Son got his luggage stolen at airport

[CathyA]

My son was getting back from a working trip and he was waiting for his luggage on those turning things. He saw a guy pick up luggage that looked just like his, tore the tag off, and walked away. DS thought it was just someone with similar luggage. But he was stealing DS's! Dangit. What a scumbag. I, personally, would have gone after him, but DS said when he realized it was his, the guy was gone. You need to put something real identifiable on your luggage, so you know immediately that someone is taking it. Who knows.......maybe the guy would have pulled a gun or knife on him.
Fortunately, it was just clothes and things. He had just shot hundreds of pictures for a company at a convention. Thankfully none of his filming stuff was in his luggage.
Too many creeps in the world!
But DS said the airport set-up was really bad............that anyone could walk in a close-by door and steal luggage. Seems like they need to fix that.
Anyhow, he involved the police and they feel certain they will get the guy on several cameras......but when the jerk finds just clothing, he'll probably be disappointed. Good!

[iris lilies]

That's too bad, I've always wondered about how easy it is to walk off with someone's bag.

We had the typical black fabric bags on rollers until I got tired of them looking like everyone else's bags and I painted --in red--big crazy designs on them. One bag has red hearts all over it and one has abstract designs.

[sweetana3]

I took a large used black bag and painted a large paisley design on it with fabric paint. It lasted better than the bag and NO ONE would ever steal it. You could see it a mile off.

An easier way is to get some of that decorator duct tape and put it on the sides and front and back of the luggage. It is hard to get off and again, you can see it way way off.

Who really care just how a suitcase looks anyway. The airlines damage it in some way the first time you use it anyway.

[Tammy]

This is one reason that I only take one small carry-on for the last few years. I've found that I need a lot less than I thought i did. 3 outfits gets me through a week ... I borrow someone's laundry room if needed.

[sweetana3]

We traveled several times overseas with only carryon bags. I am not sure how we really did it but our pictures don't show a lot of variety of outfits. Now I don't want the worry and strain of a carryon bag. I do remember washing things out in the sink. Works great in dry climates.

Other things to consider, do not carry anything!!! electronic in your packed bag or any thing of value. If someone really needs to steal a used bag with dirty clothes, something is not right but you wont be out too much. Travel is not the time to take your $500 shoes or laptop in your suitcase.

[CathyA]

DS had to use a suitcase, since all his carry-on allowances were equipment for his film shoot. Thank heavens, he didn't put any of that in the stolen luggage. He took enough clothes for 2-3 days. some of the stolen clothes were new, just for this trip. I told him next time, wear ALL your clothes. haha
I don't know how they can prevent people from just walking up and stealing, but I wish they'd work on it.

[RosieTR]

We have our last names written in big laundry pen block letters on our checked bags. Laundry pens also come in white for the ubiquitous black bags. Pretty sure nobody will steal a bag with something like "JONES" written in huge (4 inch) letters on the side! Also we know right away when it comes out of the chute, which means we don't have to be right up along the edge of the carousel to grab each tag and check it. DH used to write "this bag stolen from Jones" on all his military bags when he was in the service.
I think there are scammers who do steal luggage, though: I seem to recall hearing news stories about it every so often. Your son might be able to file a claim with the airport or airline, but I'm not sure.

[iris lily]

He should definately report it. While it's unlikely they'll be able to catch the guy,the airport authorities have to know their customers are being targeted, where and when so that they can put security in the right place. Make sure he reports it.

[CathyA]

Well.......here's an interesting turn of events...........The guy returned the suitcase, saying he picked it up by mistake! DS hasn't gotten it back yet, but we're both really suspicious........ Mostly because he watched the guy look at the airline tag with DS's name on it, and tore it off. We're wondering if he realized he might be on camera?? Maybe it was just an honest mistake, but still, very strange. In this crazy world, it makes me nervous about DS getting the suitcase back.....like what if the guy put something funky in it? Hopefully I'm over-thinking this.

[sweetana3]

Maybe he found only dirty laundry and decided it wasn't worth it.

I really think you are overthinking it.

[Tammy]

Airlines add tags sometimes. Maybe he thought what he tore off what added by them ...

All of my pics have me in similar clothing, whether vacation or home. ;)

(I only own about 4 bottoms and 6 tops. I buy things I love of good quality (and sometimes pretty pricey) andthen use it for a long time.)

[CathyA]

If I were a thief and stole some luggage, I wouldn't return it if it had junk in it.........Usually they just toss them. Yeah, I'm thinking it was just an innocent mistake. But.......curious that the guy's real suitcase never showed up as missing. Weird. Still......something to be learned........put very identifiable markings on your luggage.

[jp1]

I can recall, in the pre-9/11 days, when airport security was more than porno exrays of passengers and wasted bottles of half drunk water getting thrown out. Back in those days most of the airports I traveled through actually had security staff monitoring people taking luggage out of the baggage claim area. I guess if we want that again we'll need a terrorist to steal someone's luggage...

On a lighter note, this story reminds me of one I heard years ago of a friend of a friend in NYC. She was a small, older woman looking after someone's large old dog while they were away. The dog died. The dog's owner wasn't going to be home for several more days and asked her to take it to the ASPCA for cremation, since it couldn't stay in the apartment now. The woman looked around the apartment for something to carry it in and found an old suitcase. She lugged the dog, in the suitcase, to the subway, took the train uptown, got off, and lugged it, step by step, up to the street. At that point a good samaritan (large guy) offered to help her with it. Grateful, she agreed. He picked it up and took off running down the street.

[awakenedsoul]

Glad the suitcase was returned, CathyA. I think you really have to be confrontational in situations like this now. "Excuse me, that's my bag!!!" He sounds like a crook to me. I've never seen anyone rip the tags off a suitcase, and I traveled with my work for 15 years. I think he was afraid of getting caught. It sounds like he returned it and made up a story.
My brother had his camera stolen out of his backpack at an airport. There's a lot of theft in airports now. People get distracted with texting and cell phones. Many of of these thieves are swift and experienced. They find their targets.
I used to travel with this wildy bright plaid luggage that was a hand me down from my aunt. Everyone would laugh when they saw it. It was easy to spot on the conveyer belt. I also put a huge red bow on my bags.

That's a really funny story, jp1. I transported my pot bellied pig (who weighed 135 lbs.) in a wheelbarrow into my car trunk after she passed away. I drove her to the animal shelter and paid for cremation.