Is it a good idea to use a TSA luggage lock? Are they secure? Should you get a suitcase with a TSA lock built in, or should you use a separate TSA lock? What can you do to reduce the risk that a bad person could open the lock? What is the meaning of the red diamond logo? What features should I look for in such a lock?
In this blog article I offer answers to these questions.
A TSA luggage lock is interesting because there are two ways to unlock it. A first way is that the traveler can unlock it using a combination known to the traveler (because the traveler had set the combination in the first place). (Some TSA locks use a key instead of a combination. It seems to me a traveler could lose or misplace such a key.) A second way is that a TSA agent can unlock it using a special TSA key.
In the old days (before 2003) there was no such thing as a TSA lock. A traveler who wished to secure his or her luggage might put a small padlock onto the luggage. A chief problem with this approach is that if an airport security person were to feel the need to inspect the luggage, there would be no choice but to cut the lock off the luggage or otherwise force the lock or suitcase open.
The idea of the TSA lock is, of course, that if a TSA agent were to feel the need to inspect the luggage, the TSA agent can simply use a special TSA key to open it. This avoids the need to cut the lock off the luggage or otherwise force the lock or suitcase open.
Is it a good idea to use a TSA luggage lock? What other choice is there other than using a TSA lock? Well, you could select your own padlock and use it to lock your luggage. If you do this, it is only a matter of when, not if, some airport security person will feel the need to cut the lock off the luggage or otherwise force the lock open or force the suitcase open. So in today’s world, I see little choice but to use a TSA lock (or no lock at all).
Are TSA locks secure? No, TSA locks are laughably insecure. Lots of people with bad intentions have copies of at least some of the TSA keys.
Keep in mind that if somebody wants to get into your suitcase, they will succeed and it does not matter what you do. If the suitcase has a zipper, the zipper can be cut with a knife. A hard-sided bag can be jimmied open with a screwdriver or other common tools.
But the TSA lock is better than nothing. It might keep some honest people honest. And if you were to use anything that is (supposedly) more secure than a TSA lock, it will eventually get cut off in some airport inspection or your suitcase lock will get jimmied open in some airport inspection.
Should you get a suitcase with a TSA lock built in, or should you use a separate TSA lock? There are plenty of brands and models of suitcase with built-in TSA locks. This approach has the advantage that it avoids having a dangling lock that could get caught on something.
But what if you travel to some country where the airport luggage inspectors do not have TSA keys, and what if an inspector feels the need to inspect your suitcase? If your lock is built-in, then the inspector will have to jimmy it open. On the other hand if you selected a separate TSA lock, the inspector would only need to cut off the lock, leaving your suitcase intact.
The built-in TSA lock uses whatever TSA key it uses. If it is an older TSA key, then a larger number of bad people have a key that opens your lock. And if it is an older TSA key, then it is easy to pick using ordinary lock picks.
If you use a separate TSA lock, then you can select a TSA lock that uses a more recently designed TSA key (such as key number 8, discussed below). This more recently designed key will be in the hands of a smaller number of bad people. And the lock will be less easy to pick using lock picks.
What can you do to reduce the risk that a bad person could open the lock? One thing that you can do to reduce this risk is to select a TSA lock that uses a more recently designed key. The photo at right shows some of the older TSA keys numbered 1 to 6. The older the key, the smaller the number. The older the key, the large number of bad people who have a copy of the key. The older the key, the easier it is to pick using ordinary lock picks.
The TSA locks that are the least insecure right now in 2025 are the ones that use TSA key 6 and TSA key 8. Those two locks are harder to pick using lock picks, compared with smaller-numbered locks. And those two keys, being newer, may have fallen into the hands of a smaller number of bad people. The lock is labeled so that the TSA agent knows which key to use. The photo at right shows a lock that uses TSA key 8.
If you select a combination TSA lock, maybe select one that uses four numerical digits instead of only three.
What is the meaning of the red diamond logo? The red diamond is the logo of an entity called Travel Sentry. This entity has a very vague web site. You can see a Wikipedia article. It seems that this entity sets standards for TSA locks and keys, supposedly funded by licensing fees. I have to assume, however, that by now in 2025, the majority of makers of TSA locks do not pay any fees but simply reverse-engineer and copy other licensed TSA locks.
What features should I look for in such a lock? Some of these TSA locks have a “telltale”. By this we mean an optical indicator that shows if the lock was opened using a TSA key. The telltale can only be reset with the user key or combination. In the photo at the top of the article, there is a small red cylinder sticking up, which for this TSA lock is the telltale in the visible position.
It seems to me that since it does not cost extra, the traveler should select a TSA lock with this telltale feature.