I took a day trip from BWI to SEA Saturday morning on US Airways, returning on the Saturday night/Sunday morning redeye. A mechanical delay on my BWI-PHL leg caused me to misconnect in PHL, so I had an agent rebook me on a United connection via DEN.

My layover in Denver lasted almost two hours, so just for kicks I decided to take the airport train to baggage claim and reclear security. I had heard all the horror stories on this board about the shoe carnival there, but much to my surprise the screener standing at the metal detector waved me through and wished me a pleasant flight when I told her my shoes were non-profile. No secondary harassment, so I immediately proceeded back to the B concourse.

I didn't even run into any shoe hassles at SEA (north checkpoint) on my return. They're certainly very strict about the 1" sole thickness rule, but not violating current TSA SOP per my observations. I was traveling with another FlyerTalker who wore her thick-soled running shoes through the WTMD; of course, even though she didn't alarm the detector she was sent to secondary. Over in the next lane, while I was placing my bag on the x-ray belt, the screener asked to see the soles of my shoes. I lifted up my foot, told him "yep, they're less than an inch" and he gave me a nod. Again I walked through unharassed and headed to the gate.

I had never cleared security at either SEA or DEN in the past, but yesterday's experiences were positive. Good job TSA!