Originally Posted by
chollie
Question for those who travel abroad:
Oooh, ooh! I'll play. In the last three years, I've been through SYD, CBR, MEL, PER, ADL, AUH, ATH, GVA, SIN, HKG, ZRH, FCO, PMO, NRT, AMS, AKL and PKE. Not as many as some here, but it's a reasonable assortment on several continents. So let's go:
Originally Posted by
chollie
how often do you see 'Kettles' at foreign checkpoints?
All the time. From the elderly woman in a dirndl at ZRH who couldn't understand how a bottle of water could be forbidden, to families with kids on their first trip, to the guy who tried to take his full-size suitcase through the checkpoint at SYD domestic, to the two middle-aged women at SYD int'l who were embarrassed when security found their stash of rum and scotch.
Originally Posted by
chollie
How are they handled?
Politely. Quietly. Without exception.
Originally Posted by
chollie
Do you see and hear the proliferation of signs, recordings, barkings (sounds like the monkey house at the zoo at feeding time) that proliferate at US checkpoints (all paid for by taxpayer dollars)?
No. Most int'l checkpoints have either a sign or a video screen with a slideshow, with the basic information of: outerwear off, laptops and freedom baggies out (at airports where this is required), keys/coins/cellphones out of pockets.
Originally Posted by
chollie
Do you suppose there are foreign equivalents of out-of-date, ambiguous, worthless security websites?
I have yet to see one. Nor have I heard a security guard at any of these airports chastise passengers for not reading the website, much less claim that the website was out of date.
Originally Posted by
chollie
Do you see hordes of security folks standing around with no apparent purpose (non-US airports usually seem to have less than half the folks the US does at any given checkpoint, yet they seem to move far more efficiently).
No.
Originally Posted by
chollie
Do you suppose foreign security SOP's are as opaque as TSA's?
Based on all of the above, apparently not. And while I hear people in Australia and Europe mention their problems with getting through US airports, I never hear them complain about Australian, European or Asian airports.
But I think we all knew that.
