Wallstreet10006

Flying on CO from Frankfurt to EWR last Sunday, I was asked by a security screener the usual "who packed your bags" etc. But when I was asked "Did you receive any gifts?" I remembered that I had received two bottles of Italian wine from a friend of a friend - someone who I hadn't met in person before that weekend. Knowing that the wine (which I kept in my hotel room throughout the weekend) wasn't anything nefarious, I just said no. I didn't want to be inconvenienced.

I've always thought asking these questions were naive at best and that the screening process serves no real purpose. But this was the first time I didn't tell the truth.

Similar experiences/your thoughts?

PresRDC

The problem I have with these questions is that it is obvious which answer will result in more scrutiny and which will not. I have always liked the way that AA"s FRA staff asks the questions. They tell you describe where you have been and what you have received. That way, it is harder to just give the answer that will result in less scrutiny.

bdschobel

I try not to talk to these people AT ALL!!! Any conversation is just going to delay me and contribute nothing to my actual safety.

Bruce

CarmelGreg

You did what everyone else does. They know it too.....

Bart

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Wallstreet10006

The security screener was wearing a Continental jacket and was stationed at a podium right in front of check-in at the Continental counter in Terminal 2 at Frankfurt Airport.

I've been asked (though not recently) whether I've received any "gifts" from anyone. What the gift was (wine in this instance) had nothing to do with anything.

This just happened to be the first time that I received a gift right before travelling and I knew that if I told them that upon questioning, they would have searched my well-packed bag (the wine, of course, was on the bottom).

I lied to avoid the hassle as I'm sure most people do.



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You can run all your life, and not go anywhere - Social Distortion

screenerx

The only real honest answer I would like from a passenger is when I ask if you have anything sharp, breakable, or if something may jump out and bite me before searching their bag at the checkpoint.

I sometimes ask if the passengers has a knife or a pair of scissors etc.. before going into their bag. I know I sometimes get lied to in the hopes that I'll stop the bag check. But when told where the item is, I usually go right to that area of the bag, find it and then rerun it. It makes it easier for me and for the passenger.

The Unknown Screener

That was an airline employee you were talking to, not a TSA agent. Since you were in Frankfurt at the time, it is also impossible that this could have been a TSA agent. So to blame the TSA once again for something that was obviously not them is wrong. However, I do see the usual characters on the wagon again and that is no surprise. Maybe they will admit they were wrong in this instance, but I doubt it.



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Don't take life too seriously, afterall, you won't get out alive.

studentff

Out of curiosity, do you know of any specific airlines that have policies restricting this? I've never heard of any, and I've looked pretty hard.

I would not surrender wine (or anything else that wasn't an obviously prohibited item) to TSA or the airline if they said it was either TSA or airline policy unless more than one supervisor (airline or TSA) gave me some solid evidence to the contrary. Even then I might go home (or to the post office) before flying. I've heard too many horror stories about items (especially alchohol) being declared "prohibited" just so the screeners (or airline employees?) can take them home. And some employees confuse duty free limitations with carrying limitations, even on domestic flights. I've read specific stories of TSA in HI doing that.

When flying, I actually carry a copy of the 49CFR "Hazardous Materials Carried by Passengers and Crew Members" exception list, though I've never had to use it. It clearly states that there is no restriction whatsoever on alchoholic beverages under 24% (i.e., beer, wine). But mainly I have it because I occasionally have refigerated items packed in dry ice, and I have honestly expected questions when doing that (see story below).

The most wine I have ever carried was 20 bottles, 8 in checked luggage and 12 in carry on. It was FRA-ORD. Clearly I was outside the weight limits on the carry-on, but nobody weighed it. FRA security had no interest whatsoever in the wine.

As for the dry ice story--last month I flew with a small cooler containing a half gallon of ice cream, the allowed 2 kg of dry ice, and an electronic indoor/outdoor thermometer with a temperature probe to monitor the temperature of the cooler. All of this was packed in my roll-aboard carry-on. You'd think that a box (the cooler) containing two high-density solid materials (ice cream and dry ice) with a wire leading out of the box (the probe) leading to an electronic timer-like thing (the thermometer) would at least attract a bag check from TSA. But nope. Nothing beyond the normal x-ray. Oh well.

clrankin

This sounds like it was an airline agent. At that point I would suggest that you respond by telling him/her that it's none of their business...

I can't recall ever being asked these questions by a TSA agent while in the states. If I were, the question would be met with a few of my own-- namely "Why do you want to know?", "Am I under arrest?", and "May I speak to your supervisor?".

Whether or not I've received any gifts that I'm taking home with me is nobody's business but my own. If the situation becomes more serious, I can always request that a LEO be called over to protect my rights.

clrankin

Try packing it in some shoes the next time... <VBG>

CarmelGreg

TUS:
Nobody said anything about the TSA until you did! YOU to need to admit you were mistaken and jumped the gun but I doubt you will.....

BART:
If the USA airlines determined "what" was brought onto a plane then why do we need you guys? The TSA/DHS determines, I suspect, with minimal input (some) from the airlines (and tobacco industry?) what is allowed on a plane.

The Unknown Screener

Look at the title of the thread. If screeners does not imply the TSA, then what does?



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Don't take life too seriously, afterall, you won't get out alive.

SDF_Traveler

It was likely a contract employee with ICTS or a similar airport security company which US Carriers use at European stations to conduct their own security interviews. IIRC, this is mandated by the FAA for US Based carriers flying from overseas stations to the US.

If you fly a non-US airline, like KLM, you typically won't have to go through any such interviews... but with KLM at Schiphol, everyone gets a second screening regardless for US-bound flights at the departure lounge.

Best,

SDF_Traveler

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

Bart

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