scum out there who will take it. To late now tough! I had a $25000 camera lense go missing last week!

[LA4200]

Hand luggage safe?

A friend of my cousin was on a return flight to Ireland and due to a report of smoke in the cabin (I think this later turned out to be a false alarm), the aircraft landed, cleared the active runway and came to an abrupt stop, passengers were told to leave ALL their belongings behind and evacuate. They were taken to the terminal building where they waited and some time later, were reunited with their 'carry on' items.

After returning home she opened her small travel bag only to find that her jewellery case had been 'removed'.....

[larssnowpharter]

My favourite, a sturdy canvas strap that has a very simple metal buckle that can be pulled very tight on a very well travelled Samsonite.

That really says it all.

The toerags who break into your luggage know what they are doing and look for the 'soft target'.

My 2 twenty odd year old Samsonites are secured with a buckled strap, they have innumerable old stickers on them going back a long time and are both about as scuffed and battered as you can imagine. They are also bloody heavy compared to the modern lightweight stuff.

In 20 odd years of very, very frequent airline travelling they have never been touched to my knowledge.

Anything really valuable goes with me and I keep data backed up on a remote server as well as an external hard drive.