Travelling to USA with luggage

[scoobydooby]

I've had good response from an earlier question today, so here's another. I'm told that if I don't lock my luggage my insurance will be invalid but I'm also being told that the lock will be broken in the USA (Florida to be precise) to enable them to conduct a search. Will this happen in my presence? If not, how can I protect the contents of my suitcase? I'm not so concerned about anything being taken (i'll make sure there's nothing valuable in there) but more concerned about something being planted. I've never had a problem before but, quite rightly, security has been stepped up.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

we never had any problems on our last two trips last year,we had our cases locked.we were not asked to unlock them at all.i dont think they are allowed to search your cases without you being present. enjoy your trip and stop worrying,you will have no problems.you will only be asked to open a case if they think or can see something suspicous in it.

[Fitzer]

I don't know how true this is but I have been told that American customs have master keys. I thought this sounded a little odd but I was in a luggage shop in my town just before Christmas when a guy came in with a suitcase, he said he had flown in from the States and his luggage hadn't been locked when he left and now it was and he didn't have a key, make of that what you will.

[lou 26]

Dont want to worry you scoobydooby but they can open your luggage and no you dont have to be present. This happened to me on my return from Florida last year and apparently it is quite a common occurrence. One way round it is to pack an extra padlock in your suitcase with a note asking them to replace the damaged padlock with the new one, should they need to open your case. I didnt realise until i got home that they had cut the lock off my case and left a preprinted note inside explaining that for security purposes they had opened my luggage. Apparently once you have checked your luggage in they scan it and if something shows up on the scanner (a laptop in my case, excuse the pun) that they are suspicious of they are within their rights to open it. A day later i read in the newspaper about someone else it had happened to and the reply to their letter was that some insure companies void your luggage insurance if the luggage is not secure. and it was there that i read about packing another padlock in your case.

You may also like to take a look at this link

http://www.padlocks4less.com/SearchAlert/searchalert.htm

these locks allow security people to override the lock but then lock it securely again, and there is a coloured tab which will change colour if it has indeed been opened.

Hope this helps,

[lou 26]

youre right fitzer, they do have master keys but they dont use them, they just cut off the locks. Upon my arrival to the states i was asked to open my case and couldnt find the key to my padlock. the secuirty there had a massive bunch of keys and just found one to open it! but they dont do it when youre leaving the country!

[JoolsTwo]

It is not just in the US that the cases are opened they can and do do it in Britian.

[jno]

google "tsa padlocks" to find people who sell locks to which the security people have a master key. They should then be able to lock your luggage again once they've inspected it. (No idea if they always remember to do this.) Here's one site: http://www.outdooraccessories.co.uk/index.htm?url=products/pacsafe/padlocks.htm

[Narolines]

Now that would explain why the lock on my case was absent when I got home from Spain a couple of months back. I hope the officials had fun sorting through my dirty underwear and socks.........

[dzug]

Yes - I've found notes from US security in my luggage saying they've opened and resealed it. I was certainly not present. They had to 'break' open the lock, but you can do that with a paperclip. Any stronger lock and they'd have cut it off.

As a previous poster has said, you can get TSA approved padlocks that US security can open without damaging them. 'Something being planted' is overparanoid.

If you are not going to the USA it is possible in some airports to get your luggage shrink wrapped.

[Kingaroo]

I'm confused about the insurance part of it. Does this mean the insurance will cover things stolen from your suitcase only if the thief does not break the locks? Once they break the lock your insurance is invalid?

[dzug]

If you leave your luggage unlocked and stuff is stolen from it then (OP said) your insurance won't cover it.

If a thief breaks the locks (and they are locked) and steals then your insurance covers it.

What is not clear is whether you are covered if US security break the locks and subsequently a thief steals from it...

[chazza]

Whenever we went last year, they searched the luggage without us being present, but they had a master key which they used to open the luggage lock.

The only time they would cut the lock is if they do not have a key that will fit the lock

[Gennifer36]

we went to the states in 1999 & had a bottle of wine & southern comfort taken out of our suitcase. didn't find out until we unpacked at home. suitcase left us at New York flown to London & then to Teesside so who was to blame?