What can I pack in my checked luggage?

NoodleDoodleMan

DullGreyGuy said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

One afterthought - last time we flew to the USA we used small padlocks to secure the zip eyes on the hold luggage, as per many years of travelling.

A waste of time - the security goons at Newark airport snapped them off before we collected our cases - now we always use plastic cable ties - and take a few spares. 

If your luggage is opened it's easy enough to resecure them in the airport.

Won't stop determined unauthorised access (neither will padlocks) - but it helps prevents unplanned accidental spilling of luggage contents coming off the conveyor belt.

A small pair of nail cutters in the carry on luggage in case of need.

 

You can get "TSA Locks" which have a keyhole that takes a master key that the US Customs have.  In theory this means they can lock/unlock your case but your average baggage handler can't. Some even have an indicator to show if a master key has been used to open the lock so you can tell if someone's been in or not. 

The obvious downside is that inevitably the TSA master keys have gotten into the wild plus even though you have a TSA lock with the logo to tell TSA they can use their key there are accounts of them still cutting some locks off. 

We used the TSA locks - our experience was that the security people simply snapped them off.

Then we were recommended to use cable ties - have stuck with them since.

MACKEM99

In our cases we have a sturdy shoe box in which we put things that may get squashed.😃

Bicycleman22

Just in case you dont know..... do not to put a powerbank in your checked luggage