TSA-approved Locks Revisited
 

There have been a couple of threads pertaining to the TSA-approved
luggage locks. So, thought I might pass on a recent experience with
them.

Took Carnival Conquest out of NOLA on 5/9. Had to fly RT from Kansas
City to NOLA via SWA. Since I planned to carry some wine for on-board
consumption, I decided I'd use some of those locks.

Bought 4 of the keyed variety, and put them on BW and my 4 bags. On
trip to NOLA, bags were apparently not opened, as the lock and zippers
were in essentially the same position as I left them; and, there were no
"Notification of Baggage Inspection" cards in the bags. Same for when
the luggage was placed aboard the ship. (We stayed a couple of nights
in NOLA before the cruise.)

On return, again we stayed a night in NOLA, and the luggage was not
inspected upon debarkation from the ship.

BUT, on the NOLA to KC flight, 2 of the 4 bags were opened and
inspected, as evidenced by the TSA calling cards left in the bags.
(Odd--they chose MY two over BW's! Can't say why, as there was no way
to distinguish between them.) On one bag, the lock had obviously been
opened and relocked after the inspection. On the other, the TSA buggers
unlocked and inspected the bag, but the lock was missing when the bags
arrived in KC. Either they misplaced it at the inspection, or failed to
lock it back properly and it came off in transit. That kind of ticked
me off, and I plan to file a complaint to their E-mail address.

I guess I could say using the locks was a qualified success--3 out of 4
worked.

Stranger