Why do shoes set off metal detectors?
Nov 28, 2015, 12:03 am
#31
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: TXL,KIX,NRT
Programs: LH Sen, OW Sapphire, Skyteam Gold
Posts: 121
Nails won't set them off, poorly made (sorry folks) dress shoes have a metal shank.
If you're in the US, consider buying shoes from www.allenedmonds.com - they will be the last pair you buy for the rest of your life. Proper hand made shoes, and when you wear out the sole, you can get them recrafted.
If you're in the US, consider buying shoes from www.allenedmonds.com - they will be the last pair you buy for the rest of your life. Proper hand made shoes, and when you wear out the sole, you can get them recrafted.
Nov 28, 2015, 9:20 am
#32
Join Date: Jul 2005
Programs: UA 1K MM
Posts: 1,289
This is definitely not correct. I do wear shoes by Alden (made in New England) for many years and they are handmade ( I prefer the ones made of horse leather). All these shoes have a piece of metal in the sole to give them more stability (I have been shown this on the X-ray screen by security at Zurich airport). They can be re-soled many many times, donīt lose shape and they age very nicely ( my oldest pair is 27 years old and has been re-soled several times.), so claiming that only poorly made shoes have a "metal shank" is nonsense, as many consider Alden shoes superior to Allen-Edmonds.
Amen brother. I graduated from Allen-Edmonds to Alden years ago and would never go back - even though they set off detectors.
Nov 28, 2015, 6:50 pm
#33
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: CMH
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Platinum; HH Diamond; SPG Gold; Hertz PC
Posts: 57
I travel weekly and always wear Allen Edmonds when traveling (Carlyle, Fifth Ave, Lubbock, Strand) and have only set off the WTMD once. The TSA guy said that my shoes may have been too close to the sides of the scanners and to try again. Didn't set off the alarm the 2nd time through. So maybe it is just a combination of factors (sensitivity, proximity, metal, etc) and not just the single instance of a metal insert in a shoe?