Be aware, I "lost" four cartons of ciggies on my return trip home. I should have known better than to put them in a soft hold-all, but baggage is baggage and should not be pilfered, where are the C.C.T.V. cameras when you need them ? We flew back to Manchester, where I think my load was "lightened", they don't exactly rush to get the baggage through to the carousel and give themselves time to "handle" the baggage.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Allways put locks on your cases.

Are you back already Pete? Only 11 more sleeps and it's our turn!!

Thanks Phil

Hope you had as good a time as we did, brilliant. Nice walks up the hills toward Hibiscus Gardens, didn't realise how many different ways there are, still it was enjoyable, when I got my breath back !!

I think the baggage handling at Manchester Airport is worse than anywhere else I've ever travelled through

Yes manchester airport is one of the worst all round, (and I have to work there everyday)
but can anyone explain why, whatever the weather, my cases are always damp when i pick them up at Faro airport?

Perish the thought that it will become necessary to have your baggage wrapped, Johannesburg style

Answer to a TRICKY question. Temperature difference would cause condensation in your luggage, it gets very cold in the hold and the sudden warmth when getting unloaded causes the dampness. Try different type of luggage, soft sides rather than the "solid" type.

Italy is another country where rapping luggage is popular, never tried it on screaming kids, yet.

Love the idea of 'rapping' luggage

There used to be a wrapping machine next to the check-ins at Faro airport but I don't recall seeing it lately??

Look at this disturbing video clip showing how easy it is to steal from a locked zip case and leave the case apparently untouched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwfYuUPcgHg

So frighteningly easy

My daughter was coming out from Gatwick in May & travelling down on the train from Victoria to the airport, on the way the zip on the suitcase she'd just bought bust whilst she was on the escalator (most embarrassing), anyway at Gatwick she had it wrapped & it was fine, apart from having 3 tons of plastic to get rid of, but I wondered what happens if security want to check the contents? They had the wrapper at Faro when she went back but she'd bought a new suitcase in Continente.

On our last visit to the states, all luggage had to be left unlocked.
Arriving back in the UK we found a note in one of the cases indicating that it had been searched as part of a random security check.

Yes EMM I had the same thing on an internal flight from Boston to NYC . On the flight home to the UK the other check was just as we were about to board - about a dozen Homeland Security guards marched in and then did thorough checks on selected hand luggage as we passed through the gate.