Just a warning about those of us (Me included) who put camera equipment in checked bags

I saw this post today appended to an article about an Air France Flight Attendant who
was caught stealing valuables while people were asleep in First Class.

Take it for what it's worth.

Garry


I live in Alabama near the Unclaimed Baggage Center (UBC) store. UBC buys all "lost" luggage from the airlines, buses, and cruise ships, among others. In talking to a couple of the managers, they say that since the advent of the TSA and x-raying of luggage, they they almost never get any valuables in luggage any more. It used to be that they got lots of cameras and expensive jewelry and designer perfume. Now they get soft-side suitcases with a small slit in the side and an imprint inside where the camera or perfume used to be.
Apparently TSA people and baggage handlers kinda team up. When something is seen in a bag, a small mark is made on the suitcase to show where and what it is. (An UBC manager showed me a couple such marks.) Then the baggage handler buddy cuts the suitcase with a box cutter and removes the article. Then the baggage handler switches the destination tag on the robbed suitcase to send it to a small airport that has only occasional air service (Hickory, NC is a favorite.) This insures that the bag is "lost."
The airlines sell "lost" baggage and actually make a small profit on the transaction. If you go to UBC and find something that is indisputably yours (say a camera with your SSN scratched on the bottom.) You cannot get it back without buying it. According to your ticket, when you check a bag or leave it behind, it becomes the property of the airline.
And if you're ever in Scottsboro in northern Alabama, stop by Unclaimed Baggage. They boast the world's largest dry cleaner and the world's largest laundry. Check out their web site for details. Everything is carefully cleaned, pressed and priced accordingly. But you can get some great buys on especially women's clothing and men's suits. And, who knows, maybe Lohan's missing underwear might turn up there. LOL

WOW!!!!!:(

It seems like one way around this is to put inside your luggage your name, address and phone number. I print out multiple sheets and place it in different pockets. They would have to destroy all of those to really "lose" it.

When I check my carbon fiber tripod, I lock it to the suitcase frame using small steel cable and tsa locks.

I did had several hundred dollars in batteries taken out of my luggage on my return trip from Tanzania last time. They simply broke the zipper, reached in and knew right where the batteries were. And not just my suitcase: my son's too.

Roger

This is terrible! With the extra charges the airlines are making for checked luggage you would think they would want to avoid these issues. Gail and I always hand carry as much as we can. However tripods and some extras must be checked. Of course a location like Tanzania is not as controlled as JFK. it is also easier for Gail and I to hand carry most of our gear as we share lenses and only duplicate camera bodies, flash and portable back up. This way the weight and space is shared and broken up. It is a lot harder if you are traveling alone.

Yes, it is quite frightening. I find travelling to Kenya and then on the small planes between parks very difficult, keeping all my camera equipment with me but trying to keep within the weight restrictions. You need to get inventive and last time I did carry lenses and bodies in my coat pockets (all wrapped in bubble wrap. Not ideal but better than putting them in the hold, IMO.

The trouble with safari travel is that most of the lenses you take are large and heavy. I'm doing a trip to South Africa next month and there is no way I check anything valuable into the hold. Apart from the theft issue, we watched the baggage handlers loading the plane and they seem to have a competition as to how roughly they can handle the luggage.

My carry-on bag is a Think Tank Airport Acceleration and contains my 500mm, 100-400mm, 15-85mm, 1.4x, 7D with grip, Spare cards and batteries and 4 different chargers/power adapters and my Notebook PC. It is borderline for carry-on size and may need some sweet talking for the internal SA flights. There is no way I can put a 100-400mm or 500mm in my coat pockets though ;)

nothsafoto, agree it is hard but the weight of my Lowepro loaded with 2 bodies, 3 lenses, download device, chargers etc. etc. went over the 7kg carry on weight allowance. So I took an overcoat with deep pockets which I had velcro strips sewn on to keep the contents secure and wore cargo pants with those deep pockets on the legs and kept the long lenses in the bag, but all the smaller things in pockets (just until I was in the plane, then I off loaded into the bag). So camera bodies well wrapped in my pockets plus anything else which fitted. Uncomfortable but worked. Qatar are very strict with carry on weight restrictions I've found, but this worked. Horrible way to travel, and I didn't take a laptop! :2eyes2:

I just had a really officious check-in attendant at LAX tell me my LowePro Photo Trekker II was overweight...which of course it was. She told me I was going to have to check it in, and I told her there was no way that was going to happen! I just started to take things out of the bag, and in the end had my flash, 300mm f4, and several portable hard drives in pockets, my binoculars around my neck, and my 50D with vertical grip and 400DO in my arms. The bag then weighed just under 7kg, and she begrudgingly told me I could take it. She then warned me not to put anything back, and that it would be weighed as I got onto the plane...I stuck it all back in for security checks...and then seeing her at the gate restowed all the gear in pockets, etc. I really think the best best is to have a photo vest with large pockets for just such cases, in which you can load all the pockets up. This will work at least as long as they don't start weighing passengers as well!
Cheers,
Brent