tomh009

How, exactly, does TSA know which country's passport a pax carries when a passport is not required for a domestic flight?

ryehighguy

Hello, first off I admit I'm not flying AC, but I'm curious how everyone handles the no carry on rule at YYZ. Next month I will be flying YYZ-MEL via the US (on AA, changing to QF) and really hope the rules are relaxed by then.

I usually travel with a medium sized duffle bag as carry-on (see it here: http://tinyurl.com/ykswh6u). If rules remain the same I guess I will have to stuff my bag into my suitcase, but I'm wondering if the seasoned travellers here have some advice/thoughts about the following:


1.
Is it possible to check my duffle bag to LAX and retrieve it there and let my suitcase be checked to MEL?

2.
I usually keep all my travel documents in the duffle bag, I don't feel comfortable leaving them in the checked luggage - can I carry a folder with the papers through security? How does everyone deal with there important papers that would usually be in carry-on?

3.
I do have a laptop style bag... can I bring that through security if there is no laptop??

Thanks!

LessO2

When the passenger voluntarily uses that Passport as their form of ID at the ID/BP check.

The TSA accepts very little outside of a Passport, NEXUS card or U.S. or Canadian Driver's License. They certainly would not accept a driver's license issued from Damascus (if there is such a thing).

getaround

I cope by not going to the US for now

threepoint

None of us have to go through the scanners if we choose not to. I could care less who sees my privates on a remote screen and am reassured the medical side-effects are negligible. My concern is the thoughtless and frankly alarming manner in which our privacy is being undermined, and I'm letting them know, by avoiding as much as I can, that I'm not buying the security theatre routine.
I encourage everybody to opt out of the scanners. Maybe when they have very expensive idle machines, they may second-guess their decision making.

tomh009

Oh, right. I had momentarily forgotten that TSA rules focus on catching the dumb terrorists only.

"Hmmm, let me show them my Yemeni passport so that I can get the extra search, yeah, that's the ticket!"

tomh009

The TSA "Secure Flight" program is an even worse privacy violation. And once TSA has your personal data, it could end up anywhere within the US federal government, and you'll never know about, thanks to the Patriot Act.

tomh009

AA should be able to short-check your bag to LAX only, allowing you to re-pack there, provided that your connection time allows for it.

While not explicitly allowed by the CATSA rules, a laptop bag without a laptop appears to be OK, based on multiple experiences by the forum members.

Yukonprince

That's what I thought as well.

I was surprised how quickly it was done.

KathrynInCanada

Actually, at the top of the new handy-dandy CATSA information page it says, I read that to say you can't bring through specifically allowed items in a bag, unless they are items that specifically are allowed to come through in a bag (laptop, camera, baby supplies, pet, medical equipment or musical instrument.)

The anecdotal evidence here is that YMWV so what the document says and what the CATSA officer you are standing in front of says may not match.

antirealist

Really!? I also travel with 2 pairs of glasses, 2 laptops, a Kindle, a BB and an iPhone. I had thought I was unique...

28isGreat

ID checks are done at security, and hardly any non-US, non-Canadian identification is acceptable, other than passports. See http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtrav...documents.shtm

tomh009

So you are confident that the bad guys don't have (real or fake) US driver's licences to use as ID, and willing to bet your security on it? I guess none of the 9/11 attackers were living in the US, either, were they?

SLC-YYZ

May I inquire as to the dimensions of your bag?

quank

Sun, Jan 10 -- Arrived at the airport at 440pm with my wife for our 715pm flight to Las Vegas. Had not seen many trip reports for YEG so wanted to be safe. I had a printout of the recent CATSA guidelines in my bag.

The line is super long. I walk past thinking there is a priority lane (Exec, AC SE/E or *Gold) but there is NONE. Went to domestic side to ask and they confirm there is no priority line. So I get in the line and wait....there is 1 agent at the counter and the line is about 50-60 people deep. After 10 mins, they add one agent. I can't believe this...My wife grabbed us a snack from Harveys so we could eat something while we waited. Also filled out Customs card in line - thanks to whomever posted the tip of keeping a few in the house. We finally get checked in and our bags tagged at 515pm (35 minutes).

US Customs was the shortest line I've ever seen. Was only 4 people long so we cleared fast. Dropped our bags off so that we only had what we were carrying on.

What I was carrying:
- Small side bag (effectively man purse) that was under the size restrictions. Inside was our passports, boarding passes, upgrade certs and AP card, a book, a pen, my QC15 NC headphones, earbud headphones and some loose change.
- My jacket, in pockets were my wallet, money clip, cell phone, keys, prescription medication, chapstick and my wife's knitting needles that were 'with wool'.
- In hand were our boarding passes.

My wife was carrying:
- Laptop bag that was about 14"X12", it contained her netbook, its charger and some papers for her conference.
- Her jacket, in pockets were her wallet, cell phone and keys.

Regular security screening was followed by secondary screening right after. Everyone put their shoes up front so they knew when the next person's stuff was starting. I had a CATSA guy who wouldn't let me push my stuff up but wouldn't do it himself so my wife's stuff was still on my side after she was long through the metal detector - ugh! At secondary screening they didn't look through everything. Some highlights:
- My wife's 'laptop bag' was questioned but the two agents decided it was okay since it had a laptop inside.
- My wife was asked to put her hands in her pockets and they tested after for explosives.
- They felt around my wife's jacket and took her wallet and keys out of a pocket and looked at it.
- She did not have to be frisked.
- For my stuff, he took a quick peek inside my bag, felt all around my jacket and said I was good.
- Went to next station where I was gently frisked. He patted my groin which did lightly touch my manhood.

Was sitting in cleared area at 545pm. So in all, it took just over an hour. In retrospect, AC didn't need to clear their checkin line faster as we'd just be hanging out waiting for secondary security screening anyway. It was a very quiet Sun night so Im curious what a busy time would be like. However, my experience shows that either the allowable items on board are starting to ease or maybe YEG is more lax than some of our other Canadian airports.