Quito Airport - Baggage Check-In and Safety Related Questions

In all my trips to ECUADOR I have flown into Quito and have never had anything stolen from my luggage except my luggage tags twice... Both times with the Australian flag on them... Flew via Auckland and Santiago in Chile when this happened so they could have disappeared before they got to Quito. Other aussie themed labels with a kangaroo in gold an green have never disappeared off the luggage for some reason...lol However I have never had the luggage tampered with or lost anything from it....

The TSA is a USA organization and does not exist in the rest of the world. Everywhere else just has baggage handlers. You could ask your airline about "excess valuation". You pay for extra coverage if you think the value of what is in your luggage exceeds what the airline normally pays out in compensation for lost items. Otherwise, just pack things so that valuable stuff isn't right on top and easy to swipe. Although you may get a TSA rummage when you leave the US as your equipment might look interesting on the x-ray and they tend to rearrange everything. A friend, who tends toward overkill, packs everything into a duffle and then into the case. His logic being that an ordinary baggage handler would tend to swipe a few items quickly and not want to whip out a whole duffle bag to search.

Thank you both! Very helpful information and suggestions. I appreciate it!

I seriously doubt anyone would steal luggage tags; more than likely they were torn off in the luggage-handling equipment. I lived in Quito for a number of years, flew in and out several times a year, and never had a problem. In fact, in all the dozens of countries I've visited, I've never had anything pilfered from my luggage. Never ever put anything of value in your checked bag, anyway. That's been common sense for travelers anywhere for many years.

Some baggage handlers do collect tags from different countries with the flag on them I have been told but they were cheap to buy but a pest to write out details and attach and it was strange that the same tags disappeared and not the others...

Anyway enough of that but re luggage airports have plastic wrapping system you can wrap your luggage in and therefore make it harder to get at and you would certainly know if it had been tampered with... Sydney airport in Australia had these straps which they bind around your luggage serving the same purpose and both methods could act as a deterrent to any would be thieves who woild be more inclined to tamper with luggage without that as it would be a lot quicker and easier to access that kind of luggage.. On the downside they might think you had valuables In the luggage if secured by either method but at least you would know it had been tampered with at either your departure or arrival airport..

If you have anything small and valuable, I'd recommend keeping it in your carry on baggage. Bulky items like boots, sleeping bags, etc. are very unlikely to be stolen from checked luggage.

Very Interesting to read all the above for my incoming trip to Ecuador. I decided to read the old ones in order to get documented for my incoming trip to Ecuador instead of asking maybe the same questions. Thanks for your input.

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