Protect your luggage

While you have to book tickets, find a hotel and get to the airport on time, it's probably your luggage that has the toughest time when you go travelling, having to cope with these perils:

* Petty theft: baggage handlers and screeners who steal items from your luggage between your check-in and retrieval once at your destination.
* Damage: carousel and baggage conveyance systems always have the potential to damage your luggage during transit.
* Identification: Ever struggled to pick your black suitcase out of the dozens on the carousel? It is not uncommon for luggage to be mistakenly picked up by the wrong owner.
* TSA inspection: Travellers to or within the United States now need a lock that is recognised and accepted by the TSA ? a government security agency that controls baggage security after 9/11 and has the right to open your luggage at will. Using a TSA-approved lock means that they can open your baggage, inspect and relock it without damaging the lock, so that it continues on its journey safely.

Tired of your suitcase getting battered, bent and ? worst of all ? broken into while you travel? South Africa's airports have a bad reputation for baggage pilferage, but you no longer have to risk losing your valuable possessions next time you fly. Say hello to the Luggage Glove!

After 20 years in the business, the folks behind the Luggage Warehouse kept hearing complaints from customers about the rough ride their luggage was getting. So, they came up with a solution?

The Luggage Glove is a protective luggage cover made of a neoprene material (similar to that used in wetsuits) that will stretch over your suitcase and allow for any expansion mechanisms that the suitcase might have. Handles can still be extended and the wheels will still turn. Covering 90 percent of the suitcase, including the zips, the luggage glove comes with a combination lock approved by the American Transport Safety Authority (TSA) which means that it can be used within or to the United States and their customs inspections team can inspect (using a special tool) your luggage without knowing the combination to your lock.

The Luggage Glove comes in five sizes, to fit your particular suitcase:

* X-SMALL (R259) for cases 50cm tall
* SMALL (R269) for cases 60cm tall
* MEDIUM (R289) for cases 65cm tall
* LARGE (R299) for cases 70cm tall
* X-LARGE (R319) for cases 75cm tall

(πηγή: travel.iafrica.com 29/2/2008)