Shop all goods in the official Samsonite online store. Discover our vast range of suitcases, laptop bags and other luggage. Sometimes you may forget the key code of a TSA lock, then here comes the problem, how to open a TSA lock without damage it when you forget the combination you set and don't have the key? (Source from Amazon, tsa locks for luggage) I have heard that there are ways to open a TSA lock commonly found in suitcases even when you have forgotten the code.

Dealing with a lock combo you can't remember

TSA locks are a great compromise between personal security and national security. They allow travelers to maintain some level of control over who gets into their luggage, while affording TSA officers the ability to open bags if they need to do so. However, it’s not uncommon to forget the combination to a lock. Not to worry – it’s still possible to get in if you know how.

What is a TSA lock?

Simply put, a TSA lock is one to which the TSA has a master key. That way, agents can open the bag and see what’s inside. If TSA can screen bags using x-ray equipment, though, what is the purpose of a TSA lock? Sometimes a TSA agent does need open a suitcase, perhaps because the suitcase seems to weigh too much or because something looks suspicious on the scanner. When that happens, if the suitcase is unlocked, the agent opens it and leave the owner a “Notice of Baggage Inspection” inside the bag.

If the suitcase is locked, a problem arises. The agent either has to cut the lock or, in some cases, cut the bag itself. To avoid this potential damage, use a TSA approved lock.

Finding or resetting a TSA lock combination

If you've forgotten your TSA lock combination, a maker of TSA-approved locks, Travel Sentry, suggests trying every possible combination, beginning with 000 and ending with 999 (000, 001, 002 through 999). This sounds long and tedious, but Travel Sentry states that only 30 minutes is required, especially if one of the numbers is already known, or the first number is a 0, 1 or 2.

According to Samsonite and Tosca, built-in TSA compliant locks require a call to the company for reset instructions.

Some travelers have had luck with the following process for finding a lost combination:

• Push the button or pull on the lock, to put pressure on the locking mechanism.
  
• Turn the first dial slowly, listening until there is an audible click. That should be the correct number.
  
• Leaving the first dial on the number that clicked, repeat the process with the other two dials.
  
• When all three numbers have clicked, the lock should open.
  

If the lock is unlocked at the time the combination is forgotten, it's much simpler. Just reset the combination:

• Set the dial to 000.
  
• Turn the shackle at a 90 degree angle from the lock position.
  
• Push the shackle down (outside of the lock).
  
• Set the desired code.
  
• Pull the shackle up.
  
• Turn it back to the lock position.
  

Tip

Once the combination is reset, email it to yourself to avoid forgetting it in the future.

Other considerations

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Having a TSA agent peek into your luggage not is the only reason a lock might go missing, If a bag arrives missing a lock but there's no notice from TSA inside, don’t automatically assume it was rifled by thieves: sometimes airport conveyor belts rip the locks off of suitcases.

As to the likelihood that the TSA agents will use their master keys to open the suitcase before it makes it onto the plane? It’s not very high. In fact, only an estimated 4 percent of bags pass through the hands of agents each year – the rest are screened by machines that give them the all-clear,

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Now, just hope those owners can remember their combinations.