Today, we'll be exposing the details of luggage theft by airline and airport employees and what you can do to protect yourself the next time you fly. Many of these thefts involve people with inside access, like baggage handlers, ground crew, or airport staff who are in the perfect position to dig through bags and remove valuables or rroot them without getting caught. And the worst part is that both airlines and airports are constantly denying liability, even in the face of solid evidence. Here are 10 simple steps you can take that actually make a difference. The first way to help keep your luggage safe is to protect it against the pen hack. One common method thieves use to break into suitcases is the pen hack, where a ballpoint pen or similar object is used to pierce and slide open the zippers. This works on both soft shell and hard shell suitcases if they have zippers. The worst part is that they can just zip it back up like nothing happened, and you may not even notice anything's missing until you unpack at your destination. Good luck tracking down that thief. To protect against this, look for luggage with anti-puncture zippers, which have interlocking teeth that make the pen trick ineffective. Or better yet, go with a zipperless suitcase that uses clasps or latches instead. The next way to help keep your luggage safe is to avoid checking it in at the airport too early. It might seem smart to check your bag early and get it out of the way, but that can actually increase the risk of theft. Once it's tagged and sent down the conveyor belt, your suitcase often sits in a holding area before being loaded onto the plane. These areas are usually out of sight and sometimes completely unattended. Aim to check your bag no earlier than 3 hours before departure. This is close enough to boarding that your luggage spends less time sitting around and is more likely to go directly onto the plane and skip a holding area altogether. Let us know down in the video comments if you have ever had an issue with delayed, lost, or damaged luggage after checking in a bag at the airport. Another way to help keep your luggage safe is to avoid packing anything illegal or suspicious, which is not always as simple as it sounds since both airlines and the TSA seem to get a kick out of changing the rules on us. Every checked bag gets scanned just like your carry-on at security. And if something inside looks odd, such as weird shapes, wrapped gifts, random wires, it's probably getting opened. That's when things can go missing. Sometimes it's even the TSA agent who never intended to steal, but then saw something valuable and couldn't resist. Even if the agent opening your bag isn't trying to steal anything, they might not repack it properly or zip it up all the way, which makes it easier for someone else to steal from it later. I mean, let's be honest, most of us can barely close our own suitcases after we pack them. So, how do you avoid getting flagged? Don't pack anything that looks sketchy on an X-ray or that is not allowed in checked luggage. You can check the TSA's what can I bring page for the most up-to-date list of what to avoid. And here's a quick note. If TSA opens your bag for a manual search, they're required to leave a notice of inspection inside. So, if your bag looks like it's been opened, but there's no slip, that's a red flag. It may not have been TSA or it was a TSA officer and they did not follow protocol. Another way to help keep your luggage safe is to use TSA approved locks. Whether built-in or added yourself, locks are another good barrier. TSA approved locks are great since they allow agents to open and relock your suitcase using a universal key without cutting them off. Look for the red diamond symbol to confirm if your lock is considered TSA approved. Even non-TSA approved locks and zip ties securing your suitcase zippers can help. Most thieves are looking for low-hanging fruit, so if they see a suitcase with added barriers, they're more likely to move on to something they can get into quickly. But locks, unfortunately, do not remove the risk entirely, which is evident in what happened to Lisa and Dave along with 20 other wedding guests who returned from Jamaica to find their suitcases slashed open and valuables stolen. Not the best way to end a vacation. The next way to help keep your luggage safe, especially from a situation like slashing through the fabric, is to choose a hard shell suitcase over a soft one. Hard shell suitcases are usually more secure than softsided bags. They are more likely to be equipped with TSA friendly locking mechanisms, and the rigid structure makes it more difficult for thieves to tamper with or cut into. Most hard shell bags also open clamshell style, meaning someone has to open the whole thing to get inside, not just unzip a corner and reach in. Outer pockets on your suitcase are convenient, but unfortunately they are also convenient for thieves. When purchasing a hard shell suitcase, look for polycarbonate material that offers a good balance between durability and weight. Aluminum is the strongest, but also the heaviest and most expensive option. and avoid ABS plastic if possible as it's more prone to cracking under pressure. I'll leave a few links down in the video description to some hard shell suitcases that I both use and recommend. The next way to help keep your luggage safe is to make it unattractive to thieves. The goal here is simple. Make your bag look like it's not worth the effort to mess with. Use colorful luggage or add ribbons, stickers, or even a fun luggage cover. A suitcase that stands out is harder for someone to quietly walk off with. A cover can also block easy access to zippers, adding an extra layer of protection. Some travelers even use kids luggage covers to make the bag look like it belongs to a child. The logic here is that a thief might not target a kid suitcase, assuming that there's nothing valuable inside. Clever. I would try that. Using a luggage wrapping service is also an option since it adds a thick layer of plastic film around your suitcase that makes it harder for anyone to tamper with zippers or sneak things in or out. But it's worth noting that wrapping your luggage in plastic is not exactly environmentally friendly and it only protects your bag for a single flight. Also, if a TSA officer needs to open your bag, they have the right to cut the plastic off, which kind of defeats the purpose. The next tip to help keep your luggage safe is short and simple, which is to hide valuables with a privacy layer. The goal is to make it harder for someone to quickly spot or grab anything worth stealing. Opportunistic theft often happens when an item is in plain sight and left loose at the top of your suitcase. Adding that extra layer makes it harder for someone to quickly rifle through your things and can be just enough friction to stop a theft in progress. The next way to help keep your stuff safe is to never check your valuables. Whenever possible, don't check anything expensive or irreplaceable, which might include electronics, jewelry, medications, passports, or cash. Keep those items in your carry-on or better yet in your personal item that fits under the seat in front of you. That way, it never leaves your site. Here's the catch, though. Sometimes your carry-on gets taken from you at the airport boarding gate. If that happens, take a minute to pull out anything valuable and move it into your personal item. Look at what happened to Pula Garcia. Her laptop was in a carry-on that Spirit Airlines forced her to check at the gate, and Spirit charged her over $60 to check it in, and then it was stolen. Not good. And whether they are valuable or not, don't check in all of your clothes either. If your suitcase is stolen, lost, or delayed, you're stuck with nothing to wear. And one of my favorite emergency packing tips is made possible by today's video sponsor, Halara. I always pack a backup outfit in my personal item because even if your carry-on gets checked in at the gate, that bag stays with you. On my last trip, I packed Halara's flex denim jeans and one of their softly zero tops. And I swear it's the most practical travel combo I've ever brought. These jeans are ridiculously lightweight and roll up into almost nothing. But here's the magic part. They come out completely wrinkle-free. I've stuffed them into compression cubes and even ziplockc bags at the bottom of my backpack, and they still look fresh when I pull them out. But it's not just about having a backup. Halara's Flex Denim is also perfect for wearing through the airport since many styles skip metal buttons and zippers, so you're not setting off TSA alarms or getting pulled aside for extra screening. They come in a ton of styles, sizes, and colors designed to flatter every body type. And you can find the link with all of the details down in the video description and as a pinned comment to check them out before your next trip. Another way to help keep your luggage safe is to use a luggage tracker. Most airlines have their own luggage tracking system, but it's good to take matters into your own hands with a backup tracking option that you have control over. Take Sandra's story as a prime example. United Airlines claimed her delayed bag was on route to Denver from Baltimore. However, using an Apple Air Tag, Sandra discovered that her bag was actually sitting at the Chicago airport and not moving at all. After several frustrating calls arguing with the airline about where her bag actually was, she ended up getting on a plane and flying to Chicago to get it herself. Air Tags provide precise location updates without geographical limits, so you'll know exactly where your suitcase is at all times. I personally tape mine under the fabric liner of my suitcase as it's less likely for a thief to quickly see it and remove it in comparison to if it was just in an internal pocket. And if you're using an Air Tag, you can disable the sound feature. I'll leave instructions on how to do that in the video description. This way, if a thief has an iPhone, they won't be able to make the Air Tag chime to locate it easily after getting a notification that an Air Tag is nearby. Another way to help keep your luggage safe is to document everything pre-flight and then be vigilant postflight. Before your trip, take a few photos of your fully packed suitcase inside and out. Get a shot of the outside showing the color, brand, and tags, and snap pictures of what you've packed. This helps if you need to make a claim later so you can either get your stuff back or get compensated for anything that goes missing. Hopefully, you will never need to reference these photos, but it is good to have them just in case. When you land, you'll also want to be at the baggage carousel, ready to grab your bag right away. Luggage left unattended is an easy target since anyone could walk off with your bag. Before exiting the airport, quickly check that your security measures are intact and that your bag doesn't show signs of tampering. If you notice anything suspicious, report it immediately to airline staff while still at the airport. Filing claims can be much more difficult once you've left, especially if you are unfamiliar with the process. While you can't guarantee your suitcase and everything in it will arrive safely postflight, these tips will definitely help increase the chances. And if you want to know more about what really happens behind the scenes at airports, you'll definitely want to check out my video on TSA secrets, which I'll put on the screen now and link for you in the video description below. I think you'll be pretty shocked to learn about some of the things that have gone on. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button to join Olly and me back here for more travel tips and hacks each week, and we will see you in that next video soon. Bye.