Airport Screeners Accused of Stealing from Luggage

Good Evening All-

For trips up to one week, I can generally fit everything I'll need into carry-on luggage. People (me included) tend to overpack.

If forced to check luggage in the belly of the aircraft for whatever reason, I run plastic zip-ties through the zippers in place of currently verboten padlocks. I then snap a digital picture of me in the airport with the luggage, contents, and tickets at the time of the flight. They can remove the zip-ties, but it forces them to acknowledge the luggage was accessed on the tarmac.

Sounds like overkill? Well, I once had an airline reimburse me for a brand new piece of Tumi luggage due to their inability to monitor their thuggish staff.

~ Blue Jays ~

Sounds like some good ideas.

I wonder about people who pack firearms in their luggage for a flight. I did that once many years ago, but I would not take a chance anymore.

I just do not see any way to safely put a firearm on a passenger plane without great danger of it being stolen.

I have heard one clever traveler who has adopted a dishonest tactic that would have good results if everyone did it:

When your bag has been opened, report some expensive article of clothing stolen. Leather jacket, cashmere, nice shoes, etc.

Just enough of a "tax" on their unwanted behavior.

"I wonder about people who pack firearms in their luggage for a flight. I did that once many years ago, but I would not take a chance anymore.

I just do not see any way to safely put a firearm on a passenger plane without great danger of it being stolen."

When I travel with a firearm, I lock the bag. I also ask the gate agent to sign a form saying that she saw me put such and such brand of gun, serial number whatever, in the bag and lock it. That way, if it disappears, the airline and everyone else handling that bag has some 'splaining to do, and I have proof of my stolen property.

I have heard one clever traveler who has adopted a dishonest tactic that would have good results if everyone did it:

Ah, yes, the old 'If Everyone Also Lied and Cheated Then This UberKonservative Would Attain Happiness and Fulfillment' scam.

Four government workers were charged Wednesday with stealing . . .

If they are guilty and found so in a court of law then the system works. We should all expect and demand decency and forthrightness is our public servants rather than expecting the worse all the time.

My 16 year old son naively left his wallet with $110.00 cash in his suitcase leaving Phoenix Arizona last spring.
Sure enough when he got home he noticed the TSA tag on it stating his luggage had been searched "for his safety". Guess what..the cash was missing! I took a longshot... wrote a nasty letter and emailed it to the TSA complaint dept. It took 3 months for an answer another 3 for correspondence once I mailed copies of (the flight ticket, the luggage tag, etc.). I knew it was difficult to prove this and figured what the heck. Three months after this I got a call! This agent told me there was a good chance I would get monetary restitution. I asked him why he followed up on my letter. He explained that it seemed sincere to him. He also mentioned that in their hurry to hire screening agents that the background checks were woefully short. They had thousands of complaints and were trying to fire as many as they could who had "criminal " backgrounds.
He asked me to send along a copy of a bank statement (the account numbers etc. to be blacked out) and show if there had been a withdrawal of an amount of the same or greater shortly before the theft date to help win his case to get us our money back. Almost a year to the date of the theft the check came in the mail from the feds for $110.00. I have to admit I was shocked. I expected nothing. Could this be a reflection of a Republican administration?

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