safety of checked items on planes

I've never heard of items being stolen from luggage here and have never had anything stolen from my luggage here.

Ditto. I've never had a problem with theft in USVI air travel.

That's not to say that it couldn't or wouldn't happen; it's just that I would rate it low on the list of perils of traveling here.

Islandlola

Thanks for answering. It did sound kind of implausible.

Having worked for the airlines in the past, the answer is Yes, ramp agents do steal things from luggage. It really doesn't matter where you are flying to. Since 9/11 it is not happening as much due to TSA monitors and airline control monitors in the cargo area. Mostly the ramp agents would take illegal drugs in the past....who is going to report that! But, like everywhere, there are those who steal and those who don't.

The only theft from baggage that I know of personally happens through San Juan.

A year ago last December, I had a really nice GPS color plotter stolen out of my checked bags going from stx to Boston, via San Juan. If the bag had been stolen, i could have made a claim, but they didn't have a procedure for claims of items stolen out of bags.
You might want to read the fine print of what is covered and what isn't for damage as well. I don't think they cover electronic items at all. I would just keep all the good stuff with your carry-on.
Geoff

Coming through San Juan I had an ordinary box with jewelry in it. Expensive and cheap. Went through San Juan and the box was there, but the expensive jewelry was all gone. The cheap stuff was still there. Someone had time to examine all of it.

I have had luck with receiving compensation for individual items stolen from bags--once from New Jersey to Miami and another time from San Diego to Toronto. Airlines were U.S. Air and Continental. It took several weeks but they paid off. In the latter case (to Toronto) all of my "cutlery"--nail clippers, swiss knife, multi tools--the stuff you can no longer carry aboard--was stolen. I had the impression from airline agents in that case that such items are more frequently taken nowadays given the requirement that we check them, as a number of passengers may not complain in the belief that these items were taken for security reasons.

Islandlola

It might be in your best interest to purchase TSA approved locks. I use them all the time and have flown in and out of the VI via Miami, San Juan and Fort Lauderdale and have not had anything stolen....knock on wood. They're not expensive and I don't think the ramp agents would bother with them.

I use the TSA locks & they now have the key kind. I had problems with the combination locks. I always figure thieves are lazy & will go for an unlocked suitcase. They're not going to find anything valuable in mine anyway & if they want to steal, let them work for it.

On a recent US air flight I had a camera and headphones removed from checked bags.
-D

Whats a ramp agent?

when i flew from omaha to STX i had to go through PR and i ended up with someones vid cam in the outside pocket of my suitcase, it had still pics of cane bay on it and well it was'nt mine and i did not know any of the people in the pics, so it had to have been taken in pr or here on stx and then just shoved in my bag when they saw how cheap it was

we've had things disappear from luggage that passed through San Juan a number of times. Once it may have been on STX before the items were removed as the suitcase was found in a back hallway in the terminal building and not in the luggage area on the day after it was supposed to have arrived. I try not to pack any electronics or small valuables in my checked bags, but it can be impossible to put all such things in your carry-on baggage on some trips. I know a lot of people who have had scuba gear go missing from luggage, especially regulators and computers and underwater cameras.

Anyone know where one could purchase a TSA approved lock on STX?

K-mart

the lock you use is not so much of an issue leaving stx, because you are there when tehy inspect your bag, and it should not be reopened after that inspection. I have always just given any luggage lock to the TSA inspector, and they put it on, or spin the combo before they put the bag on the conveyor.
Coming down to the VI is where the issue comes in with needing a TSA lock, as the inspection mostly is not done in front of the flyer. Be aware, though, that TSA sometimes will cut off a TSA lock if they are presumably too lazy to look for the key. I've even gotten my bags with the lock still on, but the shackle had been cut so it was unusable.
I find the locking straps usually don't get put back on the bagafter an inspection--so we've taken to screwing them right onto the bag.
When you make a claim, the TSA response is that anyone could have messed with it, and you can't prove it was them.

Lizard, a ramp agent is the guy that loads your bags in cargo of the airplane. I work at the airport in Charlotte, N.C. and i see ramp agents drop bags on the tarmack all the time. They don't realize that they have fallen off the carrier they are driving up to the plane. Then I will watch a couple of other agents going by the bag and just leaving it there for someone else to pick up. This is why so many bags do not get to the destinations that they are going and sometimes they are just thrown in baggage lost and found areas...Ah, the joys of flying......

Charlotte.
Thank You!