Women Travelers - TSA throwing out non-original bottles

Just heard from a friend who lost much of her beauty kit at a check point today. She had repackaged beauty products into the generic bottles sold at travel stores with her beauty and make up products that she buys in regular size bottles.

All of her non-original containers were taken and thrown out.

She was able to keep her hotel sized shampoo and conditioner in the original bottles that had the number of ounces printed on the bottle (3 ounce or less).

This is not going to get any easier.

Ugh. That's just stupid. I foresee TSA Approved™ bottles in our near future. :rolleyes:

I can see that we will be paying a lot more for those products! Well, being careful of the do it yourself bottles does make sense, but I've saved an awful lot of money using those since the 3 ounce rule came in.

I just checked, my generic bottles(purchased from Walmart) are actually marked 3oz. Never had anyone inspect them close enough to notice though.

My last 3 or so trips thru TSA, I've left my clear plastic "baggie" inside my carryon and they haven't said boo about it.

I've had airport screeners (in Europe) try to do this to me on three separate occasions - twice in the UK, once in Germany.

On the first occasion I asked the screener to show me the rule that says that unmarked plain bottles aren't allowed. He relented ("I'll let you through this time"); I subsequently wrote to the airport authority who wrote back confirming that the screener had been wrong. (I have been carrying this letter with me ever since).

Similar dialogue on the second occasion (in Germany), screener relented ("I'll let you through this time") when I showed him the letter from the UK airport but still insisted he was right. Another letter of complaint, another - this time from the German Ministry of the Interior - again confirming I was right. That letter now lives in my travel wallet as well.

On the third occasion - at LCY - it took several email exchanges before the airport finally conceded that they had been wrong.

AFAIK there are no rules about unlabelled bottles, on either side of the Atlantic.

The point oldpenney16 makes is that this is apparently new - as in implemented today - in response to yesterday's incident. And this is not the first report I've heard of this happening today.

Another stupid rule. What does it take to dump the contents of a hotel shampoo (or a travel sized one) and refill it with something else. If I were going to try to put something explosive in a 3.2 oz bottle, that's exactly what I'd do.

OP - what airport? The smaller stations are often over-zealous (and bored), taking regs to the nth unintended degree and abusing the passengers that pass thru as a result :td:

This would be stupid, as having a label does not prove the substance in the bottle is whats on the label ... and in my case, it never is.

OP - what airport? The smaller stations are often over-zealous (and bored), taking regs to the nth unintended degree and abusing the passengers that pass thru as a result :td:

This would be stupid, as having a label does not prove the substance in the bottle is whats on the label ... and in my case, it never is.

DFW is apparently doing it, according to a report in the TS/S forum.

The point oldpenney16 makes is that this is apparently new - as in implemented today - in response to yesterday's incident. And this is not the first report I've heard of this happening today.

Sorry, missed that bit. Still, I wonder if they have been instructed to confiscate unlabelled bottles, or if it's something they're just making up as they go along.

Another stupid rule. What does it take to dump the contents of a hotel shampoo (or a travel sized one) and refill it with something else. If I were going to try to put something explosive in a 3.2 oz bottle, that's exactly what I'd do.

That's the first thing that I thought of. How dumb is that rule?

Bobette

That's the first thing that I thought of. How dumb is that rule?

Bobette

It's the TSA. Dumb, knee jerk rules are SOP. :p

It's the TSA. Dumb, knee jerk rules are SOP. :p

That's what I was thinking ...right along with 'making up rules as they go along', as Aviatrix mentioned. Guess I should stop ...this is gonna sound like the TS/S forum. ;)

and we need to keep it up-to-date as much as possible.

People who are flying: what is allowed and what is being thrown out?

The news is full of rumors.

We need facts.

and we need to keep it up-to-date as much as possible.

People who are flying: what is allowed and what is being thrown out?

The news is full of rumors.

We need facts.

I think a bit of the problem is that there's going to be a lot of inconsistency since Janet Napolitano was quoted as saying they were going to be different things all over the place.

Yes, they do seem to be trying different things all over the place. After a serious amount of research this is all I can prove to be true at the moment.

AA is strongly suggesting 3 hour early arrival for flights.

AA is back to One Bag and one personal item, but won't define what a personal item actually is.

BA is back to One Bag ONLY to the US.

The statement put out this morning on the Today Show and on NBC news by AAA about carry on rules changes is wrong. So wrong I won't repeat it.

and we need to keep it up-to-date as much as possible.

People who are flying: what is allowed and what is being thrown out?

The news is full of rumors.

We need facts.

Agreed, very haphazard reporting at this point. Threads popping up all over the place on FT with no easy way of understanding what is actually happening (and what's not) at airports/airlines/cities.

Just heard from a friend who lost much of her beauty kit at a check point today. She had repackaged beauty products into the generic bottles sold at travel stores with her beauty and make up products that she buys in regular size bottles.

All of her non-original containers were taken and thrown out.

She was able to keep her hotel sized shampoo and conditioner in the original bottles that had the number of ounces printed on the bottle (3 ounce or less).

This is not going to get any easier.

1, Were the genric bottles labeled as to size

2. Did she ask to see a supervisor?


If the answere to 1 is yes, then follow step 2. DO NOT let them play "I want to be a jerk today and make up new rules on you"

Sorry, but if you just let them do whatever they want then the "police state" wins! Call them on it!

Yes, they do seem to be trying different things all over the place. After a serious amount of research this is all I can prove to be true at the moment.

AA is strongly suggesting 3 hour early arrival for flights.

AA is back to One Bag and one personal item, but won't define what a personal item actually is.

BA is back to One Bag ONLY to the US.

The statement put out this morning on the Today Show and on NBC news by AAA about carry on rules changes is wrong. So wrong I won't repeat it.

Be aware that AA's 3 hour arrival before flight is for international flights TO the United States. Should not affect domestic travel or travel out of the US.

Yes, I know "should" is the operative word here and reality is the stiffer rules will likely be used for everything, including a 40 minute flight to SAN-LAX. Three hours in the commuter terminal is a lifetime sentence.

I took a generic 3oz bottle of spray starch though DFW with no problems last night. Bag was out of suitcase and they did not even look at contents

The modified TSA directive can be read here (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/2009/12/28/tsa-modifies-sd-1544-09-06-who-will-fix-the-broken-system/) among other places.

Haven't you heard? It's all been changed! Is our new motto. DFW now has darn long and slow lines (with a snow storm coming) but no unusual TSA behavior.

(not to mention that the ongoing lotion experiement is still ongoing... Probably close to three years with God Only Knows who many flights... NEVER gotten a second glance for the "hand lotion" in my bag. Yeah, right the TSA can "See" liquids LOL! I will write and congratulate the TSA if an agent EVER finds this... and then ask them what the literally HUNDREDS of others were doing :) So maybe the solution is "don't put the things in the baggie"?)

It is amazing how reactive the TSA and Napolitano's crew are. Now lotion/shampoo/conditioner in travel bottles will get tossed?? If that wannabe panty terrorist had hummed "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" before detonating his underpants, would the TSA and Napolitano initiate an immediate ban on humming onboard all aircraft??

Here's a question. Are all handbags/purses now supposed to be placed in the overhead compartments during that last hour of flight? If so, we better start travelling with pockets so we can put our wallets there as men do. :(

That's not fair at all!!!

I just checked all the bottles which i sold from stores.All are ok:td:

New Issue for anyone flying from Canada: No carry-on. Here's the government rules and exception:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/mediaroom/backgrounders-menu-5781.htm

Again, rules are 'fluid' (forgive the pun) but reports are now coming in at the Aeroplan forum here at flyertalk that the rules are being followed. You can carry on a laptop in a sleeve, but not in a laptop bag. If you have a laptop and a small purse, one of them has to be checked. The ability to carry on your chargers or power cables is in question. One person carrying a laptop had to 'check' a portfolio (about 13" x 10" fold over with a pad of paper, his travel documents and printouts with his travel arrangements) because he refused to check the laptop.

Ridiculously, according to Transport Canada, while a coat is allowed, hats and gloves are at the discretion of the screeners. At my airport, YOW, it is -20 today and we board many of the flights to the US from the tarmac since the planes are too small for jetways.

No word yet on how pocket contents are handled (I have a multipocket blazer that could carry most of my flight-comfort things, plus purse contents since I have a laptop so it will be my one carry-on item.)

No books. Small notepad and pen seem to be allowed.

With nothing large enough to carry a Kippy bag allowed, liquids are no longer an issue for us.

The regulation is expected to be in place for several days at least. I'm flying out on the 13th and hope things change by then. I deliberately booked YOW-IAD-SFO because, at the moment I booked, UA didn't have the same restrictions as Air Canada (which, at that point was 1 personal item only.) Now that it is a government rule, I may rebook with Air Canada and fly to YVR with all my stuff, then check my bag so I only do the short leg without all my comfort stuff.

The pissy part for me is that YOW-SFO is only the first leg of a 4 week trip over three continents, with limits on my checked baggage once I get to Europe (1 bag/20kg). I'm terrified that the restrictions will grow while we are away and I'll be forced to abandon things on the road in order to fit the changes. There are times I really hate my job and this is one of them.

At the monent on international flights coming in to the US purses are in the overhead bins. I am waiting right now for a woman arriving from MIA (we have snow and flights are delayed). I'll be very interested to see what she says. She had very long lines in MIA and long delays due to our weather.

Small notepad and pen seem to be allowed.

I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.

Oldpenny, did your friend mention whether her confiscated unlabeled travel bottles had any indication of volume?

My Nalgene bottles from REI and the Container Store have the volume embossed on the bottom - 2 oz or 1 oz (Nalgene does not make 3 oz) so I will be ready to point that out, if anyone objects to them.

I'd be interested to know just how crazy things are now - and if you have any new info since your last post.

I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.
I will not light myself on fire.

cheepneezy, I laughed out loud! :D

What items my friend lost were obviously very small bottles (from a travel store) but that was early days on all this muck. Since other than for the people flying out of Canada, it seems to be more as it was before 25 Dec.

I am packing now for a trip and am using containers with printed labels which are mostly from hotels. The Gilchrist & Soames 1.5 oz bottles have wide mouths and are really easy to refill with my own products.

I also have a new tiny bottle of Johnson and Johnson 'no more tears' baby shampoo that I am taking along.

I am taking a generic spray bottle of hair detangler. I'll report back on if that survives.

I'll admit that I am depressed over all the changes. I had my packing system down to an art form. Perfection! Never had to think about what I was taking because I always kept my TSA baggie packed and ready to go. I strongly dislike uncertainty.

I strongly dislike uncertainty.I think we're all in agreement there. Unfortunately, this TSA gov't mindset of mindless reacting is creating a nightmare for travellers while doing NOTHING to stop future Panty bombing terrorists. To say that we can't reuse 3 ounce plastic containers you can pick up at a drug store tells me that these gov't 'professionals' do not have any clue regarding what it means to ensure safety.

Why not be proactive like the security EL Al has? They get it right because the security is NOT handled by a lazy and stupid gov't. It is handled by the company itself. ^

Analise, you are being logical in an illogical situation.

We shipped ahead supplies and handouts for this meeting. Yes, we have enough airline status that we don't pay for checked bags (unless we have too many or they are too heavy) but we didn't want our stuff gone through with the risk of having items ruined or missing.

My packing theories have benefitted greatly from things I've learned on FT, but now so much is uncertain.

Reports of checked bags being opened and gone through with no note from the TSA are disturbing. The government officials keep saying that things will be kept in a state of change and that what is allowed will vary by airport and even within airports.

Analise, you are being logical in an illogical situation.That's just it. There is no reason whatsoever that this should even be remotely illogical. Do what works. It's that simple. Follow El Al's system. Done.

We shipped ahead supplies and handouts for this meeting. Yes, we have enough airline status that we don't pay for checked bags (unless we have too many or they are too heavy) but we didn't want our stuff gone through with the risk of having items ruined or missing.My issue isn't so much paying for checked baggage but having my baggage lost because it was checked in. :td:

The government officials keep saying that things will be kept in a state of change and that what is allowed will vary by airport and even within airports.And this right there is absurd. What TSA restrictions current or previous have anything to do with the Panty Bomber sitting in his seat with a bomb in his underpants? Nothing. So making a requirement that I cannot use a generic bottle to carry my shampoo (which does NOT come in a travel sized container) is merely an example of the stupid government mindset, a mindset that has nothing to do with security.

Some of my toiletries I recently purchased when in Russia.. the TSA almost threw out some since they didn't have the letter ml or g on them in English (they have the Г symbol).

Some of my toiletries I recently purchased when in Russia.. the TSA almost threw out some since they didn't have the letter ml or g on them in English (they have the Г symbol).

I almost lost the products in an amenity kit given to me by an airline for that reason! Ridiculous!

No books?! No books!?

Now, I need my hair gel as much as anybody, and I'll be pissed if my perfectly legitimate refillable travel bottles get confiscated . . . but I'd rather poke my eyes out and pour hair gel into the open wounds than get on an international flight without a book.

No books?! No books!?

.

Actually, Transport Canada did press last week saying books were never banned. But because they weren't on the exception list, the screeners were assuming that everything not on the list was banned.

There is a new, expanded list. It mentions that Kippy bags are allowed and a small purse or (or and/or depending on how you read the document) laptop in a small case is allowed. Everything that doesn't have a case (books, mp3 players, earphones, phones, meds, kippy bags, etc. etc.) seem to have to be carried on the person (i.e. in pockets or in your hands.) Once you are through the second security check, you are allowed to put things into your laptop case or into a plastic bag from secure area stores.

The rules are so stupid I just can't believe this is happening. Each pocket has to be emptied and searched but everything has to be carried in your pockets. It would be much quicker for us and the screener, if we were allowed to put the exempted items into the laptop bag.

I fly out this week and it will be interesting. My period is due on my travel date so to top it all off, I'll have to have supplies and will be wearing a pad (but it won't be 'used' unless my flow starts before I go through security.) Not sure how that will be handled, but I'm expecting a more detailed/exposed search of my body as a result since, in theory at least, the regular pat down should detect the presence of the pad. At least they damn well better detect it or all this 'theatre' will be for naught.

I fly out this week and it will be interesting. My period is due on my travel date so to top it all off, I'll have to have supplies and will be wearing a pad (but it won't be 'used' unless my flow starts before I go through security.) Not sure how that will be handled, but I'm expecting a more detailed/exposed search of my body as a result since, in theory at least, the regular pat down should detect the presence of the pad. At least they damn well better detect it or all this 'theatre' will be for naught.

That does present an interesting topic. I can't imagine it will be found. I cannot imagine, even at my most cynical, that a pat down check would find a feminine hygiene item. In which case, you are correct... all this is for naught. But then I've thought so from the beginning. I can't imagine that a hand pat down of the panty bomber would have found his explosives either. What agent is going to get that familiar with a man's genitals to be able to find such a thing? Then you have the whole "back of the hand" pat down issue as well. How would anyone know that the guy didn't just have larger than normal juju beans?

In any case, back to the original subject, I can heartily recommend a Mooncup (http://www.mooncup.co.uk//) or, for those living in the US, a DivaCup. (http://www.divacup.com/) I recommend the Mooncup over the Diva but, unfortunately, Mooncup is unable to sell in or ship to the US due to another company in the US copyrighting the name after the Mooncup became so popular overseas. I had my Mooncup shipped to a friend in Canada and picked it up on a weekend trip up there. Prior to that, I used my Diva for about 4 years.

These items are great for traveling with and make being prepared so much easier.

Hey, I haven't seen any (too) recent posts in here. I haven't flown since the second week of December...any updates from those who've flown recently? Are they still being difficult w/ non-original/refillable or unlabled or questionably labeled bottles? All of my bottles are below the limit...but just wanting to know if anyone's had any "interesting" experiences lately or if things have calmed down a bit.

I can't speak for everywhere obviously, but I flew internationally out of LAX last weekend and didn't even take my quart baggie out of my carryon when I went through security. Nothing was said. If they're not even looking at the bag, I can't imagine they can tell if the bottles are original or not.

I'm guessing that, like everything else the TSA does, it really just depends on who you get on any given day and how much of a PITA that person wants to be.

I've already flown a few times in 2010. I'm finding the TSA folks to be overly polite these days.

The original packing thing seems to have gone away but I have a major issue with how they treat checked bags.

I use Magellan's stretchy straps to keep my luggage closed and when the TSA folks inspect a bag, they don't put the straps back on the bags. I lost one last week and they aren't cheap.

Haven't you heard it's all been changed seems to be their motto!