AwardBee

I was returning from Madrid Terminal 4 Priority lane the other day. So in Europe they're really big about all your liquids being put in one of their little ziploc bags, unlike the TSA which has taken a chill pill to some degree.

So they scan my bags, say there's a problem with the liquids in my bag. Ok, I have to walk around the metal detector, fish out my personal amenities and put them into a plastic bag.

But no, that wasn't enough. They noticed I had two sealed AA amenity kits in my bag, which probably collectively contained 3 oz of liquid. Hand creams and the like. And they wanted me to open the amenity kids so they could see the liquids. I said I didn't want to open them because I'm bringing them home as gifts for my family, and I'd like to present them with sealed kits.

Well, first of all the security staff at Madrid don't really speak English so it takes several minutes for them to understand where I'm coming from. I tell them, ok no problem, I'm going to head back outside to the check-in counters and check my bag in with the amenity kits because I don't want to open them.

NO!!! You can't leave this area. I said, I'm just going to check in my bag and start packing my things to take back to the AA counter. At this point one of the security screeners yelled at me to stand still while they got the police.

Ok, no problem. Get the police. A policeman comes, at which point he starts speaking to me rapidly in Spanish - at which point I had to interrupt and say... excuse me, do you speak English? He stops, looks at me and rolls his eyes. No, he doesn't speak English either. So where do they hire all these staff who can't speak English in the international terminal where people of all nationalities transit?

Apparently one woman at this checkpoint could speak English, and they summoned her to my lane, who then told me "you're lucky you're not in New York, do you know what they do there? You go through security in your underwear". No, I've been through New York 1,000 times and trust me, you don't go thru security in underwear.

So in the end, after a lot of commotion, they tell me I can't leave the checkpoint without opening the amenity kits for them. The security screener pointed to a number of signs in the area citing EU regulations about this being some controlled area, etc. He puts the amenity kits through the scanner again to show me that he can tell there are creams inside the kit and he has to see them.

So I was forced to open the amenity kits, and what do they do... they don't even look at them. They swabbed them, put it into their machine, and then said now screening is done.

What was the point of all of this... and why are they so zealous. I haven't been in any other country where they forced me to open sealed airline amenity kits. When I crammed my personal amenities into a quart-sized bag, they were all stacked on top of each other and they couldn't see them any better inside that X-ray machine than they could see thru a cloth airline amenity kit. So what kind of security enhancement did that provide.

And is it true you can't leave a security checkpoint to check-in something you don't want to open?

:D!

Did you need to pay for checked bags on this ticket? If not, why didn't you just check them?

Whatever you think about the effectiveness of a >100ml liquid ban, it's a basic rule that liquids need to be in a clear bag now. I can't remember if it's signed or not.

The last time I went through MAD, I forgot to remove 2 bottles of water from my bag. They were detected on screening. I speak basic Spanish, so I asked if I could drink them. The screener said yes, so I started drinking from one bottle and she then told me I could go. I kept the bottles and the water.

And the funniest part of this story is that later I discovered I had a carton of juice in my bag that I completely forgot about, which I had brought all the way through LHR security, carried around for a week in Spain, and then brought back to London!

AwardBee

Yes I could have checked the bag to begin with but usually I travel light with just a small carry-on and don't want to check in order to be quicker/nimbler, and because it holds my toiletries and favorite neck pillow. But if I have no choice but to check it, then I will. Like if I really don't want to open sealed amenity kits.

I mean, even the TSA officially still requires that you put your liquids in a 311 bag. Or something like that. Only they usually don't bother enforcing it to a T. I just don't understand why they do in Madrid, since I've never had a problem anywhere else in the world. And I collect amenity kits and give them to family/friends as gifts all the time.

MSPeconomist

If you're giving the amenity kits to friends and family, why does it matter whether they're in the sealed plastic bag or not? It would be different if you were planning to sell them or to donate them to a shelter for battered women, etc.

schrodingerdog

Security Staff in MAD are contractors from a private company and is a really low-paid work so don't expect any proficiency in languages. Young policeman/women are supposed to pass an english test and usually they know some from high school / university but old ones basically are not required to know any english at all.

And yes, they are really keen on following the procedures (especially because they have 'quality supervisors' looking at them) about liquids and staff. Every time I come back to visit my family and friends I bought an insane amount of pork food to bring back to my home and they always want to look at it. Not touch it or examine it, just look it.

I can't find anything in the AENA guidelines about checkpoints but I'm pretty sure you can actually leave to check-in stuff (last time I was in MAD T2 checking-in a girl was checking-in an oversized bottle of perfume apparently after being rejected in the checkpoint) but the language barrier may be a problem

mfkne

Even at TSA checkpoints the policy is that you must go through the entire checkpoint if you enter it. So deciding then and there that you want you check stuff in your bags wouldn't fly there either.

chollie

Yes, you could.

A 'good' TSO will immediately escort you back to the non-sterile area.

A not-so-good TSO will give you grief and insist on a full, extended grope and comprehensive swabbing before escorting you back to the non-sterile area.

A dishonest and improperly supervised TSO (or one at PHX T2) will get in your face, threaten to call the police, confiscate your item, ask you if you really want to fly that day, bla-bla.

I have done this a couple times when a TSO insisted on confiscating something I believe he intended to keep for himself. I was escorted back to the non-sterile area, where I went to the nearest bathroom and disposed of the item. Better it goes into the trash than into the pocket of a corrupt TSO.

jphripjah

Because giving family members UNSEALED alrline amenity kits as gifts is kind of tacky.

zxsuxr

because a sealed amenity kit on eBay sells for more

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Not really, simply say sorry the kits are unsealed they had to be opened for inspection at the airport. In this day and age if an adult, especially a family member receiving them can not understand that, they probably should not be given alrline amenity kits or perhaps any gift.

As for the OP, as you described, an over zealous screener. We have all dealt with them at one point or another. That said I can understand them wanting to see the cream rather than have it enclosed in the kit. No one every said the rules had to make sense, let alone common sense.

Often1

Rules aren't particularly different at a TSA checkpoint. Liquids up to 300 Ml. in 3-1-1 baggie, items sealed/wrapped at your own peril and once you enter for inspection, you are subject to inspection at TSA's discretion.

If you care about this stuff, check the bag in the first place.

Maybe a better result would have been achieved had OP started by politely asking one of the Officers if there was anyone who spoke English. Or, if traveling abroad, learn a few phrases in that country's language, one of them being, "does anybody speak English?" People appreciate it.

chollie

No, actually, that isn't guaranteed to help.

I speak perfect English and am always scrupulously, obsequiously polite at the US checkpoints - as are most other travelers, including many who post here.

Perfect grammar and humble, obedient behavior don't always work in my own country - why are you so sure they would work overseas?

If a security screener has a chip on his/her shoulder, it doesn't matter where in the world it is or what the language is - if they have decided to target you, all you can do is treat them just like you would a mad dog - avoid eye contact, no sudden moves, and get away as fast as you can.

BSBD

Not correct. 300 ml is over 10 fluid ounces. The maximum TSA allows per bottle is 3.4 fluid ounces, which is approximately 100 ml, not 300 ml.