My mother in law is travelling from india to the US.Should she lock her suitcases or not?

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Paddy

I think all airlines allow you to lock your suitcase. It'll be foolish not to.

timmer_57

only if she has hash in it

insp.clouseau

Lock it. If the US customs want to they will break the locks. That doesnt really matter. After all its just the price of a lock. The important thing is to lock the luggage at the India end. For two reasons. To prevent people taking things out, and worse, putting something like drugs, in.

silentnonrev

direct flight into USA: fine
if she has to change planes somewhere in US: no....but as she will reclaim her bag at that point for customs clearance, she can unlock it before she hands it back in.

If she can get one of those TSA approved locks, she can leave it on, but I kinda doubt those are easy to find in India

booyahâ„¢

whenever my family members go to india or are coming from there they always lock their bags

so i guess she should

Amelia

when i travel back and forth from india... i lock my bags. i carry the little keys on a key chain with my person and open them (or hand the key over for security to open them) when asked. there should be no problem with this. i even lock my carry-on. you seriously... and i am saying this from experience... can not be too careful... lock and zip whatever you can....

orange_slice

Yes she should.

At India Airport:
If at security in India if she is asked to open the bags, then she should unlock and lock it again after the checking is done. But once the security clears the bag there is no reason for the airport officials to open it again. This way there is no danger of theft at the airport.

At Stop over Airport:
During her journey if she has a stop in between then her luggage also gets trasferred to the new plane. At this point the security at that airport can intervene and if they have any suspicion they have the right and they will open the bags without your consent to check them. Unless this happens the bags arrive in US locked and secure.

At US Airport:
No matter whether the bags arrive in US locked or unlocked, at the airport itself check for any damages to the bag and if any found a complaint should be filed at the airport itself. The airline that flew the last leg is responsible to for the damages.

Hope this helps.

jenny s

every time I have flown recently I have seen people asked to take the locks off their suitcases before they put them on the baggage carousel.
they are going to xray them and then likely open them so they will just cut the lock off anyway.
always put anything you can't bear to have stolen in your carry-on or leave it at home.

life is good

It's generally advisable NOT to lock your stowed luggage, because if they feel the need to check your luggage for whatever reason, they are allowed to open it by whatever means necessary. This includes cutting locks, breaking zippers, and ripping fabric...

It is okay to lock her carry-on luggage if she wants to, but she needs to make sure she has the key with her at all times in case it needs to be opened for a security search.

coley0204

There's no reason why she wouldn't be able to lock her suitcase but if an airport guard wants to check it she'll have to open it and let them check it. Other than that I suggest she locks it because people steal stuff.

Chalie M

Absolutely

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