Originally Posted by
zloneill
That's totally strange--when I flew domestic in Australia in January, they didn't care _what_ we had in our bags, and in fact we were greeted _at the gate_ by our friend picking us up in Brisbane. It was so lovely and old-fashioned feeling...
Wow... this was May 2007. The flight was from Sydney to Brisbane. I ended up going back and checking my carryon bag because I really didn't want to be the rest of the trip without them.
On the return flight, Brisbane seemed to have the same "no one beyond this area without a boarding pass" in place as other airports. Did your friends happen to mention how they got to the gate to meet you?