There’s nothing that can ruin your personal or business trip more than having your luggage (or at least the items in it) stolen during your travel. Luggage thefts can occur anywhere, from the airport, train station, during a commute, or even at your hotel lobby. To avoid this costly and stressful incident, it’s important for you to take note of these travelling tips to keep your luggage safe:
#1 Pack Light
How exactly does packing light help with keeping your items safe? To better visualize it, let’s look at what happens if you’re carrying two or more bags when travelling. If you’re carrying a lot of luggage, you’ll need to keep an eye out for each bag, which can be difficult if you’re in a rush or in a crowded area. Secondly, you’re more likely to focus on one bag (the one with the most valuables), keeping your other bags more vulnerable to tampering and theft. Lastly, the chances of you forgetting one of your bags increase the more bags you have.
Try to keep your luggage to the bare minimum when travelling, not only would it improve luggage safety, but you’ll be able to travel more comfortably. However, this may not always be an option, especially if you’re bringing heavy or bulky items for work or business.
#2 Invest in Secure Bags and Locks
There are a lot of tamper-proof and anti-theft bags in the market that help keep your personal belongings safe. Some of the higher-quality ones can be a bit pricey, but the cost and stress of having your belongings stolen can heavily outweigh the price tag. Alternatively, you can purchase high-quality luggage locks to prevent thieves from opening your bag and snatching the items inside it.
#3 Add a Personal Touch to Your Luggage
If you purchased your bag or suitcase on sale, there’s a huge chance that other people have, too. To prevent switching luggage, especially at the airport, it’s important that you’re able to customize your bag to differentiate it from other similar-looking or identical bags from other travelers. Luggage tags aren’t enough, though. You’ll want to consider adding extra identification such as brightly-colored strings or zip ties, luggage stickers, and even just markings somewhere on the bag to serve as proof.
#4 Have a List of All the Items Inside
This is important in case of disputes (i.e. a thief or another passenger claims that the bag is theirs), and also when you’re reporting the theft to the authorities. Better yet, take a picture of the contents of your bag.
#5 Choose Your Mode of Transportation Wisely
When travelling, especially as a tourist, you would naturally opt to ride public modes of transportation. However, you have to be wary and be smart about it, as many luggage thefts occur during transportation. For example, if you’re using a van or a bus, there are instances wherein luggage theft occurs while or after your bags are stored in the vehicle compartment. Make sure that your mode of transportation is safe and reliable. If you’re carrying valuable items, or if you can’t avoid carrying many or bulky luggage, you may want to avoid public transportation and rent a sedan car in Manila to keep your luggage and items safe during your trip (and also to keep yourself comfortable).
It’s integral to take extra precaution when it comes to preventing luggage theft during your travel. Make sure that you take note of all these travel safety tips so you can have peace of mind when you travel.
