Flyers Beware...Thieves In The Air

[MrMiddle]

Last Friday, 25th May, 2012, i took Cathay Pacific flight CX709, business class, from Hong Kong to Bangkok. DURING the flight my computer bag, "safely stored in the overhead bin," was removed, the contents removed and replaced with in-flight magazines. I lost my laptop, iPad, power cable, air mouse, Sony Ericsson handphone and two watches. Total value US $ 10,000.00. Getting home at 1:00 AM, i discovered the theft and began trying to contact Cathay. No emergency numbers. No security number. I sent an email to the only customer response form i could find, Cathay Pacific Customer Customer Feedback online. FIVE DAYS LATER STILL NO RESPONSE. Resent Monday...still NO RESPONSE. Called Cathay Baggage at BK airport 6:00 AM Saturday morning, 1st number that answered. The guy's response, after "checking" something, at 1:00 PM was, "Nothing i can do. Because you didn't notice the theft on the plane, it will be regarded as a false claim."

Eighteen hours later, i managed to change all passwords, bank info, and telephone number. However, my laptop was loaded with professional and personal information which is private. An attempt to use my visa card took place within 36 hours of the theft.

I called Cathay Pacific lost and found at BK airport yesterday, Tuesday the 29th May, 2012. Have no idea what they are doing other than "checking on my story and flights." I am trying to get the word out...BE CAREFUL with anything you put in the overhead bins on Cathay Pacific...perhaps any airline. My guess is the thief is not working alone and is no novice. Obviously he/she/they are willing to take very high risks. Inside help? Who knows.

Be careful when you fly. It would appear way to easy to rip you off. And no matter what the airlines say, storing anything of value in the overhead bin is at your own risk...they ARE NOT SAFE !

[Soutpeel]

I had a British guy try and steal my ruksack on an Air Asia flight BKK-KL years ago...had my lap top, PP everything in it....grabbed him by the collar...he said he had picked the wrong bag up....BS...could see it in his face when I grabbed him..

[PattayaParent]

OP, how did someone get into the overhead bin above your seat without you noticing?

[negreanu]

Find this hard to believe....

[hedonist44]

OP, how did someone get into the overhead bin above your seat without you noticing?

I would assume he has the same luck as me when I am one of the last to board the plane and have to walk half way down the isle past my seat to find available room over head for my luggage. Just a thought.

[fishhooks]

Unless your gear is in the locker right above where you are sitting, I would say after more than 40 years of flying that one would be very game to have anything valuable in overhead lockers. Same would apply if you intend to sleep and are a heavy sleeper.

Under the seat is my advice and if it won't fit there make sure the locker is in full view and don't sleep.

I do find this story way-out there though, quite abnormal, particularly if Business Class!

[ripstanley]

He flew business class. It would have happened while he was at the toilet. How many other passengers were in business class? Was the flight at night? Every one may have been sleeping.

[endure]

So on a flight leaving HKG at 2200 and lasting 2 hours someone took a bag out of an overhead locker, removed the contents and replaced them with in-flight magazines without anyone noticing? First time poster too. Only joined an hour ago

Edited May 30, 2012 by endure

[Lobo4819]

Makes my $2200US overweight baggage charge by Thai Airways flying out of BKK seem almost routine. No recourse, of course, and after two years of climbing the corporate ladder in search of someone with a brain (or a corporate policy) - nothing. Caveat emptor.

[FarangBuddha]

So on a flight leaving HKG at 2200 and lasting 2 hours someone took a bag out of an overhead locker, removed the contents and replaced them with in-flight magazines without anyone noticing? First time poster too. Only joined an hour ago

If that's true, I would tend to disbelieve the story, especially in business class (possibly the thief infiltrated from economy) or if true, could be an inside job but still I find this hard to believe.

[Farma]

From yesterdays Yahoo news

Singapore police warned on Tuesday that members of a Chinese crime syndicate were believed to be stealing money from the bags of passengers while they slept on flights to and from the country.

Eighteen reports about in-flight thefts have been filed so far this year, up from only one in 2011, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Sam Tee, head of the airport police division.

Full story here http://news.yahoo.com/crime-syndicate-targets-singapore-flights-police-070548399.html

[FritsSikkink]

Just check your bag before someone is leaving the plane then they still can catch the culprit. Not really rocket science

Edited May 30, 2012 by FritsSikkink

[hands22]

I always try to keep my cabin bag within sight above my seat. But I think I have been complacent....often putting a pile of Thai baht inside the bag in an envelope. Now we know that they are actually professional thieves operating on board, I will more careful in the future.

I feel sorry for the OP....hope there is a good ending for him.

[thaicatbuyer]

Hong Kong /BKK can only be about 2.5 hr flight..... something sounds fishy in Business Class

[chiang mai]

Entirely believable, the OP got home at 1am so probably the last flight from Bangkok, lights would have been dimmed, passengers would have taken had a couple od drinks and taken naps, have caught that same flight far too many times, it's essentially night flight conditions. Not difficult to accomplish what is claimed.

[FolkGuitar]

I carry a handful of small white plastic cable ties when I travel. After security checks, and I'm gettlng into the cabin, I secure the zippers on my carry-on bag. If I need to get something during the flight, I ask the attendant to cut it open for me, take what I need, and put in another cable tie. I can see immediately if anything has been tampered with. No need for heavy locks. No crook is going to risk cutting off a cable tie while trapped inside an aircraft...

If my bag has to be stored in a different part of the plane, about 30 minutes before landing approach I retrieve it and put it under my seat. There is just waaay too much theft these days to be complacent about security.

At the X-ray machine in the terminal, I deliberately stall for a few extra seconds getting my gear sorted into the trays just to be sure that the person going through ahead of me actually does pass through the detector. This way I go through at the same time as my bags, and I don't have to worry about someone else picking them up 'by accident' on the other end of the belt.

[edwinclapham]

Entirely believable, the OP got home at 1am so probably the last flight from Bangkok, lights would have been dimmed, passengers would have taken had a couple od drinks and taken naps, have caught that same flight far too many times, it's essentially night flight conditions. Not difficult to accomplish what is claimed.

I agree! and the OP has posted in the CP Consumer section also.

[FarangBuddha]

Entirely believable, the OP got home at 1am so probably the last flight from Bangkok, lights would have been dimmed, passengers would have taken had a couple od drinks and taken naps, have caught that same flight far too many times, it's essentially night flight conditions. Not difficult to accomplish what is claimed.

I think it would be, especially in business class, where the area of the plane is small and the number of passengers more omitted and the number of staff usually quite high. For someone to get in there unnoticed and open the overhead bin, open a notebook case, remove the computer, iPad, and cables, substitute magazines, and then wander down the isle and back to their seat or own bag unnoticed seem improbable to me.

As for what the airline can do in such situations, not much I would imagine. Otherwise it would be a nice way for anyone to get new electronic gear and just about anything else right. If the op filed a police report with the hkg authorities he should consider filing an insurance claim if he has an appropriate policy.

However, the story, if true or not, is a good reminder to at the least, just check one's bags maybe 20 minutes before landing to see nothing is amiss because if there is, the perp and the goods would still be on the plane. I like the plastic tie idea too but a little bit of a hassle...small locks would seem to do just as good.

[WilliaminBKK]

Years ago there was a FA at United who was stealing from passengers carry on. The cable tie is a good idea.

I do find it strange CX wouldn't open a claim for you even if you were going to claim insurance elsewhere & for their security department to be informed in case it was internal.

[NanLaew]

A very timely reminder about personal security. Unless the bag is 'under the seat in front of me', I will start locking whatever goes in the overhead.

If the OP fell asleep and it was a member of these professional bag filchers mentioned in post #11 by Farma, it is entirely possible. The assumed pickings in Business Class make the cost of ticket worthwhile for the thieves, very much so in the case of the OP's unfortunate losses.

[NanLaew]

Years ago there was a FA at United who was stealing from passengers carry on. The cable tie is a good idea.

I do find it strange CX wouldn't open a claim for you even if you were going to claim insurance elsewhere & for their security department to be informed in case it was internal.

Why would any airline 'support' any claim for any theft that is alleged to have happened after the flight is over? All any victim can expect is for the airline to acknowledge he was on the plane but the victim already has evidence of that with the boarding pass and baggage check. Do any of the overnight bus companies offer compensation if a passengers bag is pilfered while they sleep? Airliners are flying buses so there's no expectation for them to be any more than sorry for any loss incurred.

[Bangkokhatter]

Unbelievable, the OP joins TV to give a warning about theft on an aircraft and the snipers are out already. Why do some people find it so hard to believe ??

Cheers for the heads up OP, hope you have some luck with the insurance.

[E1717007]

I always check my bags content B4 I disembark.

[chiang mai]

Unbelievable, the OP joins TV to give a warning about theft on an aircraft and the snipers are out already. Why do some people find it so hard to believe ??

Cheers for the heads up OP, hope you have some luck with the insurance.

You could post a story about night following day and there would be at least one person who would tell us that, "there must be something more to the story" and yet another proclaiming it was the OP's fault, a third would likely declare the OP a troll!

[Chivas]

OP, how did someone get into the overhead bin above your seat without you noticing?

PP

You make an excellent point in jest.......

How anyone in their right mind puts hard cash or expensive equipment in an overhead locker and than probably goes to sleep at some point in the flight deserves to lose the lot quite frankly.....

Travelling to airports in Coaches etc I have lost count of how many idiots leave the lot on a seat whilst going to a toilet break......It utterly defies belief.

There is no easy answer but the obvious one is you do not sleep....

[josephbloggs]

Find this hard to believe....

Could this sum up the typical TV response any more succinctly?

I would love you to come back and answer me this: what, exactly, would the OP have to gain by registering on here, passing on a warning about something that happened (or didn't happen, yeah!!) to him, and telling us to beware of the same? Seriously, why would anyone bother? There is no logic to your response.

I don't expect you to reply though, you've probably moved on to snipe at someone else, moan about Thailand, Thai people etc etc.

Pretty sad if you ask me.

[Chivas]

Find this hard to believe....

Could this sum up the typical TV response any more succinctly?

I would love you to come back and answer me this: what, exactly, would the OP have to gain by registering on here, passing on a warning about something that happened (or didn't happen, yeah!!) to him, and telling us to beware of the same? Seriously, why would anyone bother? There is no logic to your response.

I don't expect you to reply though, you've probably moved on to snipe at someone else, moan about Thailand, Thai people etc etc.

Pretty sad if you ask me.

Not sure that the Sniper as such was moaning about Thais in this instance......??

The OP did well to report the facts true or otherwise but there's not one long haul flyer on this forum who hasn't at one time or another thought "shit what happens if my carry on bag gets emptied in flight"....

Am sure it happens a great deal more than reported here on TV.....??

Edited May 30, 2012 by Chivas

[tfc]

I put my luggage in the opposite overhead compartment, easier to keep an eye on that way but valuables are actually on me.

[Chivas]

I put my luggage in the opposite overhead compartment, easier to keep an eye on that way but valuables are actually on me.

Yes likewise for same reason......

How difficult is it to put hard cash in a money belt for a 12 hour trip.....??

I watch many many times as guys and girls go wandering off up the back of the motor in economy with not the slightest concern about their overhead gear.....

It really defies belief in my opinion.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Chivas

[surangw]

Install a locator ap on the computer in case they log on the net any time soon, also the remote blocking ap to trash the hd might be a good idea.

slim chance you will get it back from either ap, but still give them some problems