TSA Now Requires Separate Screening of Electronic Devices Larger than Cellphones
Jul 27, 2017, 11:10 am
#61
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It got better when YYZ got CATSA PLUS lanes (with the automatic bin feeding and four positions for people to fill bins + automatic push of bins to secondary with easy lookup of the x-ray image via RFID & repck tables). I remove all large electronics and my phones into one bin (none overlapping) and all of my chargers/wires in another and get through very quickly usually nowadays.
Bit of a pain but I usually travel with a laptop, two tablets, sometimes a game console, a large 20000mah battery pack, and a bunch of chargers, so they are really picky on me unless I voluntarily divest those items. Luckily I can do this very quickly (repack is a bit of a pain but I take my bins to the repack table and get out of they way).
TSA rules would add minor hassle but nothing that I'm not used to already thanks to CATSA...
Bit of a pain but I usually travel with a laptop, two tablets, sometimes a game console, a large 20000mah battery pack, and a bunch of chargers, so they are really picky on me unless I voluntarily divest those items. Luckily I can do this very quickly (repack is a bit of a pain but I take my bins to the repack table and get out of they way).
TSA rules would add minor hassle but nothing that I'm not used to already thanks to CATSA...
I'm not so sure that non-FTers, non-frequent fliers, the people that FTers sometimes complain about who don't know how to behave at a PreCheck lane are going to adapt so quickly and easily, particularly because I suspect there will be a lot of confusion over what has to be taken out.
So although my friends on FT will move just as quickly as they always did, I'm not so sure first-time and infrequent fliers will adapt quite as quickly and efficiently. Since I will be in line with those folks, any delays will impact me.
Jul 27, 2017, 11:34 am
#62
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If they want to go back to the stupidity of 20 years ago where ticket agents and gate agents asked you a couple of questions before giving you your boarding pass, then the airlines can say goodbye to kiosks and on-line check-in. Which their business models depend 100% on these days.
Jul 27, 2017, 12:02 pm
#63
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New Domestic Security Measures
I didn't see this thread started anywhere... Mod, feel free to move if I missed this.
There are new security measures being rolled out for domestic flights - passengers in regular security lanes will have to remove laptops & tablets from their bags and put them in their own bin.
https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...urity-measures
This does NOT apply to PreCheck!
The first 10 airports are:
Expanding to all airports in the coming weeks.
https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...urity-measures
There are new security measures being rolled out for domestic flights - passengers in regular security lanes will have to remove laptops & tablets from their bags and put them in their own bin.
https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...urity-measures
This does NOT apply to PreCheck!
The first 10 airports are:
- Boise Airport (BOI)
- Colorado Springs Airport (COS)
- Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
- Logan International Airport (BOS)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB)
- Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
- McCarran International Airport (LAS)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
Expanding to all airports in the coming weeks.
https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...urity-measures
Jul 27, 2017, 12:06 pm
#64
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I'm certainly not challenging you. I read reports regularly about LAX PreCheck being closed or requiring laptops out. Specific terminals are often mentioned, but I don't recall which ones. I personally generally avoid LAX for other reasons, so I don't have a lot of personal experience.
Here is one example. The author regularly flies out of TBIT but has been using the T4 security checkpoint. He has found a better option. The geography involved will likely make more sense to you than me, because I'm so rarely in LAX.
(bolding mine)
http://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.c...pt-secret-lax/
Here is one example. The author regularly flies out of TBIT but has been using the T4 security checkpoint. He has found a better option. The geography involved will likely make more sense to you than me, because I'm so rarely in LAX.
(bolding mine)
Security checkpoints in TBIT are terrible. Really bad. Waiting time is routinely so bad that I refuse to bother with it any longer. If I am flying out of TBIT, I will book a refundable ticket on AA, walk over Terminal 4 next door, use PreCheck, then walk over to TBIT
...
But my Terminal 4 trick is no longer necessary.
After collecting your boarding pass, proceed downstairs to the baggage claim area. Once inside, walk to the far south side of the building (i.e. turn left when as you enter the building from the street). Look for a blue sign that says “Connecting Flights”. There you will find the hidden checkpoint.
Best of all? PreCheck is honored. Laptops must be removed, but shoes and coats may remain on and you will be directed through the metal detector rather than the body scanner.
...
But my Terminal 4 trick is no longer necessary.
After collecting your boarding pass, proceed downstairs to the baggage claim area. Once inside, walk to the far south side of the building (i.e. turn left when as you enter the building from the street). Look for a blue sign that says “Connecting Flights”. There you will find the hidden checkpoint.
Best of all? PreCheck is honored. Laptops must be removed, but shoes and coats may remain on and you will be directed through the metal detector rather than the body scanner.
The checkpost on the arrival level of TBIT, to which the person you are quoting is referring, offers PreCheck Light only, not the full PreCheck experience.
T4, T5, T6 and T7 all have PreCheck lanes. They are connected behind security to TBIT. At LAX, you can enter any terminal with a same day boarding pass for any flight departing LAX on any airline from any of the terminals. There is no need to buy a refundable ticket on AA to go through the TSA PreCheck security checkpoint at T4 unless one is flying a non-participating airline and does not have the PreCheck designation on his or her boarding pass.
T1, T2 and T3, which are not connected behind security, all have TSA PreCheck lanes.
It is absolutely wrong to write that passengers "are regularly required to remove their electronics and LGAs" at LAX. It is the exception, not the norm.
Jul 27, 2017, 12:09 pm
#65
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That d
esn't sound new. That sounds like what is in place now. The press release says that those in regular screening lanes will need to remove "all electronics larger than a cell phone." That is new.
esn't sound new. That sounds like what is in place now. The press release says that those in regular screening lanes will need to remove "all electronics larger than a cell phone." That is new.
Jul 27, 2017, 12:09 pm
#66
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...
You might want to glance at the faces of the TSOs next time you make a joke about the howls of protest from people who might have skin a shade darker than yours. As someone who has lived in California in the past, whose family includes ethnic minorities (Polynesian-Asian), and someone whose own skin and eyes suggest a minority background, I don't really think this is funny.
BTW...although younger than you, Richard Reid was white - not Californian or minority. We all take our shoes off daily, perhaps because security unconsciously and stupidly profiled him as a safe white western guy.
The new rules should apply to everyone and absent specific intelligence, no one should be getting less or more targeted scrutiny just because of their appearance.
You might want to glance at the faces of the TSOs next time you make a joke about the howls of protest from people who might have skin a shade darker than yours. As someone who has lived in California in the past, whose family includes ethnic minorities (Polynesian-Asian), and someone whose own skin and eyes suggest a minority background, I don't really think this is funny.
BTW...although younger than you, Richard Reid was white - not Californian or minority. We all take our shoes off daily, perhaps because security unconsciously and stupidly profiled him as a safe white western guy.
The new rules should apply to everyone and absent specific intelligence, no one should be getting less or more targeted scrutiny just because of their appearance.
Your words, my bold, sums it up.
Jul 27, 2017, 12:50 pm
#67
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When flying out of my hometown airport MCI Kansas City I currently use 5-6 bins. One each for: jacket or sweater, purse, toiletry baggie, shoes, tablet. I never put multiple items in a bin, always a separate bin for each. At MCI that is what we are told to do. Now I will need one more for my little point and shoot camera.
Jul 27, 2017, 12:52 pm
#68
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TBIT, the Tom Bradley International Terminal, did not have PreCheck lanes the last time that I departed from there. At the time, most of the airlines operating at TBIT were not PreCheck participating airlines (that's a discussion for another thread). I was flying AA and received the PreCheck Light treatment, shoes and jacket on, liquids and electronics out. That was before the Terminal 4 - TBIT Connector opened last year.
Anyway … following the signs to “All Gates” [far right of the TBIT and up the escalator] we braced ourselves for Security without TSA Pre. “Oh, Nice” … theres a lane on the left in the Tensa barrier maze for First and Business pax, so off we go. A TSA Agent is patrolling the lines, explaining what is required … yes, shoes and belts off, laptops and iPads and Kindles in a tray. But all said with immense charm and good humour! The guy was almost like a young hip-hop artist, gesturing and spinning around - but conveying the message clearly, and with great wit. How different from LHR!!
We zoomed through in under 5 minutes, met another smiley TSA Agent whilst stacking our trays, and complimented him on proceedings. He said “Tell that lady over there”, so we conveyed our pleasure to the 3-bar Watch Supervisor and her 2-bar colleague. It was a really delightful security experience!!
We zoomed through in under 5 minutes, met another smiley TSA Agent whilst stacking our trays, and complimented him on proceedings. He said “Tell that lady over there”, so we conveyed our pleasure to the 3-bar Watch Supervisor and her 2-bar colleague. It was a really delightful security experience!!
Jul 27, 2017, 2:31 pm
#69
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There was a recent incident where a TSO kept blocking the woman she was groping from seeing her purse. Her fellow TSO took that opportunity to steal several hundred dollars from the woman's purse. He was caught on the spot and fired.
It happens, and for those of us who are simultaneously facing longer and longer waits for our gropes while out of sight of our bags and being forced to expose more valuables, it is concerning.
The one time we had something stolen at a checkpoint was in Heathrow where a 3-1-1 baggie with prescription medicine disappeared from one of our trays while we were subjected to secondary pat-down/wanding . Her Majesty's "security" officers couldn't care less about it and refused to check the security video. "There's a chemist (pharmacy) over there where you perhaps can buy replacements."
Yes, I am used to it when traveling to some overseas locations where I end up filling up to five trays with stuff (shoes, jacket, backpack, liquids, laptop, DSLR, secondary (point-and-shoot) camera, Kindle, iPad, phone, chargers).
No, I don't like it. At all. Especially not if I have just come off an 11 hr flight without enough sleep and connect to somewhere else.
Last edited by notquiteaff; Jul 27, 2017 at 2:37 pm
Jul 27, 2017, 2:53 pm
#70
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Cheers.
Jul 28, 2017, 8:55 am
#71
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According to AskTSA...
Last edited by FliesWay2Much; Jul 29, 2017 at 11:01 am
Jul 28, 2017, 10:22 am
#72
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Yup. TSA is not even pretending to update the website or blog with the new changes. They have said that the changes will be implemented over the coming months, which is kind of shocking considering these changes are a reaction to a very real and imminent threat.
They are simply telling everyone to follow the screener's instructions.
I think we are going to see more and more of that in the future. TSA will officially decline to post anything but the most limited non-binding guidelines and everything will be left up to the individual screeners, thus making it difficult if not impossible for bad guys to know what is allowed.
Of course, the vast majority of travelers who are perfectly innocent also won't have a clue what is or is not allowed, but they'll find out when they get to the checkpoint - or when they inventory the contents of their checked bags on arrival.
They are simply telling everyone to follow the screener's instructions.
I think we are going to see more and more of that in the future. TSA will officially decline to post anything but the most limited non-binding guidelines and everything will be left up to the individual screeners, thus making it difficult if not impossible for bad guys to know what is allowed.
Of course, the vast majority of travelers who are perfectly innocent also won't have a clue what is or is not allowed, but they'll find out when they get to the checkpoint - or when they inventory the contents of their checked bags on arrival.
Jul 28, 2017, 7:39 pm
#73
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The impression I have always gotten on this sort of thing is they don't want interfering images. Lay it out so there is no overlap. Nobody's ever objected to my putting a jacket (almost no metal) over electronics, either. They're simply after a clear image and electronics not mixed with organics.
Jul 28, 2017, 7:43 pm
#74
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When flying out of my hometown airport MCI Kansas City I currently use 5-6 bins. One each for: jacket or sweater, purse, toiletry baggie, shoes, tablet. I never put multiple items in a bin, always a separate bin for each. At MCI that is what we are told to do. Now I will need one more for my little point and shoot camera.
Jul 28, 2017, 8:22 pm
#75
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I may have to get in line the day before. This is the contents of my carry on and is what I have carried for 10+ years. Plus, in my backpack is a computer, an iPad, my phone, and my camera.
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...G_8771-2-2.jpg
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...G_8771-2-2.jpg