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A long time ago in the US, one could purchase additional baggage insurance at the check-in counter. Insuring for $10,000 USD guaranteed face-to-face hand-off-on

A long time ago in the US, one could purchase additional baggage insurance at the check-in counter. Insuring for $10,000 USD guaranteed face-to-face hand-off-on-signature delivery at every step of the way. There are crappy third-party insurance underwriters for luggage these days, and the airlines stopped offering their own insurance policies because theft is so rampant in their baggage handling processes. In the US, there is a myth that packing a gun and going through the procedure to declare it would sprinkle magic never lost dust upon the luggage. It was once true a long time ago, but these days it only marginally improves the odds, if at all. An AirTag, Tile, and an old phone with a basic plan, new battery, and on your find device app, is about as good as it gets nowadays.

namibj 4y ago
The gun is less about anti-disappearance, and more about getting permissions for a proper lock where the key bitting isn't available for ~10 bucks in a ring of ~5 keys.
- yourapostasy 4y ago
  Good point, thanks for bringing that up. If I had confidence airport baggage handling procedures could guarantee the handlers couldn’t simply walk off with the luggage, I’d get a rotomolded case and lock it with a couple Assa Abloy shrouded padlocks (they offer key blank management systems for the truly paranoid). But from what I’ve read online, it seems baggage handling theft prevention procedures in many airports are lackadaisical at best. These days, if I absolutely want to arrange high-value goods transfer on an airline instead of a normal freight service, I use the airlines’ air cargo service and insure excess value. You have to sign up in advance and they’ll usually turn you down if they don’t think you’re a commercial customer with a volume worth their trouble. As freight is usually b2b and their profit margin bread and butter business, it is tracked more carefully. Roughly estimate the insurance at $8 USD per $1000 USD value. Before anyone gets all excited about sending checked luggage this way, the freight rates explain why this is how many airlines can book a profit with air cargo in the revenue mix; roughly estimate it at $4 USD per pound. Most checked luggage maximum weight allowances in the US is 50 pounds, so you can see why practically no one chooses this option.

namibj 4y ago

The gun is less about anti-disappearance, and more about getting permissions for a proper lock where the key bitting isn't available for ~10 bucks in a ring of ~5 keys.

yourapostasy 4y ago
Good point, thanks for bringing that up. If I had confidence airport baggage handling procedures could guarantee the handlers couldn’t simply walk off with the luggage, I’d get a rotomolded case and lock it with a couple Assa Abloy shrouded padlocks (they offer key blank management systems for the truly paranoid). But from what I’ve read online, it seems baggage handling theft prevention procedures in many airports are lackadaisical at best. These days, if I absolutely want to arrange high-value goods transfer on an airline instead of a normal freight service, I use the airlines’ air cargo service and insure excess value. You have to sign up in advance and they’ll usually turn you down if they don’t think you’re a commercial customer with a volume worth their trouble. As freight is usually b2b and their profit margin bread and butter business, it is tracked more carefully. Roughly estimate the insurance at $8 USD per $1000 USD value. Before anyone gets all excited about sending checked luggage this way, the freight rates explain why this is how many airlines can book a profit with air cargo in the revenue mix; roughly estimate it at $4 USD per pound. Most checked luggage maximum weight allowances in the US is 50 pounds, so you can see why practically no one chooses this option.