Locks

[Brandi]

Ok...next silly question!

We are going to be checking at least one bag on our trip mostly for the purpose of bringing back souveniers, etc. I haven't traveled by plane since pre-9/11 and am wondering how necessary luggage locks are?

Our arrival and return flights are both direct between Minneapolis and Cancun. Anything of real value we will be carrying on, but I don't want some lucky SOB in MPLS to end up with my imported tequila! :D

Thanks!!

[beachreader]

You can only use locks that are TSA-approved, meaning that TSA people have master keys that they can use on them. I've never had anything stolen from a bag, but I also don't think there's really much you can do about it.

You can't carry liquids on the plane (more than a few 3 oz. bottles in a ziplock back), so you're kind of stuck there. The local booze has to go in the luggage.

If you buy duty-free at the airport on the way home, though, you can carry them on (a shop rep actually carries them to the gate for you). If you're flying non-stop to your final destination, you can go that route. If you're making a stop elsewhere in the US, you'd have to then put the duty-free inside your checked bag for the next leg of the trip. Big pain in the neck.

[Libelula]

Locks are really false security anyway. I think you can find this video going around on You tube, but basically all you need is a ball point pen. You ram it between the teeth of the zipper and the bag opens. Once you help yourself to the contents, you grab the lock pulls and pull them around and they relock the zipper teeth and no one knows it ever happened. Your lock with still be on, the bag will be zipped!!!

No fair huh?