So I land in Anchorage yesterday afternoon an hour early and have plenty time to get over to the terminal to catch my Alaska Airlines deadhead home. I change clothes at Ops and decide to lighten up my computer bag by putting my MacBook Air into my checked luggage since I will not be needing it on my flight home. I check in at the ticket counter, check my luggage with Alaska and head to my gate. On time flight, 2 hour layover in Seattle, make my connection, get my luggage off the carousel (one of the first bags off) and head home.

I get home and go to unpack my bag and NO FRICKING COMPUTER or charger! What is also missing is the nice little note from the TSA saying that they inspected my bag. I ALWAYS zip up my luggage with the zippers at the top of my bag, when I went to unpack the zippers were at the bottom and my clothes had obviously been riffled through. My laptop was already in a padded neoprene cover but I still put my computer in the middle of my clothes for extra padding and protection.

Now I have the joy of going to my local police station and filling out a police report, going back to airport to file a report with Alaska airlines and filling out the paperwork for a claim with the TSA.

Lesson learned...DO NOT PUT ANYTHING OF VALUE INTO YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE! I guess I'll have to continue to carry my company iPad, personal iPad and laptop computer with me at all times while traveling.

Has this happened to anyone else and did you have any luck getting reimbursed by the TSA?

Thanks, ~PT

Have you tried find my phone on iCloud.com? It works for laptops too

What makes you sure the TSA did it or would reimburse you? Couldn't it have been any of the AS ramp workers handling your luggage just as easily?

AS baggage handlers in Seattle have a bad reputation. Lots of horror stories. But your second to last paragraph is exactly right.

Just google "TSA theft."

I trust them about as far as I can throw 'em. Worthless thieves.

Second the "find my ____" iCloud feature. Hopefully you had it set up.

On the few occasions that I actually check my bags, I almost always put plastic wire-ties through the rings made for padlocks. It gives a (very) small amount of protection and makes it easy to see if anyone has rifled through my bag.

When I do check my bag, I make a point to "gate check" it. That way my bag almost certainly gets on 'my' airplane and lessens the chances for someone to borrow things that aren't theirs ...

I just put clothes and a shaving kit in my luggage. Worst case, I get a few new outfits, running shoes and some nice toiletries.

If you do have something important in there, just smear a pair of underwear with some chocolate and lay them prominently on top.

That's an old Flight Attendant trick to keep customs from going through your luggage ...

That and ... "Wear, don't declare"

PT, I feel your pain. My MBA and now my iPad always stay in my flight bag, which now is almost as heavy as the old Jepp bags we used to drag around. When I (rarely) check my roll aboard, there is little in there that anyone would want. I also learned a lesson, the hard way, when checking a bag, don't give it to the airlines too early. You'd like it to go pretty much directly from the ticket counter to the jet. Having your luggage sit in the baggage area for an extended period, out of your control, is an invitation for happy hands to go on search and destroy missions inside your luggage. Lastly, I would likely bet the theft is from the AS bag smashers, not the TSA. Good luck.

MG2

Can you check a lithium battery? You can't in Asia. Perhaps it was removed versus stolen.....