A Fresh Approach: Luggage Protection With Plastic Wrap

MIAMI - Checking your airline luggage was like putting a child in traffic. Until now.

A new service being tested at Miami International Airport offers both baggage protection and limited security - if you don't mind making your $2,700 Louis Vuitton suitcase look like a plastic-wrapped broccoli.

For $3, any average size suitcase will be sealed in a tight wrap of waterproof clear plastic, then bound and taped shut.

A white portable machine, about the size of a copier and the height of your elbow, dispenses the cellophane-like plastic and an attendant does the work, twirling your bag around on an electric turntable.

The process works on boxes full of electronics, ski and scuba gear, auto parts and all that odd-looking cartage that seems to turn up in the airport.

As in life, there are no guarantees, but the tight wrap protects a bag or article from scuffs, kicks and rain, and while the cold-wrap plastic is easily removed, it does afford a sense of security.

"Definitely, nobody will be able to put anything in or out of your baggage without you knowing it immediately," said Henry Ramos, head of Secure Bag of America and the man who perfected the idea, spending four years trying to get it into MIA, his first major U.S. airport.

Ramos, who grew up in Miami and now runs a car dealership in Omaha, Neb., has a patent pending on his process, which he calls tamper-resistant.

His goal, he said, is to help deter smuggling, theft, even terrorism.

"The primary purpose of this is to protect the luggage," said Adrian Songer of airport operations, who negotiated the lease agreement. "Security is a secondary benefit."

Passengers, particularly international flyers who may have seen something like it in Madrid and Argentina, seem to like the service. In addition to Miami, Ramos' service is in the United Airlines building at New York's JFK Airport and will soon be available in Montreal and Venezuela.

Recent news coverage has exposed, via hidden cameras, instances of baggage handlers breaking into luggage at various airports, including Miami International. Smuggling networks also insert contraband into bags already Customs-cleared and checked, and then retrieve it on arrival, Ramos said.

But the best recommendation for luggage security comes from experts, like the airport's Songer.

"Never put anything you are afraid to lose inside a suitcase."