Airports are crowded areas full of distraction, which is why they are environments rife with petty crime and theft. This is due to the sheer amount of people constantly in motion in airports, and the unnatural setting that takes people out of their usual headspace of protecting their belongings. Here’s a guide to ensuring that your luggage is protected during Holiday Season travel (and all times of the year) as prepared by the security experts here at Chicago Locksmith.
Risks to both Carry-On and Stored Luggage
Your luggage is constantly vulnerable to theft. Whether you’re carrying on your luggage on board the airplane, or storing it, consider it constantly at risk. Carry on bags usually appeal to people as the path of least risk, however, you should keep in mind that carry on luggage is separated from your hands during the flight as well, whether you’re storing it overhead, or simply getting up to go to the bathroom. Your carry on luggage can be handled by people next to you while you are asleep, or by those placing their luggage into the same overhead storage bin. However, stored luggage are immediately separated from your person, and remain separated from you for the duration of the flight. Unscrupulous baggage attendants have been known to rifle through luggage and steal items that appeal to them, hence the major security risk in placing unsecured luggage into the cargo section of your plane. The only way to mitigate the security risks to your bags is by protecting your luggage with a lock.
Protecting your Luggage with a Lock
Make sure that your luggage is protected with a powerful luggage lock. Not only does a high quality luggage lock provide material security for your belongings, but it provides you with the peace of mind in knowing that any potential thieves will be both prevented (in a hard sense) and psychologically deterred from opening and stealing from your bag due to the appearance of your lock. Luggage that isn’t protected with a lock appears to be a much more vulnerable target for thieves that will likely not waste their time or risk getting caught spending the time that it would take to unlock a bag protected with a luggage lock. Remember, luggage locks should come with a key or keycode that only you have possession of – this ensures that only you will be able to open your luggage during your travels, and not any strangers.
