Many of us really travel a lot, either on business, or for recreation. Doesn't really matter which, as in the end we do end up traveling a lot. Anyway, while traveling we do require some good quality suitcases also. However the latest trend in suitcases is that they today have got zippers all around, and they are also soft bodied. Seems as if the days of that combination lock hard body suitcases are long gone. So I guess the new designs with zippers is lighter in weight and perhaps more secure too (or so we are lead to believe). However, I've basically lost my sleep today - Ever since I saw this video (see below). So, like, exactly what can we do about it??? I myself rally don't know for sure. Which is why I'm posting it here, so we can do some brainstorming. The potential of this being misused is so great, that I (as I said so before), have really lost my my ability to sleep peacefully... This video is just one of many, and freely accessible by anyone who has an internet connection. So I guess it is safe to assume that all the bad guys out there have seem it too. Therefore no use burying our heads in the sand and pretend that it doesn't exist (like an ostrich). As this information is out there. Thankfully, I still have a few old suitcases at home (bought in the 80s, but nowadays kept in storage only). So I for one will now be getting those out and refurbishing them immediately!
I would never have thought that it was so easy for someone to open a suitcase. Thankfully we have ones that are old fashioned too. They have lockable clasps and straps that can also be padlocked. Hopefully ours would put people off trying to gain access to their contents.
Soft side, zipper suitcases had been all you could find here for many years. I think airlines were pushing them for their lightweight therefore fuel saving and space saving qualities. But after so many instances of personal property disappearing between the time a passenger handed them over to the airlines and when they received them back at their destination, people got fed up with it. You can find the hard side ones in stores again now....not the nice looking sets like in the past but nice sturdy ones that make you feel secure. We don't fly anymore. Hubby hasn't had to fly on business in years and if he does again have a business meeting to attend out of state, his employer gives him the option of flying, driving or taking the train. We don't fly on vacation trips, driving through parts of this state or other states that we have never been to is part of our vacation trip. Personally if I had to fly somewhere again, I think I would do what I heard about a woman doing many years ago......check in an empty suitcase (before the days of having to pay extra for them) buy clothes at thrift stores when you get to your destination, clean and re-donate the clothes before leaving and re-check the empty suitcase. She told a reporter that since she would buy new clothes for the trip anyway and this way it was cheaper and a charity benefited twice.
Grrrrr Leave it to some no good person to do such a thing. My husband travels quite a bit and the zipper pull was broken off on his last trip. He likes the hard sided type, but really appreciates the outside pockets on the soft type. He knows to put anything valuable into his carry on and keep an eye on it. Thanks for sharing that S-H.
Well Toni, flying domestically (within one's own country) is perhaps possible with an empty suitcase. But traveling internationally with an empty suitcase (specially in this day and age) will raise a lot of suspicion... For example, my green colored Pakistani passport is welcomed in China, Singapore, UAE, South Africa, and the entire Middle East (from Turkey to Oman), as well as all of Northern Africa too. However the Chinese welcome us because we have had the best possible diplomatic relations with them (for over 60+ years). So even though Hong Kong's customs department was once rated as the most rude in the world, (closely followed by Irish customs) - Pakistani are always welcomed, as they know that someone from my country will only arrive there for business. Or if the person is not a businessman or a businesswoman, then he or she will either be an engineer or a doctor (looking for a job in their country, or called over for their expertise)... We Pakistanis very rarely travel internationally for pleasure or for a vacation, (we have too much in our own country for that). So in the Middle East for example, many Pakistanis go as blue collar laborers, (as the Arabs really do pay very well). But a lot of people now also go there for white collar jobs too, again mainly as doctors and engineers/technicians. Which is why almost 80% of the population in the city of Dubai in the UAE are Pakistani expatriates. Arabs also appreciate this a lot, as we have had excellent diplomatic relations with them too - Plus Pakistan being an Islamic country means that the Arabs and us are from very similar cultures, (so not much adjustment is required on our part). So for example whenever a Pakistani is traveling to Dubai, they automatically assume that he (or she) is there for either business, or is there for a job, (or is there for some illicit activity). In the business sense there are 2 types, one is the type that does actual commerce (placing orders to buy stuff from there, or out to sell his or her own products in their markets). While the other type is someone who goes there during the Dubai Shopping Festival, and only buys all kinds of electronic gadgets (smart phones and laptops), which they will bring home in their personal baggage. Only to sell here at a slight profit... So both these types are welcomed there, as they are good for their economy. People going there for jobs are also welcomed, as we Pakistanis basically make the wheels of their country turn, be it as a low level laborer, or as white collar high level executive... And believe it or not, but majority of people going there for illicit activities too (except for those who are carrying narcotics from Afghanistan) are also welcomed. As the authorities there know that their suitcases will be loaded with illegally acquired money, which they will only be wanting to deposit in their banks (for the sake of anonymity), or buy gold from it in Dubai, (which too will probably get deposited in some security locker in UAE)... See this link for example, of a Pakistani catwalk supermodel trying to escape with her loot: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32158471 But regardless of the fact that you are a business person, a doctor, an engineer or some other type of a technocrat, or a banker, (or are just trying to hide your own money in their banks just to escape the Pakistani tax department) - If you are seem traveling with too little luggage, or worse, with an almost empty suitcase. Then the authorities at the airport will instantly take you into custody on suspicion, and grill you for hours! They may even decide to x-ray your stomach for drugs, as well as a full body cavity search too (and you will not have the option to say no to this demand either)... After which they'll scrutinize all your documents, (over and over again). So if you had a connecting flight to somewhere, forget about it! And so somewhere in between all of this, if they (God forbid) discover a USA or UK visa on your passport - Then your goose is cooked for sure! As then they will ask you a totally different set of questions, like: Why are you here really? Why did you visit America or the UK, specially when you are not even their natural born citizen??? So are you actually hired as their secret agent? Have you come here with instructions to instigate yet another type of an "Arab Spring" (an uprising against the rulers)? Do you secretly favor the concept of democracy? Do yourself a favor by confessing and making it easy for yourself, (they'll say)... Their line of offensive & insulting questioning will be very similar to - For someone who landed on US soil, and had a Cuban or North Korean visa on their passport, (to give an example for comparison)... Anyway, finally they will ask why are you traveling with an empty suitcase? Are you trying to give the impression that you are here on business or for recreation, while in reality it's only a misdirection? If you say that you would by clothes and other stuff from their country, then (as I know their type of mindset) - They will ask: Then why not also buy a suitcase from here too? Why travel with an empty one? What's the real story here? However, if you are traveling without a suitcase altogether, then they will still pull away to one side for similar questioning... You really won't be able to win any argument with them. As they are instructed to take on chances... So best to do what everyone else would be doing, and don't raise any suspicion towards yourself... Even those who travel to Dubai just to buy cheap electronics (during their shopping festival) still travel with a suitcase filled with junk, which they will naturally discard over there, to make space for all stuff they'll by buying there. So even they (the kind of people we here call "dau tackkay ka khaypia" (two bit transportation mules)) know not to travel with an empty suitcase. Yes, the Arabs (and sometimes the Chinese too) can be extremely paranoid, as they are very sensitive to foreign instigation. So traveling internationally with an empty suitcase, will now (specially in this day and age) really get you in a pickle. Since they wouldn't find anything on you, they will eventually have to let you go. But not on their own soil, for they will deport you on the grounds of suspicion - And put your identity in their database, so that you will never ever again be allowed entry in their country. They really will slap a "persona non grata" status on you, which will never get washed away. And they do share their data with other countries in the region too... I am not making this up, I have heard many stories like these... So my advice is to please don't ever travel internationally with an empty suitcase, as doing so will attract a lot of suspicion. And in some countries your life can suddenly take a very ugly turn, (just on suspicion alone). However, this thread is about the security weaknesses in suitcases with zippers, so what I am now seriously worried about it - Is what if someone travailing in the same direction as me opens my zipper suitcase without my knowledge. And puts in contraband? Thus making me his drug carrying mule (without me having any clue). That way if I get caught, he will not face any risk... So it's not exactly the thief of something valuable that I am worried about, (as I normally don't travel with anything too costly). What I am really worried about is getting framed, and that too for no fault of my own! Because it's a fact of life that bad guys often do target people like me as their mark - People who have never had any type of a criminal record in the past, (and so will not raise any suspicion while travailing internationally). I seriously am having nightmares about this now... And to think how I traveled in the past, while being this exposed, (and that too without even knowing of such a possibility) - Makes me breakout in a cold sweat...
That empty bag traveler was many, many years ago. Now a days an empty bag or not checking one at all would have raise all sorts of alarms. Back in 1999 I flew from Dallas/Ft. Worth International airport to Portland, Ore to meet up with group of women I had met through a quilters email list. I had baked two loaves of cinnamon bread to share with them and had them in a carry-on bag.....not even thinking about what a couple of loaves of bread wrapped in aluminum foil would look like on the xray scanner. I got called over to the security area while they used a smeller instrument to give the bag and bread the once over...twice over, thrice over. When they could only get readings identifying the contents as....Flour, Milk, Butter, Sugar and Cinnamon they finally gave up and handed the bag back to me.
Out of curiosity I today searched YouTube a bit more - So let's now also say hello to this headache too, (something in which I had placed a lot of trust)... Is nothing safe and secure anymore???
