Defend Your Bags Against the Totally Scurrilous Armada

There's no telling what might go missing from airline baggage.  Items reported stolen in recent years include golf balls, a fresh-caught halibut in a cooler full of ice, and an endless array of laptops and other electronic equipment. 

Your valuables are not covered by insurance for checked bags.  Jewelry, laptops, camera equipment, money and other monetary instruments, and other types of valuables are expressly denied any coverage when you fly.  Your homeowners insurance might cover some things, but you have to check your policy to be sure.

So your first line of defense is carry your valuables in your handbag or carryon bag.  Get a jewelry roll and pack it in your purse or carryon bag.  Be sure your wallet holds your Social Security card (if you need to bring it all - better to put it in your safe deposit box at the bank), ID's, whichever credit card you need, and a second currency when traveling internationally.  Keep your laptop, Kindle, camera and other electronics in your handbag or carryon, and hang onto both of them tightly!

Locks can be broken.  TSA routinely opens locked bags.  Get TSA approved locks anyway and use them.  They do not deter TSA, but don't make things too easy for anyone else.

List exactly what is in each bag: carryon and checked bag(s).  Ensure your detailed list is accessible to you wherever you might go, and have a back-up list.  Email your list to yourself, or save a list on your computer or flash drive.  Keep a copy at home.  Make sure you have serial numbers for valuables.  If something goes missing, you need to know immediately so you can act.

Inspect your checked bags carefully when you retrieve them at baggage claim.  Note any damage and/or missing items.  Put in a claim with the baggage agent immediately.

If a bag does not spew from the carousel, likewise put in a claim with the airlines baggage agent immediately.

Airlines are supposed to provide urgently needed change of clothing & toiletries.  Don't let them pawn you off with a 24-hour wait "to see if it arrives on the next flight."  They are also required to reimburse purchases of immediately needed items, so keep your receipt for things purchased within 24 hours of your flight.  Use your list to detail "black & white striped cotton knit jacket with 3/4 length sleeves," not just "jacket."

Reimbursement limits of $3300 for domestic US flights do not apply for international flights, even on a US carrier.  International limits go by the kilo of baggage weight, not the depreciated value of the items contained in the bag(s).  The international insurance reimbursement limit runs about US$650 per bag. 

It is not unusual for the airlines to blame TSA on any flight which goes through any US airport.  And TSA of course blames airline baggage handlers.  Insurance reimbursement for lost (or stolen) bags, and for items stolen from checked bags, is likely to be held up.  You need to document everything thoroughly, and follow up diligently. 

No idea what they did about that stolen halibut, however....

Protections from the Thieving Scumbag Association

CBS caught them in a 2004 baggage theft sting.  New York Police caught them at NYC airports.  Baggage theft rings have been busted in St. Louis, Missouri, Dublin, Ireland, Portland, Oregon, Australia, and airports scattered literally around the world.  While airlines say bag theft is down, and TSA says they screen their searchers, police say bag thefts are rising.  TSA says it's airline handlers; airlines say its TSA.  Both are harboring some scurrilous thieves, both include bag theft rings.


TSA knows what you pack in your bag!  They X-ray it all.  If you have a laptop, jewelry, anything of value, they know what you've got.  And they make you leave your bag unlocked or use locks for which they have duplicate keys.


Do NOT pack anything valuable in your checked bag. Your carryon must hold:
* laptop & peripherals,
* camera gear,
* CD player,
* iPod,
* Kindle or similar book reader, and
* all your other costly little electronics everyone might want - and someone is likely to steal.


You also need to hang onto your jewelry, eyeglasses & sunglasses, money, credit cards, important documents (personal and business), prescription medicines, anything containing personal data like SSN or home address, anything fragile, anything valuable.


And you'd better take at least one change of clothes and your little Ziploc baggie of toiletries.  TSA & the airlines battle over who pays claims most of the time.  So at least have some clean undies!

Dealing with Lost Luggage

According to the airlines, only about 2% of bags get lost.  For a Road Warrior-ess, that's quite a risk.  Check a bag 100 times a year, and you could lose two, if you're average.

Slash your risks!  Use only a carryon bag whenever possible.  Use our packing tips and others' to reduce your "stuff" enough to get it down to one bag.  Backpackers and some perpetual travelers can live out of one bag for months at a time.  I spent several months "riding the rails through China" with just one duffle.  Laptops were h-e-a-v-y then, wireless did not really exist, and I had to lug along a "small" (hah!) travel printer.  With the teeny-tiny sizes of so many items these days, and reduced weights, it is much easier to lug an entire office, a library, whatever.  So if your trip is less than a week, you can certainly get it down to one.

There are times when you simply need a lot of clothes, heavy winter clothes, or other stuff, and a single carryon simply won't cut it.  Reduce your risks of your bag failing to land when and where you do.

Luggage tags:  do not use your home address.  Use your office address, private mail facility address, P.O. Box, anything to keep nosy-parkers from discovering you are not at home.  Do not put your home phone number on there, either.  Use a free email addie which you could check in case of lost luggage, a message phone, office phone, pager number or similar contactable email or phone that does not reveal your home location and private numbers/addresses.

Help yourself spot your bag faster.  Decal, neon-colored strap, something!

Get your little butt-sky straight to the baggage claim.  Do not get delayed or sidetracked.  Be there when the belt starts rumbling and the bags roll.  The lonely bag is more likely to get lifted than the one you grab the second it spits out of the chute.

Next up: a post on protecting your possessions within.