Originally Posted by WRCSolberg
STL is my home aiport, and I despise the TSA there compared to the other airports. Pretty much one step short of a strip-search in STL.
Huh? Live in STL and have never once had an issue with TSA folks here and I fly out literally at least twice a week. Never one problem. In fact, they are actually polite here.
LAX on the other hand... Agree with those who say it is the awful and it is the inconsistent baggage checking procedures at LAX that lead to most of my frustration. Each terminal is different, and each counter is different. The situation described by the OP has happened to me at AA T4 at least two or three times in the past 18 months or so. The FC checkin agent says, "drop your bags off over there" and points to some vague place to the left end of the counter. I go down there, find no one, and wind up arguing with a TSA person to take my bag, who seems to convey with their eye-roll that they feel I am a some snobby elite passenger who feels I don't need to wait in "the big line". UA's procedures are equally inconsistent. Though at least they both have some sort of process for FC pax (however inconsistently they're followed) - NW at T2 just dumps you in "the big baggage line" every time no matter what.
I HATE checking bags at LAX. I generally always prefer checking bags because I like bulkhead FC seats and hate the "bag rush" of all the bin hogs. But at LAX I too become a bin hog whenver I can to avoid the "TSA hogs" who seem bizarely obsessed with making sure you don't walk away until your baggage has been screened.