Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate - IPads out now?

Greetings from ABQ...managed to avoid the NoS this morning as one lane was WTMD only, though painfully slow due to the screener running the belt since doing so interrupted his discussions with another screener about the wife's iPad :rolleyes:

Anyway, this is the 2nd CP in as many weeks where the moat dragon was loudly announcing iPads had to be out & in their own bin. For the 2nd time in as many weeks mine stayed right where it was w/o issue. Had this not happened at 2 different airports I would just shrug it off as a rogue screener thing, but...???

Did I miss a change on iPads?

Ive been taking iPad out for about 2 years now. Nothing new. All airports that I've been to asked for it.

Ive been taking iPad out for about 2 years now. Nothing new. All airports that I've been to asked for it.

I've never been asked to take out my IPad at any domestic US airport. And it's a stupid requirement.

I take mine out as well. It takes 10 seconds to place it in a bin vs getting held up for additional screening. True, it probably doesn't need to be taken out but why chance it over a very small inconvenience?

I don't have an iPad but they keep them in at ORD.

Ive been taking iPad out for about 2 years now. Nothing new. All airports that I've been to asked for it.

Just did a bit of a tour.. Toronto Pearson, vancouver, Sydney, brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Wellington and Christchurch. Each time I asked about iPad in/out told to keep it in the bag every time.

TSA employees routinely make announcements like "Laptops and tablets out, including iPads"
It's not a big deal and also I don't want to wait extra if they scan my bag and then decide to rescan my iPad.

Just did a bit of a tour.. Toronto Pearson, vancouver, Sydney, brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Wellington and Christchurch. Each time I asked about iPad in/out told to keep it in the bag every time.

Well, I think taking your iPad out of your bag is a small price to pay for freedom. Don't you remember September 11? Think about all the hijackings those countries have experienced due to their lackadaisical iPad policies...

I take mine out as well. It takes 10 seconds to place it in a bin vs getting held up for additional screening. True, it probably doesn't need to be taken out but why chance it over a very small inconvenience?

Ah yes, the "it's just a small incovenience" argument. :rolleyes:

If it doesn't need to be taken out it's a waste of time for all involved.

I usually keep my iPad in my bag and only take out my laptop. I think recently I've been asked to take my iPad out more often than before. Flying out of MEX, I always had to take my iPad out.

I take mine out as well. It takes 10 seconds to place it in a bin vs getting held up for additional screening. True, it probably doesn't need to be taken out but why chance it over a very small inconvenience?

It's much, much easier for an iPad to be "misplaced" by a TSO than it is for an entire laptop. I will always, always leave mine in the bag, locked. If that becomes an issue at a checkpoint in the future, so be it. I'll gladly tell them where the key is (or hand it to them, if I've been through AIT) once the bag is out of the x-ray and in my sight.

Ah yes, the "it's just a small incovenience" argument. :rolleyes:

If it doesn't need to be taken out it's a waste of time for all involved.

All of this stuff that has to be taken out of bags and pockets is at greater risk of being lost, damaged or stolen in all the confusion and chaos of the cumbersome screening processes. So then, more than a simple waste of time.

All of this stuff that has to be taken out of bags and pockets is at greater risk of being lost, damaged or stolen in all the confusion and chaos of the cumbersome screening processes. So then, more than a simple waste of time.

...by TSA employees.

...with special over-sized pockets sewn inside the costume.

Never taken my iPad out and never been asked to in the US. The only place I've ever been instructed to remove it is LHR.

Never taken my iPad out and never been asked to in the US. The only place I've ever been instructed to remove it is LHR.
+1. I've never been asked to take my iPad (or Kindle before that) out of my laptop bag. Most of the airports I've been through this year (EWR, PHL, SFO, AUS) only say 'laptops out', never mentioning tablets specifically. But I've never been pulled for a bag check.

If it doesn't need to be taken out it's a waste of time for all involved.

Not only that, but it's just like the water. The TSO's are looking for iPads & water bottles. While focusing on those non-threats gus, knives ect... have slipped right by them.

The more BS they are looiking for the less real threats the will find.

I take mine out as well. It takes 10 seconds to place it in a bin vs getting held up for additional screening. True, it probably doesn't need to be taken out but why chance it over a very small inconvenience?

Because it can disappear on you, especially if you go through the BSKX machines. You can't see your stuff from those scanners.

Perhaps they received a hot tip about iPADS being packed
with explosives. <shrug>

The last several times I have flown TSA have expressed no
interest at all in my CPAP machine when there was a time it
had to be extracted and go through the swab test.

It has got to the point I leave the machine in the bag rather
than extract it. I'm sure a time will come when I will be yelled
at for leaving it in the bag when they switch up their
protocols again. :D

According to The TSA Blog (http://blog.tsa.gov/2012/04/why-do-laptops-have-to-be-removed-when.html), tablets can stay in the bag.

This is also the subject of this (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-04-12-airportcheckin12_ST_N.htm) USA Today article.

Separating iPads or other tablet devices from carry-on are not required but recommended. Reduces the chance of having their bag de-cluttered then to repack it. That's why I see most remove their tablet devices anyway, which I don't mind.

Every so often, I get asked about iPads/tablets/e-readers after asking passengers to remove laptops... smh.

I've had no issues keeping my ipad in my bag at ORD, LGA, EWR, RIC, SLC, TPA, BOS, DFW, and TVC this year. Not once have I witnessed passengers being instructed to remove tablets.

I have trouble hearing their directives so I can't always say that they haven't said to remove it. That being said, mine remains locked in my bag and I have yet to have issue with it or a secondary screening to remove it.

+1. I've never been asked to take my iPad (or Kindle before that) out of my laptop bag. Most of the airports I've been through this year (EWR, PHL, SFO, AUS) only say 'laptops out', never mentioning tablets specifically. But I've never been pulled for a bag check.

+1

Never had to pull the tablets out. Just laptops. Several times I've asked just out of curiosity, and the answer has always been the same. Tablets, like phones, can remain in bags.

Wow...I'm weekly between ATL and EWR and I always have to remove my iPad.

Of course, I've never tried to leave it in my bag...but there are always announcements being made while in line.

Wow...I'm weekly between ATL and EWR and I always have to remove my iPad.

Of course, I've never tried to leave it in my bag...but there are always announcements being made while in line.

Be thankful... you are obviously much safer than those of us living on the edge... :rolleyes:

Separating iPads or other tablet devices from carry-on are not required but recommended. Reduces the chance of having their bag de-cluttered then to repack it. That's why I see most remove their tablet devices anyway, which I don't mind.
That's what I often see missing from these discussions. There's a great difference depending on what else is in the bag. It's one thing if the iPad is the only piece of electronics there, but if it's one of many, removing it will make the rest easier to see. That being said, I've never had a problem with it and had only one bag check, which I think was just an inexperienced TSO.

Never taken my iPad out and never been asked to in the US. The only place I've ever been instructed to remove it is LHR.

Ditto--except never been through LHR.

I have two tablets and a laptop and never once have i taken the tablets out, even the one that has a keyboard dock and the size of a netbook.

+1

Never had to pull the tablets out. Just laptops. Several times I've asked just out of curiosity, and the answer has always been the same. Tablets, like phones, can remain in bags.

70 segments minimum for the last 5 years, never once have I had to remove iPad or 7" Acer Iconia Android. I'd tell them to pound sand.

Been meaning to add, flew out of LA on Saturday, T4 the TSA 'pre-check' room, though not the pre-check lane. Woman in line behind me asked the bag pusher about the iPad coming out & was told no. Not 'no as long as there's nothing else electronic in the bag' just 'no'.

I have an Android tablet and I always ask. The answer varies even at the same airport.

Ditto for my Kindle.

> TSA employees routinely make announcements like "Laptops and tablets out,
> including iPads"

I've never heard that @ DTW or BWI (Terminal 3)

Never been asked to take mine out at ORD, MSP, PHX or my hometown airport SUX. One time the TSO asked is that laptop or iPad when I ran my bag though. I said "iPad. Laptop's with me" as I waited for my laptop bag. As many cables and cords as I usually cram into my laptop bag I'm surprised it doesn't trigger a full bag check every time.

I've had multiple electronics in my bag (ipad, gps, camera, chargers, multi-plug adapter, mifi, mp3 player/voice recorder) and not taken any of them out, except for my laptop. As long as they're not all in one giant mass in your bag, I think the multiple views (top, sides; do they also have bottom view?) they have of the bags are enough to differentiate what's in there.