Our luggage is a dark chocolate brown with neon foam yellow and green handle covers. I h as be not seen anyone touch our bags in the decade we’ve had them and I have never seen bags like ours. They both have luggage ID straps as well. S’s black bag blinds right in with so many others but he rarely ever checks it so not an issue for him.
Odd experience last night when leaving the US to fly to Europe. TSA was taking photos of everyone individually with a smartphone as they boarded and examining passports closely. This was at a smaller midwest airport with hardly any international flights so maybe they just have time on their hands, but everyone found it very strange (I fly a lot, though never before from that airport, and have never experienced it in the past). No idea why and no explanations offered.
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Two thumbs up! A very distinct suitcase is less likely to be snatched off the carousel by thieves. ‘Cause there is no excuse, “Oh, sorry, I thought it looked exactly like my black bag!”
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I wonder if they were searching for someone but didn’t want to disclose—amber alert or something. I can’t ever recall noticing that. Otherwise, maybe they were training for an amber alert type situation?
I’ve not seen that combo before—quite eye-catching.
This happened in Trudeau airport in Montreal:
We have BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT yellow belts that we place around our bags–can see them coming down the carousel from a mile away. Last fall I see our bag coming, and before I can get to it, a gentleman starts taking it off the carousel? I tell him it’s my bag—he speaks no English and is wearing the flowing robes of someone from perhaps an African country. We cannot communicate. I show him my drivers license and place it near the luggage tag to show him that it is MY bag—just a blank stare with a hand on the bag.
Finally, I gently take the bag away from him and begin to walk away. I was totally prepared to have him contact security so I could finally clear this whole thing up. Turns out that was the end of it, and nothing else happened. My wife wondered if he worked for the airport, taking bags off the carousel–he had no lanyard, ID, uniform, or anything that would indicate he was an airport employee.
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I did remark that I’d just read about the case of this stowaway (a Russian spy given mentions of “national security risks”?):
This story caught my attention:
This surprised me and made me think about our recent trip to Japan. On a flight from Fukuoka to Sapporo DH’s checked luggage was scanned (yes, they scanned checked bags!) and it was flagged. DH had forgotten he had placed a phone charger in his toiletry bag for some reason. He moved it to his carryon and that was that.
I just remember how efficient and safe it felt traveling there. The lithium battery could have issues anywhere but as the article states a fire in the cargo hold is worse than a carryon bag.
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Checked bags are typically scanned (for bombs or anything else prohibited in checked bags). In US airports, this tends not to be done in view of the passenger, but in some non-US airports, passengers can watch the scanning process and be available for the case you describe above.
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Yes…saw this recently on Carry-On on Netflix.
On my international trip this month, the worst airport treatment was at the hands of London Heathrow security. We transited through London both directions. I knew that we had to clear security before boarding our connecting flights, but having carry-on bags pulled aside for detailed checks without concern for a short time to the connecting flight seemed to be the norm. Conflicting info on shoes on/off, iPad/phone/kindle in or out of the bag, belt with no metal on or off…coupled with power-hungry personnel. When I saw the sign that said they could randomly check anyone for anything, I just shook my head.
Also, the number of passengers who had huge bottles of toiletries who then held things up for the rest of us. 
I didn’t take my iPad and phone out because I was told it wasn’t necessary. Security review took both, looking in the cover, swabbing with the explosives thingy. Ok, then they’d allow some of the huge bottles to be taken on. Made no sense. Theater.
When we went through Amsterdam in April, they moved people in the passport control line quicker if they had a flight within 45 minutes (we were in line for well over an hour and a half).
Even if your bag SEEMS unique, the company that manufactured it certainly produced more than one of that style/color/pattern! Always a good idea to check the tags or have other obvious markers on your luggage.
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That’s my biggest pet peeve, there are never clear signs indicating what has to be out in the open, shoes on or off, etc., then you get yelled at if you don’t have something out of your bag or are still wearing your belt, etc.
I will gladly comply, just tell me what have to do!!!
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I got through LHR transit security recently twice with no issue. But it seemed like most bags that other people brought had something that they wanted to see after the X-ray, which slowed the queue.
part of that is the fact that different machines have different sensitivities. And different airports set the sensitivities differently depending on risk. (I have an old coat which I always wear thru PreCheck with no issues, but on a rare occasion when I walk thru with it on, the machine beeps, they ask me to take it off and put it thru the machine.) The latest is lightweight puffer coats have to come off even in PreCheck. (some of such coats have a silver insulated thermal lining that scatters the screeners, so all puffer coats come off, even if you have a coat without that silver lining, at least how it was explained by TSA on my trip last month.)
I am a frequent traveler and only the US seems to require removing shoes (unless you have TSA Pre-check/Global Entry). If you’re taking a flight into the US from an airport abroad, that also requires compliance with US TSA rules (shoes, liquids, etc). If you’re flying anywhere else you can keep your shoes on.
Huh—I have a vest with the silver lining but only go through the metal detector and they have me keep it on. I rarely have ever done anything more than the metal detector and/or pat down.
that’s great, but just goes to show what appear to us to be inconsistent rules. (which I think is what MaDad was getting at.)
Correct. Shoes come off at all US airports unless you have PreCheck/Global Entry. (an incentive to get PreCheck.)
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Actually for older adults (I think the age is 70), you no longer have to remove shoes, even if you are NOT pre-check in the US—more inconsistencies!