Anyone flown recently?

[oboeguy]

Don't put a 5lb jug of peanut butter in your luggage. AFter the fact, I realized that it probably looked like a pipe bomb in the X-Ray image... yes, my bad was delayed (made it on the next flight, fortunately).

Some shoes have a metal shank in the sole, presumably for stiffness. I don't wear my Rockport Prowalker shoes anymore when I travel because of this.

 

[Mermaidman]

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496
EDIT: It is no big deal if you get randomly selected for a more detailed search. Happens to me everytime I fly from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale since the plane doesn't have a door separating the cockpit from the rest of the plane. They search everyone extensively that go on those flights.

Yeah, like those little Beechcrafts will do much damage

 

[dirtboy]

Leave all metal or jewelry that you wear at home.
Leave your laptop at home and if you need it, make sure you can take it out quickly because they will scan it seperately.
Make sure you can take your shoes on and off quickly, as they scan those too.
All coats get scanned seperately.
Minimize your carry on to nothing.

I traveled last money and other than my coat, I had no carry on luggage. I breezed through the security checkpoints while other people were trying to get all their stuff back together or getting hand scanned because of the metal in their clothing.

 

[iamwiz82]

I had to turn on my laptop before to prove it was real, as well. The crazy Powerbooks freak out the XRay machines

 

[FoBoT]

it isn't a big deal now (as opposed to immediately after 9/11)

take off your shoes and put them through the machine

make sure you don't have something stupid in your carry on bag

 

[cressida]

One tip of advice if you have a bag / backpack:

Security guy says if you shake it up and lay it on it's side before the x-ray machine, it is less likely to be searched. That is if you aren't carrying anything illegal.

 

[Mermaidman]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
make sure you don't have something stupid in your carry on bag

Like the chainsaw confiscated in CVG and now on display as an example of a "banned item"

Oh, and don't accidentally put knife blades in your shoe like this guy.

 

[FoBoT]

yeah, chainsaw isn't so good. put that into a checked bag

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: dirtboy
Leave all metal or jewelry that you wear at home.
Leave your laptop at home and if you need it, make sure you can take it out quickly because they will scan it seperately.
Make sure you can take your shoes on and off quickly, as they scan those too.
All coats get scanned seperately.
Minimize your carry on to nothing.

I traveled last money and other than my coat, I had no carry on luggage. I breezed through the security checkpoints while other people were trying to get all their stuff back together or getting hand scanned because of the metal in their clothing.

you would rather check bags than carry-on? most people have some luggage so if you aren't carrying it on I assume you prefer the extra 30-45 minutes it takes to pick up your checked bags at the carousel.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Leave the crisp ans smelly socks at home. You do not want the TSA people to gag.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496

Originally posted by: purbeast0
also if you carry a dvd player or an xbox with you inflight, you will have to take that out as well when you get to the security.

I've never had to take my dvd player out. I take it with me almost all the time. I just leave it in my briefcase. They only ask that you take out laptops.

they made me take out my laptop AND my xbox

 

[Xionide]

Go naked?

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: datalink7
Don't take an alan wrench with you!

*I made this mistake last week when flying. I forgot it was in my backpack. It sort of went like this:

*Bag going through scanner... stops*

Scanner guy " BAG CHECK!!!"

*Two security people rush over, look at scanner, and then pull my bag out. They hold it up and ask "Who owns this bag?"

"I do" I reply.

"Come with me."

So I walk over to this table, flanked by two guards. The woman starts going through my bag. She eventually finds the alan wrench.

Holding it up, she asks "Sir, what is this used for?"

I say "Uh.... it is used for tightening."

She says "Sir, what it it used for specifically?"

Me: "Um, it is like a screwdriver. I think I may have used it on my desk but I don't remember."

"Sir, you're going to have to wait here while I talk to my supervisor."

She walks away while another guard watches me suspiciously.

A few minutes later she comes back and says "You are not authorized to have this."

I say "Can it be given to my dad on the other side of security?"

She says "Yes," so I reach to get it so I can toss it to my dad and she jerks it back saying "You are not authorized to have it."

So I point out my dad, she walks over and says "I'm officialy handing this over to you."

Then they run my bag thorugh the scanner again.

Moral of the story, don't take an Alan Wrench with you to the airport (could you just imagine if it had been the alan wrench OF DOOM!!!??? :Q:Q)

haha that exact thing happened to me at LAX a while ago, it wasnt even a full size wrench it was a tiny one, maybe 3-4 inches long

they held it up and since i didnt have anyone there they asked if they should "check it" like luggage, i just told them to keep it

funny thing is they lost my luggage that time, it would have been classic if was at the baggage claim and the only thing that came out that was mine was a 4 inch wrench

 

[Uppsala9496]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Uppsala9496

Originally posted by: purbeast0
also if you carry a dvd player or an xbox with you inflight, you will have to take that out as well when you get to the security.

I've never had to take my dvd player out. I take it with me almost all the time. I just leave it in my briefcase. They only ask that you take out laptops.

they made me take out my laptop AND my xbox

I've never had to take it out. The first time at O'Hare I asked, and they said it could stay in my briefcase. Ever since then, I've just left it in there. No issues. That thing has been all over with no issues.

 

[Rudee]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Beau

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Don't wear tennis shoes.

Why?

IIRC, wearing tennis shoes makes it more likely to get you out of line to check them.

I could remember that wrong though, I rarely wear tennis shoes...

Rubbish. I travel over 150 days a year and I wear tennis shoes many times. Never had a single problem going through security. If you wear dress shoes with metal in the heel, they will make you take them off and run them though seperately.

 

[dickie1900]

I fly twice a week. It's pretty simple, empty all of your pockets and stick them into something you can send through the scanner (i.e. carry-on luggage), take off your shoes (it doesn't matter if they're tennis shoes or wingtips, TSA has a valid reason for each) and belt and send them through the scanner. Keep your boarding pass and walk through the metal detector. Now, if you're flying a lot of one-ways, etc. you get this little *S* on your boarding pass and that means that no matter what you do, you're getting pulled off to the side and they're going through all your shit.

 

[ChefJoe]

Grr at the dreaded big line of S on the boarding pass. Big pain in the rear.

I've found that Seattle/SEA and Columbus/CMH pretty much scans everyone's shoes.... the one time I asked in Columbus if I needed to take off my shoes they said "yes" and then gave me the full wand search afterward. It's actually easier to put things through the scanner unprompted so you might as well do it and get it over with. I just wish they'd put out some chairs for putting the shoes back on....

 

[RightWinga]

Don't buy 2 one-way tickets, buy round trip on the same airline.

 

[dickie1900]

Originally posted by: RightWinga
Don't buy 2 one-way tickets, buy round trip on the same airline.

Whenever you can, of course! But sometimes if I have to fly from one city to another to another (a multi-city ticket), you get screwed with the S everytime

 

[RightWinga]

Originally posted by: dickie1900

Originally posted by: RightWinga
Don't buy 2 one-way tickets, buy round trip on the same airline.

Whenever you can, of course! But sometimes if I have to fly from one city to another to another (a multi-city ticket), you get screwed with the S everytime

LOL happens to me everytime on business trips. It's like FVCK young asian man in a business suit ain't gonna hijack a plane.

 

[huesmann]

Leave your Saturday Night Special at home.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Leave early. They say you should arrive at the airport 2 hours before your plane is scheduled to leave. Might want to pad that a bit for the holidays. Make sure you have a valid driver's license (not expired) and boarding pass handy.

Oh and, the usual leave your guns and knives at home. In fact, don't bring anything that could remotely be used as a weapon.

I've worn casual walking shoes/tennis shoes and I've flown multiple times since 9/11. What the hell else are you supposed to wear on your feet? Dress shoes? That would look kind of funny with jeans and a t-shirt.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I once tried to go through security with a loaded magazine for my Colt Officer's model in a carry on bag at San Diego airport. They asked me if they could go through the bag and I said sure. When they pulled that out I just about sh!t (this was before 9/11 BTW). I explained to them that I sometimes used this bag to go to the shooting range and that I must have forgotten that was in there. They said "well, you can't take it on the plane." I asked them if my wife could pick it up on her way out and they said that would be fine. Man, that could have gone soooo much worse today.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Originally posted by: DrumminBoy
I haven't flown with an airline since pre-9/11, does anyone have some tips to get me through the escalated security process smoothly? I'll be flying out of Chicago Midway on Monday morning, and I'd prefer to get off the ground without a cavity search.

what are you going to be hiding in your body that you dont want them to find huh??


JB

 

[crab]

Being in a wheelchair, I get hand searched every single time I fly...It's really not a big deal. I'l be flying Dec 28th & 30th.