I would have taken other passengers' names as witnesses then pushed the issue. An arrest would require a local cop, which might have a different opinion, plus a jury would likely take a dim view of the situation. (In a subsequent civil suit as well.) No guns, but I have both lawyers and money.

Lastly, the TSA is not allowed to confiscate most items that don't violate a law, only to prohibit flight with them. Your friends could have walked back out of the checkpoint and mailed their phones to themselves.

Anyway, with any luck, the TSA thieves who did your friend will f@@k the wrong guy and end up being the "victim of a botched mugging" or wearing concrete cowboy boots in the East River a year or two later. Karma's a *****.

Unfortunately, the stories come to me second hand so I have no way of verifying them. The story came from a man who said one of his relatives had worked in the airline business for years. He told me his phone was seized at the gate and when he raised a fuss, they threatened him with arrest. Once they have your property in THEIR hands, there is no turning around and going to a mail drop. Perhaps they have changed their rules (again) and are not confiscating items that don't violate a law.

The luggage security locks are only one of many reasons I won't get on an airplane. Flying on a cigar tube with panic prone people who have absolutely ZERO training in handling aircraft emergency procedures is not my idea of a good time........

Try "early-bird check in". Considerably less costly because you can select the deep discounted fare due to the advance purchase. Also eliminates your need to checkin early on the return...........usually impossible unless you've got your laptop with you and you make a "date" with the computer 24 hours ahead of the flight.

Cost is $12.50 each way and you'll get a seat that is lower than A45. This is perfectly fine for getting a decent seat. The aircraft holds about 135.

Also, for some reason all the lemmings sit at the front of the cabin. The rear seats will always have extra seats available unless it's full.

And that is the theme of most, if not all of your stories. They all are about the 4 foot long bluegill that weighs 20 pounds that you never saw or was able to verify but you were told that someone you know met the brother of the girl who talked to the guy who did catch that fish.

My father has spent most of his life traveling to places we probably can't find easily. He has been to many places that are so corrupt that they will ask for a "special fee" that you might enter the country. Most of his luggage problems are "it got run over", "it got lost and came back a month later", etc, etc. Your odds of getting broken in are there but so slim, based on percentages that it might be slightly more difficult to win a raffle.

How much experience do YOU have again?

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Question. Anyone have a guess at how much baggage flies and how many incidences of "Sticky Fingers"? What is the percentage? Any guesses? I'm guessing it is so low that the odds of you getting mugged or car jacked is probably higher.

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Where are these panic-prone people? The overwhelming majority of people on flights I've taken have been pretty chill.

I hear you about the inability to secure your luggage. I just don't bring anything particularly valuable with me. I could do without getting treated like an inmate by the TSA every time I go to get on a plane. The Israelis have a much better way to do airline security.

That said, I wish I had more discretion in deciding whether to drive or fly. I travel fairly regularly to LA and Seattle for one of my jobs. They used to be pretty flexible about letting me drive and then reimbursing for mileage, but now they always want me to fly. If I take a two week trip, park my car at the airport, and get authorized a rental car, which I often do, then the cost is higher than if I simply drove and got the 53 cents a mile or whatever the going rate is.

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SW is not entirely FEE free - early bird check in, move up in the cattle chute, bags charges on 3+ $75@ also

"There are no plans to charge for bags in 2013," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said Thursday (Jan. 24) when asked about that during an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" program."Never say never," Kelly added

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This. Quote from the linked article. You may wish to reprogram your percentage calculator.

"Amanda Slaver flew from Rochester, N.Y., to Las Vegas in February and found that her jewelry bag had been unzipped. The good stuff—gold, diamond and sapphire family heirlooms—had been taken and the plastic, glass and metal jewelry remained.
"It was devastating," she said. "Your trust is broken."
For the next seven months she argued with Delta over a $3,000 claim. The airline said it wasn't liable because its contract of carriage excludes valuables from the airline's responsibility. Delta offered her a $100 voucher toward a future ticket. "It seemed less like they wanted to help me and more that they just wanted me to go away," she said.


A Delta spokeswoman says the airline does offer compensation to customers "within the limits of our contract of carriage."



Baggage Theft at Airports Is On the Rise | What to Do About Luggage Theft - WSJ.com

First, please read this link carefully. These are the same people you share a commercial passenger aircraft with. They don't know up from down, literally. And, if you happen to be unlucky enough to be on a plane that has a real in-flight emergency, these same morons will trample you to death trying to get out of the plane. good luck, you'll need it.

Seven Black Friday horror stories | The Daily Caller

Second, the first news reports broadcast during the first hour when US Airways flight 1549 flown by Captain Chesley Sullenberger ditched into the Hudson river were different than subsequent reports. Early, the media reported that an US Airways flight attendant had attempted to stop panic driven passengers from opening the rear door of the aircraft. Apparently, the passengers were like cattle caught in a theater fire and physically knocked the flight attendant out of the way and OPENED THE DOOR THEREBY SEALING THEIR FATE. Amazingly, after they opened the door, the water rushed in which was the event which would eventually sink the plane to the bottom of the Hudson river (imagine that!).

One passenger jumped off the wing of the airplane into the freezing waters of the Hudson river. He got about fifty feet and realized that if he stayed in the water he would freeze to death so he turned around and came back to the plane. Perhaps he hadn't realized the water was FREEZING.

Approximately the second hour after the accident, the media stopped reporting the aforementioned information about the passengers getting into a physical altercation with the flight attendant so that they could open the rear door of the aircraft. I guess they wanted it to appear that the passengers were all calm and collected after the water ditching.

Sure they were.

Well, the article cited by the husky one states 195 reports of theft at Portland, OR through October 2012. In 2011 that airport handled just under 7M passengers. If you assume that half were departing, half arriving, and each arriving passenger checked one bag you come up with 234/3,500,000 as the percentage of theft, roughly 6.6x10e-5.

I wonder what he is doing on a car forum, becuase if that is too risky, operating an automobile should be completely out of the question.

Numbers man, eh? Do numbers ever "lie"? One thing I've learned in this world is this: Sociopaths have no empathy. In other words, they do not feel anyone's pain, only their own. The stories from people in the article posted do not apply to a sociopath. The only time a sociopath feels pain is when their bag(s) come out on the baggage carousel with the locks either broken or removed and item(s) missing. Then, and only then, does any of this have any meaning. Other than that, you are correct, sir, it is all a game of chance.

The random pat-down would be ok, depending on the lady who does it....

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If you truly understood percentages, which it doesn't seem you do, there is nothing to reprogram. One theft out of 100 is still 1% just as 10 thefts out of 1000 and so on an so forth.

And?

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People lie. Numbers on their own, don't. 100 thefts is 100 thefts. Out of 200 instances, it is a lot. Out of 2000, less and so on.

Ok, Dr Husky. Glad you diagnosed the thieves as sociopaths.

The point being? Everything is a game of chance. How do you know that you won't be stabbed, mugged, shot, raped, etc, etc? You can do things to lessen the chance but only a god can promise you heaven where bad things don't happen. So, as asked, how do you even drive knowing you run the risk of being carjacked, shot, etc, etc? Obviously, if you insist on driving in a bad neighborhood, you increase your risk. OTOH, you can be in a good neighborhood and still have a bad thing or two happen. So what to do?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Driving is fine.

Flying is not.

Surely you know that...................ask him again, if you don't.