I see your point about the security points at schipol but I still find it most inconvenient - my experience of US airports is that there is an equivalent (single) security point for everyone leaving the Customs Hall. There must be a more time and pesonnel efficient system than one arch at every gate. Presumably the Dutch trust those countries they treat as 'domestic' for passport control (Schengen) to have effective security and others could be channeled through a gate after passport control or in a transit area. Do you know of any other airports with the same system as Schipol?

I agree the UK carriers tend to enforce their carry-on rules. It is infinitely preferable to US airlines that have these rules and yet allow you to circumvent them at will. (yes, I know that is supposed to be changing). It is thankfully rare to see passengers on BA or BD carrying on the contents of a small house and moaning about the lack of space.

I also agree that European security officers tend to be strict about their jobs. Inflexible has negative conotations but there are rules (usually laws) that they are charged with enforcing and so they should be. I have found that a little courtesy goes a long way with such people and there are simple rules to follow. Do exactly what they ask. Don't make threats, either verbal or physical. Never joke about what you have in your luggage or what you are going to do. Be patient - they can do it at the arch or they can do it in a police station. If they want to frisk you, they're going to frisk you. Simple really. The only problem I have ever had is in Italy, where the guards and I had no common languages - availability of an interpreter would have been nice as it was a major airport (FCO).