Theft at 30000ft.

[ejb]

From smh.com.au

Air France stewardess accused of spate of thefts from business class

An Air France stewardess has been arrested after stealing jewelry, cash and credit cards from hand luggage of 150 business class passengers while they slept, say officials.

Seems we should be more careful whilst sleeping.

ejb

 

[anat0l]

Unfortunately not a new kind of incident - sometimes involving FAs and sometimes involving other pax.

I have to confess to still naively leaving my overhead bags in the hope that my fellow pax and the flight crew have their scruples about them, although I tend to keep the most essential stuff (wallet, phone, passport) near and around me (e.g. in clothing pockets).

 

[pauly7]

Unfortunately not a new kind of incident - sometimes involving FAs and sometimes involving other pax.

I have to confess to still naively leaving my overhead bags in the hope that my fellow pax and the flight crew have their scruples about them, although I tend to keep the most essential stuff (wallet, phone, passport) near and around me (e.g. in clothing pockets).

I simply leave my lock engaged on my carry on

If I have a satchel with
me I'll keep it under the seat.

I have actively though been trying to get someone to steal my work laptop so I can get upgraded to new model. Sadly no takers so far!

 

[ejb]

Unfortunately not a new kind of incident - sometimes involving FAs and sometimes involving other pax.

I have to confess to still naively leaving my overhead bags in the hope that my fellow pax and the flight crew have their scruples about them, although I tend to keep the most essential stuff (wallet, phone, passport) near and around me (e.g. in clothing pockets).

I have also always relied on the honesty of my fellow traveller. I rarely lock my carryon and always leave it overhead.

Perhaps I may think twice now.

ejb

 

[straitman]

This is something that has always concerned me so maybe I really do need to be a little more proactive from now on.

 

[MatF]

One tip someone at work gave me is to put your carryon overhead but on the opposite side of the aisle - it makes it a bit easier to see if someone's rifling through it, but doesn't help much if you're asleep.

I never lock mine, mainly through laziness. There's generally not much in it I'd be worried about losing (and I'm a little like pauly7 about my old clunker Dell M70 laptop).

 

[Happy Trails]

One tip someone at work gave me is to put your carryon overhead but on the opposite side of the aisle - it makes it a bit easier to see if someone's rifling through it, but doesn't help much if you're asleep.

I never lock mine, mainly through laziness. There's generally not much in it I'd be worried about losing (and I'm a little like pauly7 about my old clunker Dell M70 laptop).

I've long been in this habit.
But since joining AFF I now realise it transgresses The Unspoken Rules.

 

[MatF]

We just need everyone to do it

 

[mhen]

I think the main items at risk are small ones like cash and credit cards. Years ago a friend's daughter had a long saved for overseas trip spoilt by the theft of all cash and credit credits while sleeping in Y.
However given the small size of expensive phones or cameras etc these are probably at risk also. Using a money belt to hold cash and cards won't help with them so I make sure whatever carry on I use can take a combo padlock on at least one compartment.

 

[samh004]

I actually recall the original thread, that was about the reason police were alerted in the first place when a woman lost €3000.

Pickpocket 'stole thousands' from sleeping Air France passengers | Plane | Airlines

 

[Foreigner]

I am impressed with the detective work by the airline. The accused will truly be grounded.

 

[Grooba]

I'm also pretty slack when it comes to security whilst onboard. After reading this thread perhaps I'll start taking a bit more care with my stuff in the overhead bins.

You can never be too careful I guess.

 

[JohnK]

I have also always relied on the honesty of my fellow traveller.

Honesty? Why do people trust total strangers? Would you lend a stranger a large sum of money?

Theft is actually quite common in the workplace and these people are not total strangers.

I rarely lock my carryon and always leave it overhead.

No need to lock the carry-on if all your valuables are on you.

I know it is a little difficult for some people (actually I don't really know why it is difficult) but I have a ritual when travelling on aircraft

- Wallet (including money and credit cards) in back pocket
- Passport and boarding pass(es) in shirt pocket
- Mobile phone in shirt pocket
- Digital camera in pocket on the inside of jacket
- Any keys in pocket on the inside of jacket (most times jacket is zipped up halfway as it is a little cool in the cabin and I hate using (even touching) those blankets)
- Travel documents in travel folder usually in my trouser pocket but sometimes in carry-on.

For some people it is too difficult to resist the temptation so do not give them easy opportunitiies....

 

[anat0l]

Honesty? Why do people trust total strangers?

Because if we never did we'd all be sociopaths with no friends and carrying a loaded gun at all times.

 

[Flashback]

Because if we never did we'd all be sociopaths with no friends and carrying a loaded gun at all times.

That's not a very nice way to talk about the majority of Americans..

It's funny how we think just because people are stuck in a flying tube with us for a possible 12+ hours, we automatically think they are trustworthy. Whenever flying, if I know I'll be napping at all (although it should be done even when not napping as someone could get in while you're in the lav for example) then I always make sure my bag is locked in some way.

 

[anat0l]

It's funny how we think just because people are stuck in a flying tube with us for a possible 12+ hours, we automatically think they are trustworthy. Whenever flying, if I know I'll be napping at all (although it should be done even when not napping as someone could get in while you're in the lav for example) then I always make sure my bag is locked in some way.

I have to confess to not locking my hand carry more often than not. More often than not, the only valuable left inside it is a netbook/laptop. And I'm often sitting in Economy.

Now I may be "asking for it" now, so touch wood, but I haven't as yet had anything stolen from me.

I'm not saying precautions should be taken and something like this unfortunately alarms us again to take necessary precautions more than we ever did before. If I dropped my wallet in the aisle and walked away, I probably don't expect it to be returned to me, or at least with my money and credit cards still left intact. But I'd like to think we won't get to a point where you look at someone - perhaps you've never seen them before - and automatically assume they are an idiot and/or your enemy until proven otherwise.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I always have my carryon overhead unlocked . It contains spare clothing, toiletries, files etc ie nothing of any financial value. I also have my Speedy 35 which contains all valuables passport etc. It goes in the overhead lockers at take off and landing and lives underneath my seat the rest of the time or with me in the bathroom. I haven't considered the possibility of theft before but think what I do already would probably minimize this.

 

[drron]

I always have my carryon overhead unlocked . It contains spare clothing, toiletries, files etc ie nothing of any financial value. I also have my Speedy 35 which contains all valuables passport etc. It goes in the overhead lockers at take off and landing and lives underneath my seat the rest of the time or with me in the bathroom. I haven't considered the possibility of theft before but think what I do already would probably minimize this.

Exactly.The report says the stolen items were cash,jewellery and credit cards.All easily hidden.It would look a little sus her lugging my clunky laptop up the aisle.Our cash and CCs are on our person split between us.Jewellery-none of this is off mrsdrron's body whilst travelling.

 

[Grooba]

After re reading the posts in this thread I'd actually have to say that from my experience generally fellow travellers have been more honest than most.

I've left things on seats (my Shure headphones for example) and my seat neighbour has pulled me up as I've risen to depart the aircraft.
I've seen people drop things out of an unzipped bag as they walk down the aisle to their seat and the pax behind them pulling them up to return the dislodged item.

Surely I've travelled with a bad person sitting next to me at some stage, but luckily I've never had any real security risks whilst lounging or onboard.

Touch wood.

 

[Flying Fox]

So sad that FAs can't even be trusted...