[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=782777]
Apologies for not being at your intellectual level .

[/quote]
I didn’t say that, did I?

I just said your argument was not worthy of the 3rd form debating society.

Not the same.

[BrotherJim]

[quote quote=782761]
Jim , I believe that UK airports have undercover covert tests where females hide forbidden items in their cleavage and the men tape sharp metal items on their inner thigh to test the searching abilities of the staff .
If the staff are not happy with being able to find something they believe is secreted away then it is off to a private search with a witness to identify the problem , any difficulties there are plenty of armed police around to help keep control .
[/quote]

I still don’t follow why having a passport in your pocket is so bad. If what you are concealing in your passport is metal one would hope the metal detectors would go off, and if what you were concealing is not metallic then it makes no difference what so ever because you could conceal it anywhere on your body.

[Markyah]

A few years ago, I was travelling through Glasgow airport and my bag of liquids was pulled for extra scrutiny. Strange as it contained exactly the same contents as had cleared London City airport security on the way up.
Anyway, the interest focused on a small bottle of mouth wash where swabs were taken for analysis before I was politely told that it had failed the test and would have to be disposed.
I then advised the security staff, to general mirth, that the offending item had been given to me as part of an in-flight Emirates amenity kit just a few weeks earlier. Still didn’t get it back though.

[jsn55]

Ah yes, airport security. It’s nuts, and Heathrow is just awful, but I haven’t encountered anyone unfriendly. Usually go through dedicated Virgin UC portal, but even the little flights out of LHR regular security haven’t been too bad. USA has pre-chek which works like a dream 95% of the time. Whenever I think about how crazy it all is, I’m reminded of a quote from US TSA officer: “we keep it random so the bad guys don’t get too comfortable.” Helps me to just deal with whatever they force me to do … except that LHR lady who put her whole hand in my pants a couple of years ago; I was so shocked I didn’t even react. Makes a great story.

[PeterCoultas]

My favourite experience was with my bear spray some years back. This I’d bought in the US for a camping trip and was in a toilet bag. This bag I’d stupidly left in hand luggage (all I ever travelled with in those days) when I flew via Australia back to the UK with several stops in Asia on a RTW. Photography is an interest and in those days decent film needs decent treatment. Having passed through PDX, LAX, AKL, MEL and exploration of northern Territory without problem I was harassed leaving Darwin and made unecessary rude remarks about the lack of knowledge of airport staff concerning their scanner…result a body and baggage full search. I did get my film on the flight and equally they failed to detect the bear spray in the toilet bag as equally did several other airports on the way back…I now still have it with me in the UK but am not intending to risk further travels for it around the world even though that might be fun. Just shows how useless the system is.

[Flightlevel]

We should all carry bear spray for protection in dangerous localities especially if its not seen by the xray machines.
CPH and carbon blades is confusing, if they don’t alarm the walk through scanner you could hide them in your shoes or even your pocket, or will that give the bad guys ideas?

[BrotherJim]

[quote quote=783695]My favourite experience was with my bear spray some years back. This I’d bought in the US for a camping trip and was in a toilet bag. This bag I’d stupidly left in hand luggage (all I ever travelled with in those days) when I flew via Australia back to the UK with several stops in Asia on a RTW. Photography is an interest and in those days decent film needs decent treatment. Having passed through PDX, LAX, AKL, MEL and exploration of northern Territory without problem I was harassed leaving Darwin and made unecessary rude remarks about the lack of knowledge of airport staff concerning their scanner…result a body and baggage full search. I did get my film on the flight and equally they failed to detect the bear spray in the toilet bag as equally did several other airports on the way back…I now still have it with me in the UK but am not intending to risk further travels for it around the world even though that might be fun. Just shows how useless the system is.

[/quote]

Carrying spray cans on Australian flights is really interesting. Certain airports are more concerned than others. They are for the most part ok, provided they have a lid or a locking mechanism, but as mentioned some airports more strict than others.

Some of the strict ones I’ve encountered are Qantas international to domestic transfer in Sydney (but not the main Qantas sydney domestic terminal). Canberra airport. Though interestingly in years past Qantas had their own entry and security where it was strictly enforced, but the Virgin side wasn’t. And Darwin.

Still not sure what the issue is, but don’t think it is security (threat of passengers doing something deliberately), but more safety, hence the inconstancies.

And of course no LAG issues on any Australian domestic flights, they are allowed, but restricted once you cross the line into an international terminal or international departure gate at an otherwise domestic terminal.

[stevescoots]

I tend to go with the flow, experience of airports over recent years can send you crazy and i could do without getting annoyed. That said like most things in UK airports i see a squeeze to revenue raising. Last time u flew out of luton they refused my Ziploc bag as not correct standard, even though it was slightly smaller than the “regulation size” and was see through. They insisted if i wanted to take my items through i had to use the standard ones which were…you guessed it…£1 for a pack of 3 (or 5 I do not recall) I just binned my small toothpaste, moisturizer, aftershave which were all under 25ml and had come from an EK vanity bag anyway!

[JohnHarper]

The rules about UK airports and liquids are here:

https://www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/overview

The following is key to the issue of bags:

If you do take liquids in your hand luggage:

containers must hold no more than 100ml
containers must be in a single, transparent, resealable plastic bag, which holds no more than a litre and measures approximately 20cm x 20cm
contents must fit comfortably inside the bag so it can be sealed
the bag must not be knotted or tied at the top
you’re limited to 1 plastic bag per person
you must show the bag at the airport security point

I think the key things are that the bag measures approximately 20cm x 20cm and that it must be resealable. They are the rules and as far as the DfT are concerned no airport has any discretion whatever to alter them or insist on bags of a particular sort provided it meets the above guideline.

I keep a print out of the rules and on the odd occasions the moron on duty has questioned my 18cm x 15cm resealable bag (bought from Muji) I have produced them and pointed out what is said there. In a couple of cases a manager has been called when the moron couldn’t grasp what the rules actually say and that I was well within them. The two occasions were LHR T3 and LGW North Terminal.

I have never been questioned or challenged anywhere else in the world.

[Gin&Tonic]

In transit at Ams I was instructed to remove my handkerchief from my pocket. When I asked are you sure I was firmly told “when I ask you to empty your pockets , it means empty ”

[IanFromHKG]

One stupid thing about the LAG rules is that since the human body is about 70% water (IIRC), the body scanners ignore liquids which are on someone’s person or in their clothing. Now obviously if there is a visible bulge you may well get pulled aside, but if it is somewhere inconspicuous and you don’t have metal on you, then the scanner will not go off and unless there is a random check, the pax is through…

Another absurdity is the requirement that the up-to-one-litre of LAG must be in containers of no more than 100ml. Why??? Is the concern that more than 100ml of a given LAG may be explosive? If so, the person who dreamt up the rules and required that they be carried in a sealable plastic bag clearly didn’t think through the idea that those 10 lots of 100ml containers could be emptied and put into a larger container, such as… oh, I don’t know, a sealable plastic bag???!!

[IanFromHKG]

Passed through security at KLIA the other day to see (yet again) one of my favourite bugbears – the body scanner set to such a sensitive setting that EVERYONE sets it off and has to be searched. I mean really – what is the frigging point of that?

The only metal I had on me was:
1. A watch which has a metal clasp but a leather strap
2. A signet ring
3. The eyelets in my shoes
4. Some old amalgam fillings
5. The small hook next to the button on my trousers

That’s it. And given that virtually all travelling adults will have 3, 4 and 5, a significant majority will wear a ring (and in many cases several), that leaves my watch as the possible culprit. If it was a big diver’s watch with a metal strap I might understand it – but it isn’t. Again, it makes a farce of the whole process. Either use the scanners properly to screen out people who are suspicious, or accept the fact that when it is set to detect absolutely any amount of metal at all then it is pointless since everyone will set it off and get rid of the expensive and pointless technology and spend the money on extra pat-down staff.

And as I said before, I still can’t understand the restriction on LAGs, requiring that each item be less than 100 ml but requiring that they be carried in something sealable that can hold up to a litre.

And our safety is entrusted to these people…

[Tom Otley]

I find it very confusing when you have to remove belts, watches, paper money in pocket etc… but then walk through with your ticket to show to the security personnel.

The obvious reason is it proves you are going to fly, but if you were going to blow something up, whether you have a ticket or not hardly proves anything.

[FDOS_UK]

The most ridiculous view is at Manchester, where they insist that a solid moulded lump of crystallised alum is a spreadable substance, because it is used as a deodorant.

Sure, it is spreadable, but only after immersing the tip in

WATER

to dissolve the salts.

I think the real problem is that their scanners are so rubbish that they cannot differentiate between a solid and a liquid and they look the same.

[FaroFlyer]

Last week at AMS I was using my normal carry on bag and had liquids & gels in a regulation bag. My bag was diverted for a secondary search. What they wanted to check were my keys! The same keys have been in the same inside pocket of the same carry on bag for more than 10 years of ~ 100 flights a year. Why??

[Author]

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