Airport Security

Since moving to Europe, we have traveled a lot. That means that we have been through a lot of different airports. As I think I have written about in the past, security at different airports varies hugely. Some places have you take your shoes off. Some don't. Some places want cameras outside of your usual bag while other don't. Some places have high metal detection settings, others seem not to. Recently, my bra (along with my zippers and button on my trousers) actually set off the metal detector. I then got security frisked for setting of the detector. While getting security frisked, I got wanded with another metal detector which said items again triggered.

Recently, we were traveling and had to wait over 2 hours in the security line! I have never had to wait that long before. There were a few problems with this. One, obviously lots of people either missed their flights or flights were significantly delayed. Two, the lines weren't well organized. At this particular airport, people were in a "line" that was many people wide. So, when the line area narrowed, you got this massive bottleneck. Then, it widened back out again and formed two different lines. These two lines then formed back together into one line. Can you say clusterfuck? So, in addition to the logistics of creating the line, the barricades, line former things were also temporary. Therefore, people would get tired of waiting and move the line marker. Then, a bunch of people would rush the line and effectively cut. The security people would then reprimand them and put the line thing back up. However, this created really cranky passengers. We made it to our plane on time because we actually allowed the 2 1/2 hours for the international flight and the plane was delayed since most planes were by the line mess.

At another airport, I had a backpack with 2 cameras, 2 mp3 players, and some chargers for the various electronics in it. I carry these onto the plane almost all the time. They got security checked very carefully. By carefully, I mean a guy put gloves on and used a card to swipe the whole backpack and then put it into a machine to make sure there were no powders on it. The same bag and contents at another airport got me a sideways glance, a look up and down, and a wink. That was their security.

At yet another airport, my camera got inspected. I have been to this airport twice now. Both times my digital SLR got extra attention. The first time the security person asked me to show him my pictures. This time, the security person us turn on John's camera and he looked through the LCD screen to see that it was working. He then asked us to turn on my camera. We did and the guy seemed very confused as he kept looking at the LCD screen. I have my camera set up so that I only use the viewfinder to take pictures. Because the screen wasn't on (and I don't know how to turn it on), he said he had to take a picture! So, he had us stand together and took our picture!

As anyone who has travelled knows, the liquids allowances have changed since the bomb threat. Airports and airlines also differ on this. Some airlines will allow you to bring in hot beverages that have been purchased in the airport. Others won't. Some airlines will let you bring on large bottles of water to drink on the plane as long as they were purchased in the airport. Others will let you bring them on but not drink them (they stay in their duty free packages)! Also, what counts as a liquid has some variability. If you get a guy, lipsticks are less likely to count towards the liquids allowances (I know that is sexist but it is true from my sampling of airport security). Also, some airport security staff will seize some liquids/gels/pastes if you have put too much in your approved clear plastic bag/packed the bag full. That is not the spirit of the allowances. I am not sure what happens to all the confiscated stuff but I'd like to know. Anyone know out there?

With all the changes to security, I have heard a lot of people complaining. I don't really mind. OK, I would like to be able to take water onto the plane that doesn't cost three times the usual price but if it actually helps security, it is just part of the process of flying. We certainly haven't changed our travel style because of the security measures. We are really glad that we went to Italy when we did, however, since we brought 6 bottles of wine back on the plane!