MAREN guide

Carry-on luggage with a lock

A built-in lock keeps a suitcase zipped shut in hotel rooms, overhead bins and car trunks. Before you pick one, it helps to know the difference between an ordinary combination lock and a TSA-approved one.

Combination lock vs TSA-approved lock

A combination lock opens with a code you set. Only you know the code.

A TSA-approved (TSA-recognized) lock also opens with your code, but has a keyhole that lets airport security screeners in the US open it with a master key. Those locks carry a Travel Sentry or Safe Skies mark.

Why the difference matters

When a bag you carry on board needs a closer look, it is usually checked at the security lane with you there, so you can open it yourself.

Checked bags are different: they are screened out of sight. According to the TSA, if screeners need to open a checked bag with a lock they cannot open, the lock may have to be cut. So if you ever check a bag with a non-TSA lock, leave it unlocked.

The lock on The Weekender Set

The Weekender carry-on has a combination lock mounted on its side. It is not TSA-approved, and we say so on the product page too. It suits the way the set is meant to be used: as a carry-on that stays with you.

Before your first trip, set your own code and test it a few times at home with the case open, so you are never locked out at the gate.

What a lock does and does not do

A built-in lock keeps zips from being opened casually and stops a case from popping open. It is not a safe. Keep passports, cash and medication in the bag you hold, or in the vanity case if it rides on your handle beside you.

About the set

Two hard-shell pieces: a carry-on of 55 × 34 × 22 cm (21.6 × 13.4 × 8.66 in) including its four spinner wheels, and a 30 × 30 × 16 cm (11.8 × 11.8 × 6.3 in) vanity case. $149, free US shipping, 30-day returns.