Similar happened to me at Dalaman flying back to Newcastle. I left my 'Genuine £5 Rolex' in my bag along with my Sports Watch, worth £50. They nicked the 'Rolex' and left the other. Discerning but stupid.
Still thieves though.

Jim

Jim when did this happen to you, this incident only happend yesterday (tuesday the 5th of July ) I am more convinced it happend at Dalaman and not Belfast as the luggage comes straight of the flight onto the convair belts at Belfast, if it did happen at Dalaman then their is a scam going on there as what I can remember their is only one scanner at Dalaman before check in so how would the luggage handlers know ( without being told) what is in your luggage.
The camera was inside a soap bag, the camera bag was left with the other contents still inside the soap bag but NO CAMERA in camera bag.

Hi maybe as with some airports there is a scanner on the baggage handling side.I always use combination locks as baggage handlers have bunches of case keys,had my cases rifled at Heathrow on more than 1 occasion.

It happened about 18 months ago, I've been back to Dalaman since then but very careful what I pack.

hi to all...may i give a warning to all who are travelling to tunisia,.have just returned from monastir airport to manchester airport,.on arrival at manchester found our suitcase had been broken open and my vidieo and my digital cameras and also my sun glasses and spare reading glasses stolen,.having spoken to the airport staff they say it is nothing new,.it appears when suitcases are scanned at monastir airport they see whats inside and then tip off to someone else whats inside..............so please take note of my warning and put all of value in your carry on luggage,..........regards ..john-doe.

All luggage at all airports is x-rayed for security reasons and I'd never dream of packing valuable items in my checked-in baggage no matter which airport I was travelling through. Apart from anything else, luggage can and does go missing - anything that I would be sorry to lose goes in the hand baggage. Apart from anything else, most holiday insurance doesn't cover you for valuables in luggage and the airline compensation schemes based on the Warsaw Convention certainly don't.

SM

My mum had jewellery stole from her suitcase coming from Monastir as well. She never normally leaves valuables in the suitcase but my dad, thinking he was helping, packed her jewellery case in the front (locked) compartment of the case. It was broken into and taken.....dad is still in bad books!

Like SM said, no valuables should be placed in suitcases.

hi sm..the reason the cameras where put in the suitcase was because my wife who packs the luggage was worried about the weight restriction on carry on luggage,.this is the first time she as ever put items of value in hold luggage.........and her last....but please note the post i first made was a warning for other people to take care....and not do as we did...john-doe

Hi Johndoe,

I was 'getting at you' and apologise if that was the way it came over - I was just emphasising that this could happen anywhere and does, and not just from Monistir. Your warning applies even more so when travelling to and from the US as they ask you not to even lock your cases in order to allow hand searches of luggage!

SM

hi ..sm.. ...thank you for your reply ...no harm done .... ...regards...john-doe

We came back from Tunisia a week ago and the same thing happened to us but we flew from Tunis airport to Milan then to Manchester so I can truely sympathise we lost our digital camera, camcorder and mobile phone.
On the way out there we only put our camcorder in the suitcase and carried the camera as hand luggage but it was taken away from us at Manchester airport and then brought back to us so I thought it would be better to place it all in a suitcase seen how they all arrived in Tunisia safely.
We didnt even realise our suitcase had been robbed until we got home as our lock hadnt been broken????? we even checked the pocket to see if the suitcase had been ripped open but it hadnt. The police said we had no chance as its outside the UK (did we stand a chance in the UK????) and as we learnt we werent covered by our travel insurance.
Its a horrible lesson to be learnt. I know next time to keep them as hand luggage and to keep the XD card and tapes out of the camera as I wasnt bothered about the cameras as such it was the memories I lost with them

hi all ..further to my lasts posts i have phoned up the tunisian tourist board office up to register my disgust they have told to send them a letter with my complaint in writing which i have just posted (i do not think it will make any difference but will wait and see)....regards..john-doe...i am so flaming mad...

Ooh whats the address for that maybe I should do the same.
I should also write one to Milan as we stopped off there. As you say it wont make any difference but at least it will make me feel as though I have done something.

I am very sorry to hear of the terrible losses that my fellow HT members have suffered. It is a sad fact of life that such things do happen when travelling via aircraft. Once you put your suitcases on the belt at Check In no one can tell what is going to happen to it after it drops off onto that coveyer belt behind the flappy screen. That might be the last time you ever see it.

I also use 'combination locks' as the locks supplied with new suitcases are about as useful as a chocolate fireguard. I also use several straps all with combination locks on. Not only do these make my suitcase more secure, they help me to recognise it on the baggage carousel. I cannot comment on travelling to the USA, but I would not be happy about having to leave my suitcases unlocked so doubt I will ever travel to the USA. But I always use at least six straps. I cannot see any tea leaf risking his job by trying to gain access to a case that has at least three comination locks on it and several straps. But then again maybe they would?

I also always fasten the straps so that they cover the locks very tightly.

Any item/s of value should always be carried in Hand Luggage and remember you are able to carry a camera bag in addition to hand luggage onto the aircraft, and I have never yet had my camera bag weighed at check in but of course it is still subject to the security scanner. Most camera bags are of a size and shape that would enable you to carry your jewellery inside it in addition to your camera.

As far as getting compensation for lost of damaged suitcases is concerned, as has been pointed out, it is very important to get a report from the handling agent at your arrival airport, whether that be your home airport or your holiday airport. Insurance Companies will not entertain your claim without this report.
I have had three suitcases damaged by airlines, two very badly damaged and one suffering from minor 'injuries', and in each case I got a report and I received on two occasions a replacement suitcase that was far superior and much more expensive to the one that had been damaged and on the third occasion I received a cheque.

You will be asked to sign a disclaimer that you accept what has been offered to you as 'Full and Final Settlement' so make sure you are happy with what you have been supplied with before you sign, as once you have signed on the dotted line the Insurance Company will close the case (forgive the Pun).

hi .markandtracey...the address you have asked is ...tunisia national tourist office 77a wigmore street london wiu 70f.....regards john-doe

Hi all, just thought I would add to this seen as I initiated the topic last year, like the previous person who posted about house insurance I also was able to claim from my home insurance " but what a nightmare that was " I had to submit receipts for everything (including CD's) that I had bought over the years (which I didn't have) but I did eventually get compensation for the stolen items.

I have since travelled abroad twice but on both occasions I have made sure that all valuables have been in my hand luggage and kept safely beside me at all times, I work with a girl who had her handbag stolen(which was sitting on the counter)
from the hotel reception desk while she was signing for a safety deposit box, her handbag contained everything she had with her including a silver key ring that her deceased mother had bought her for a 21st birthday present which could never be replaced,
Also her car key's so she had no way of getting her car out of the car park on her return from her holiday, all in all it cost her fortune in the end, Spanish police did catch the culprit and SHE went to court and was jailed for 6 months as she had previous convictions but my colleague never did get her belongings back.

I am a strong advocate of cable ties as a method of securing luggage - 100% tamper-proof - the only difficulty being locating something to cut them off with on arrival since you can't put "sharps" in your hand baggage.
A bag with an otherwise empty (unlocked) side or end pocket at least allows you to tuck a small penknife/nail scissors or whatever away to solve the opening problem - at least it's easy to tell if your bag has been rummaged if the tie is missing (it's OK by the Americans too)!!

Going back a few years - an airline I used to work for when travelling to one particular African destination had problems with people dashing out from the trees at the end of the runway while the planes were holding for take-off . They were actually opening the cargo holds with the benefit of step ladders, nicking a few bags then disappearing !!!!! - That takes "playing chicken" to a whole new level!!!!!

Like the above TAH-M

Another suggestion is to use the machines that wrap your luggage if there is one available at the airport you are using. I always use them, especially if my luggage is going through more than one airport. It also keeps it dry, and you can see in a moment whether it has been tampered with.

I think the shrink wrapping of luggage is a waste of money to be honest. It doesn't give you any extra security merely demonstrates to you immediately on sight that the luggage has been tampered with!

It says to the thief, I might have stuff in here that may be of interest to you. A determined and systematic thief isn't going to balk at slicing a knife through a bit of shrink wrap!

A certain number of cases per flight in Europe are selected for an entirely random hand search as an extra security precaution. If your luggage is shrink wrapped it will still be searched.