FTFA: Take. Something. Always. Ha ha

They will steal whatever they want and you will just shut up and live with it.

/fark 'em... i fly my own plane.

nothing valuable ever goes in my checked luggage.

well, besides my awesome clothes.


my co-worker and his wife had stuff stolen from their luggage on their honeymoon in march. new shoes, some clothes, etc. sucks.

I had the clip-on shoulder strap for my bag (which had been removed and stowed inside the bag for transit) stolen coming through immigration in Chicago O'Hare.

Not so valuable, but definitely annoying for the rest of my trip.

Knock on wood, I've never had a bag lost or delayed on my way OUT to vacation, only on the way home. I carry toiletries (these days that means buying a special tiny tube of toothpaste, damn the "no liquids" rule!!) and a change of u-trow in my carryon, but I must admit even if I have money, it'd suck to have to go to the local Wal-Mart equivalent and buy new clothes while on my usual "travel around a lot" type vacations. My bag would have been shipped home when found, not helping much...

Starryeyes: nothing valuable ever goes in my checked luggage.

I practice this also, but TFA says they also swipe from carry-ons while 'inspecting' them.

TFA: Bottom line: if you want to see your valuables again, don't let a TSA agent near them.

Seems that way. I contend the problem wouldn't be so bad if the TSA screeners were actually necessary. They know they aren't going to find anything really dangerous, I imagine many spend their entire shift looking for the best items to steal. How many 'terrorists' have been stopped versus how many items stolen? The whole thing is a joke.

pnjunction: I practice this also, but TFA says they also swipe from carry-ons while 'inspecting' them.

yeah, i read it - nobody's ever inspected my bags though, i always roll right through security.

not that i fly all that frequently.

pnjunction: I practice this also, but TFA says they also swipe from carry-ons while 'inspecting' them.

The best part is, question a TSA worker on what they're doing, and they will get VERY nasty with you.

They're worse than rent-a-cops. They get to go on endless power trips, and the public can't do dick shiat about it.

I always pack anything valuable by wrapping it in several layers of dirty underwear. It doesn't keep them from stealing stuff, but it does make them earn it.

Losses to date: a pair of GPRS handy-talkies and an assload of NiMH batteries and charger.
Oh, and a bag of candy.

man this was a waste of life
DUH ....
so I packed my diamonds and cash in my checked bag and they were GONE
I AM SHOCKED >....

bwahahahahahahahaha

Starryeyes: yeah, i read it - nobody's ever inspected my bags though, i always roll right through security.

Me too. The secret might be to look plain and not too well off. I'm usually wearing jeans and cheap polo shirt. This lady with the $500 sunglasses was probably wearing nice clothes, shoes and jewelry, A.K.A. looking like a good 'mark'.

pnjunction: Starryeyes: yeah, i read it - nobody's ever inspected my bags though, i always roll right through security.

Me too. The secret might be to look plain and not too well off. I'm usually wearing jeans and cheap polo shirt. This lady with the $500 sunglasses was probably wearing nice clothes, shoes and jewelry, A.K.A. looking like a good 'mark'.

are you saying i look po'??!

i keed. i dress comfy for the plane (not sweatpants) and so i look good for whatever i'll be doing off to do when i land. i'm not fancy enough to carry around $500 sunglasses though.

That was more like one tip instead of five. If you have something valuable, either carry it on or leave it at home. Duh.

stpauler: That was more like one tip instead of five. If you have something valuable, either carry it on or leave it at home. Duh.

dude. math is like... hard.

pnjunction: The whole thing is a joke.

I prefer to call it "Security Theater."

pnjunction: I'm usually wearing jeans and cheap polo shirt.

Ditto.

FWIW, it seems they have some lottery for who gets the "extra" screening too. I'm thinking maybe it's X people per airport, because I sure get it a lot. I fly out of a VERY small airport, so I guess my odds are high.

Peeve: TSA agents who while riffling through my bag for the "extra" security, feel the need to comment on my (admittedly pretty crappy) clothing or the fact that I pack light. Hell yeah I pack light, because I'm going to be hauling it around for three weeks, plus shopping on the other side. Believe it or not, other countries have laundromats too, y'know?

#6: Don't fly.

Tabatha Static: #6: Don't fly.

#7: I can see the strings.

Srsly... if it's irreplaceable, carry it on your person, mail it to your destination, or leave it safe at home. I imagine a lot of TSA theft is theft of opportunity, just like leaving your wallet in your parked car.

Chariset: I imagine a lot of TSA theft is theft of opportunity, just like leaving your wallet in your parked car.

That doesn't make it right for them to take it.

AntiNorm: Chariset: I imagine a lot of TSA theft is theft of opportunity, just like leaving your wallet in your parked car.

That doesn't make it right for them to take it.

No one's arguing that it's right for them to take anything from your bag. But it's the current sad fact that it happens, and travelers need to take precautions to prevent it happening to them.

How about a C02 paint bomb that goes off if someone opens the bag. Just make it not look like a bomb, and make an RF disable option for when you get to the hotel.

Just ship your luggage UPS and be done with it.

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When I travel I check my hand tools in a cooler. That way when I get to the job I'll take my tools out & put my beer in it.

AntiNorm: Chariset: I imagine a lot of TSA theft is theft of opportunity, just like leaving your wallet in your parked car.

That doesn't make it right for them to take it.

Of course it's not right, but we (as a nation) decided that in order to 'feel safer' that it was necessary to hand over our freedoms to a bunch of ignorant pricks with sticky fingers and a napolean complex.

America - home of the kinda free and used to be brave.

put on of these in your luggage:

i always make sure to carry any valuables on my person and leave the suitcase full of dirty laundry. So far the pervs haven't stolen any dirty underwear but i suppose it's only a matter of time.

Bucky Katt: i always make sure to carry any valuables on my person and leave the suitcase full of dirty laundry. So far the pervs haven't stolen any dirty underwear but i suppose it's only a matter of time.

Double up and fix a nice turd sammich!

The article mentions an individual who suffered the theft of a box of cigars. Might I recommend that an individual find a means to poison a cigar? Such a poisoning must be done carefully, so that the result is fatal only to an individual who attempts to smoke the cigars and not to any bystanders who inhale the smoke, but it could be useful for removing undesirable criminals from society.

Cthulu guards my luggage. No, really, i keep a plush cthulu in my bags for just that reason. He has neve failed me

I find it endlessly amusing that the domain name is 'chron.com'

/420 4 lief lolol

Weaver95: AntiNorm: Chariset: I imagine a lot of TSA theft is theft of opportunity, just like leaving your wallet in your parked car.

That doesn't make it right for them to take it.

Of course it's not right, but we (as a nation) decided that in order to 'feel safer' that it was necessary to hand over our freedoms to a bunch of ignorant pricks with sticky fingers and a napolean complex.

America - home of the kinda free and used to be brave.

We (as a nation) didn't decide shiat. It was decided for us. I don't know anyone that asked for or wanted these airport assholes.

The article reads a lot like 'avoid carrying luggage' to me. I'm very curious why would anyone put up with that kind of abuse at all.

/ used NorthWorst once by mistake
// never again on a US airline

This article is utterly useless. Some people HAVE TO travel with valuable items that HAVE TO be put in checked luggage. What do we do? Some kind of integrated digital camera in the suitcase would be interesting.

2 words. Stop flying.

fark your employer. Take the bus, train, or drive. It's not worth the hassle to fly.

Polyhazard: put on of these in your luggage:

that is brilliant!

#6: Spoo

Yeah, that's right. Sure your clothes will be a little crusty, but hey... anybody can just go & buy new shiat. It takes a real salesman to sell that proposal in your OWN damn gizz-stained clothes. And if they can't shake off a little spoo for a good deal, well then fark 'em.
Or at least give everyone a big ol' hug :)

I fly three or four times a month for my job. I can't remember the last time I checked luggage, it must have been sometime in the early 1990s. And in all the times I've flown the TSA has never pulled me over for special inspection. The most valuable things I fly with are my laptop, a digital camera, that type of thing, and I always keep an eye on them. It's basically common sense, people: they tell you ahead of time that minimum-wage employees have the right to rifle through your luggage. Don't go putting your Cartier watch in there.

It doesn't count as a carry-on bag if it's in your pocket. How about this: a jacket and pants with really big pockets! I'm talking well beyond the current state of cargo pants. I'm thinking wearable luggage! It has to be comfortable to wear while seated but it could work.

The very fact that we need to have articles like this indicates a massive FAIL on the part of the government.

Small-government conservatives, my black ass.

My sister knew about TSA stealing underwear out of luggage. She said she thought about putting a used pair in a ziploc bag with a note "Dear Pervert, you can have this used pair, just please leave the rest." We don't think it would have worked necessarily, but the idea amused us.

Crosshair: Just ship your luggage UPS and be done with it.

Give the man a gold star. I've been STRONGLY suggesting this for years, if you have to bring anything (like electronics) that you cannot carry on. UPS (or fedex, which is surprisingly cheap for 2-3 day service) is actually accountable for being stupid or unsafe, unlike the airlines, which, sadly, are not.

Another trick, and I know this one's gross, but here's the secret.

Wrap your valuables in a disposable diaper. Add a few drops of black coffee and allow to dry, for appearance. Place awful-looking thing inside a clear plastic bag. Toss in luggage along with that favorite T-shirt you wear to bed; the one that's perfectly clean but looks ratty and unappealing.

better yet: don't damn fly. the service, sucks, the fares are too expensive, the seats uncomfortable, the air's stale, the kid next to you is a TB carrier, tsa is a hassle, and the stewardesses don't look like women any more. screw 'em. fark the airlines. diaf.

I was going to say make a bomb look like a high price lap top. But then i would likely get a visit from the F.B.... Hold on someones at the door.

I just need to have everything inside my suitcase sealed inside a plastic container of the same type used to hold small electronics in department stores. You know, the ones that require both hands, strong scissors, a pocket knife, and several bandages to open? Go ahead TSA, open my suitcase, but you'll never get that sunuvabiatch open. Hell, *I* may never get it open, but I'll be damned if I just let you have it for free!

I think that perhaps these people are losing their stuff on their own. Eyeglasses? I wear mine all day, but once they're off damned if I know where they are. I could have put them on a windowsill, dresser, desk, kitchen counter or bedside table. If my glasses were off often enough to carry them in a bag and they disappeared, my first instinct wouldn't be to blame the security at the airport. I'd be thinking "I'm such a dumbass, where the hell'd I put those?"

And one shoe? I'll bet that lady left it under the hotel bed or something. I'm sure that some amount of theft happens; some people are just douchebags that think stealing is okay and I'm sure the TSA has its share. Whenever some asshole loses something, forgets something or misplaces something the TSA serves as a convenient scapegoat since they're always in people's bags.

SharkUW

the bus, train, or drive. It's not worth the hassle to fly.


I've been on four flights in the past eight or so days, and I couldn't disagree more.

...that said, I bring exclusively carry-on luggage and it doesn't get out of my sight until my documents and valuables are in the hotel safe.

GoRedSoxGo: The very fact that we need to have articles like this indicates a massive FAIL on the part of the government.

How is it a fail? Generally government is nothing more than organized crime anyway.

Crosshair: Just ship your luggage UPS and be done with it.

Except UPS loses my stuff more often than the airliners.

Of course you can insure that...

Not withstanding the reality of having to deal with BS whenever it is flowing downhill at me:

Why the fark aren't you people mad as hell and unwilling to take it any more?

Weaver95 and his livertearianism unwavering is a bit snide as he gets more cynical, but his point is well taken. Why is he the only one besides me? We have the right to expect more, demand it and get it. This is our country. These shiatpumps work for us.

The TSA in passenger screening is useless. They do us not one bit of good, except for hiring the retarded, the stupid and the power-mad - on taxpayer dime! They add expense, delay, steal time, belongings, dignity, freedom and inure us to diminished rights and intrusive abuse.

Our 'security' has only ever and will only ever be a hurdle and never a barrier to a motivated, determined, trained or creative disciplined individual that wishes to overcome them.

Our tolerance has increased. At the risk of raising partisan ire or some dumbshiat ignoramus' self righteous patriotic hackles, we have put up with this 'administration's' corrosive incompetence and corruption for way too farking long. The only way they are going to change is if we do not put up with this shiat. Kick up a fuss biatches! Viva la Revolucion

/rant off
//that was fun, how was it for you?

SharkUW: fark your employer. Take the bus, train, or drive. It's not worth the hassle to fly.

That's a great idea, Sparky. Rather than get to the west coast in a few hours, I can take three days to drive there. You're farking brilliant.

crossthread: SharkUW: fark your employer. Take the bus, train, or drive. It's not worth the hassle to fly.

That's a great idea, Sparky. Rather than get to the west coast in a few hours, I can take three days to drive there. You're farking brilliant.

How 'bout we get you a connecting flight through ORD, wiseguy. You'll get to LAX right after the Donner party shows up.

Bucky Katt: that is brilliant!

It was included in an issue of McSweeney's a couple years ago. Every time I fly I have the urge to put it in my luggage, but I chicken out every time. :(