Travel Advice - TSA approved locks

The list provided below contains the names of companies who sell  locks that are officially “accepted and recognized” by the Transportation Safety Authority. What this means is that the TSA inspectors have "master keys" for these locks and can open the locks without breaking them, if they need to inspect your suitcase.

At present, locks that are approved by the TSA are manufactured by many companies and all certified locks  bear either the Travel Sentry or Safe Skies  mark   When you buy your locks or luggage, make sure that it has one of the two logos shown below indicating that the lock is “accepted and recognized by TSA.

Company Logos for Travel Sentry (left) and Safe Skies (right). Travel Sentry locks badged with the red diamond seem to be most prevalent in the market.

The TSA list:  (as noted above, a TSA approved lock with be badged with one of the two logos shown above.  Most companies sell both approved and unapproved locks.)

• American Tourister Accessories
• Atlantic Luggage
• Austin House Travel Essentials
• Brinks
• Brookstone Easy Check
• Delsey Luggage
• Eagle Creek Travel Safe
• EasyGo
• eBags
• Franzus Travel Smart
• Kenneth Cole Luggage
• Lewis N Clark Magellan's
• Master Lock
• Pacsafe by Outpac
• Prestolock SearchAlert
• Royal Traveller by Samsonite Accessories
• Samsonite Accessories
• Samsonite Luggage
• Sharper Image
• Target Embark
• Tumi Luggage
• Voltage Valet

Finally, anecdotal evidence indicates that having a TSA approved lock does not mean that your lock will not be broken or cut. Apparently, some TSA inspectors do not have copies of the master keys and will break the lock rather than delay the luggage inspection process.   Many of the companies selling the locks will replace them if they are broken by TSA during an attempt to open your TSA approved lock.  Make sure you understand the replacement policy before purchase.

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