Holidaymakers have been issued an urgent travel warning if they tend to go on holiday with multiple suitcases and hand luggage.
When you pack all of your belongings into a suitcase to head on a much-needed holiday, it can become a stressful situation when handing it over to a stranger to be checked in at the airport.
Thankfully, a travel expert has shone some light on how easy it is for thieves to rummage through suitcases and steal valuable belongings with ease.
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The Mirror reports that Sarah Adekola - @millenialwealthsarah on TikTok - has explained how to keep your bags safe and secure while travelling to foreign countries.
Speaking on her TikTok, the influencer shared just how simple it is for people to dive into a locked suitcase using just a pen - by jamming it into the zipper and creating a gap to be ripped open.
Worryingly, it also works on suitcases with sturdy locks attached to them. Sarah explained: "First never pick suitcases with zippers like this because people are literally stealing your stuff with just a pen. Basically what people are doing is they're taking their pen and they are literally just pushing in between there.
"And they're getting into your suitcase. Then what they do is when you have a padlock they are going to go over it (the hole) and you would never know."
After explaining how easy it is to break into suitcases, the expert then went on to explain what she would be looking for in a travel bag, to keep it safe.
Sarah recommends picking darker suitcases in either grey or black, as well as ones made with harder shells instead of squishy material bags.
She also shared that a bag with wheels is optimal as it's easier to move, and prefers luggage which have zips which are difficult to spot or are obscured by fabric.
However, it is now possible to buy bags without zips at all, according to the expert. She added: "I would also go for suitcase brands that give me a lifetime warranty or at least five years."
If people are concerned about how their bags are handled during the flight, they may consider slapping a 'fragile' sticker on top. News.com.au report that asking for one for your luggage could not only earn your bag gentler treatment, but it could also speed up your wait time at the claims carousel.
This is because the sticker affects which order bags are packed onto the plane. Baggage tagged fragile will go into the plane last, meaning it's the first out - equating to less time waiting at the terminal to collect your belongings.
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