Originally Posted by
uanj
Traveling to the US you will go through transit security at TPE. Normal airport screening, no liquids allowed. There is random additional screening at the gate after your present your BP and before you enter the jetway. In recent years I've not seen anyone get a security interview as such, the random bag check is done on a table as you board the plane. I have also not seen many people selected for this, but it does happen. When it happened to me they took 20-30 seconds for a cursory peek inside my computer bag and that was it.
Last month there was an additional passport check as you entered the gate area before you go down to the lobby seating area which was new and seemed redundant, but as far as I could tell they were checking passports and names. Maybe they were looking for someone.
Hope this answers your question.
Thanks! This is the answer I was looking for. So the key here is "random" - and perhaps the one thing that made me got randomly checked at ICN last time was perhaps because I looked Korean and they thought I should be able to speak Korean, plus I looked 100% nervous and confused when the Korean staff tried to speak broken English to me. On my other returning US trips, I had nobody check my bag or ask me, and I was even allowed to keep my laptop and shoes in HND. Those picked for a random interview and bag check are generally informed a few minutes before pre-boarding starts.
I think I will be fine with TPE, as long as there's no quad S in my boarding pass.
Originally Posted by
yannix
I've had this happen at TPE once last year. Also happened to my travel companion at NRT. No SSSS in the BP. IIRC, there was no interview, just a bag inspection right before the boarding.
At ICN I was the only one on my travel party to get my small bag searched, perhaps because I looked nervous due to the security staff's poor English (initially, she insisted in speaking Korean even when I have indicated I did not understand).
What I definitely know is that when I arrived at TPE from SFO, I did not have to pass transit security whatsoever.