blue2002

I had the (dis)pleasure of transferring at TXL a few times in the recent weeks... Don't take this wrong. AB is a fine airline and I enjoyed all flights. What p!sses me off is the pre-flight security setup at TXL. Firstly, their attitudes suck (not all of them, but a noticeable part of the contingent). Secondly, not only is TXL the only airport I have seen in the past few years that still requires these little idiotic plastic ziploc bags for liquids. The security folks always refer passengers only to the automatic dispensers, which supposedly offer 2 bags for EUR 1. The trouble is: two times now the machines stiffed me without dispensing the @*&%# bags. The machines are labelled Beyer Airportservice (to my best recollection), with no phone number or email address provided. Not that I would waste time to contact them over 1 EUR, but it is a matter of principle.

Thankfully several other stores at TXL (including the pharmacy, which tends to have the shortest lineups) sell the stupid bags (1 @ EUR 0.50). Still, the security's insistence on baggies and the consistent redirection to non-working dispensers makes me wonder about a connection there.

Come on TXL, straighten up and fly right!

Shareholder

Not sure where you're flying but those baggies are standard world over for liquids and gels. How are you transporting yours? Are you saying they won't permit them in any other container...like those plastic see-through Bognar amenity kits that LH used to give out in F for, I suppose, just that purpose?

As for charging...if this is happening to you regularly, then why haven't you gotten the message? (For free baggies, with a nice ecologically responsible green printing telling you what they're for, come to a Canadian airport. We give them away.)

erik123

They used to charge for bags in the UK but no longer (fortunately).

bhomburg

I have been through many different airports on five continents this year and NEVER had to get my toiletries out of where they belong and into one of these silly baggies, except at TXL (regularly) and FRA (once). Not even security at LHR cares about them any more in my experience.

blue2002

In my toiletries bag in my carry on (duh...). My point is the TXL security folks seem particularly anal about this. No other airport (and I transit through quite a few) requires me to remove liquids from the carry on (as long as they are in obviously small, allowable amounts).

It happened to me twice, and each time the dispensing machine took my money and failed to dispense. Dispensing machines that frequently (or always) fail to dispense, don't return the money and don't provide clear redress contact information have all the markings of a SCAM. That was my other point. I don't mind paying, if I get an actual product in return. And thanks for the lecture, gramps. Yes, I now transport my liquids through TXL in a clear plastic baggie , so the flying world can feel that much safer.

irishguy28

While I agree that it is a really stupid requirement - and one which was supposed to be rescinded some years ago - it is still the law in the EU and many other territories, and is likely to remain so until explosives scanners are standard.

There is nothing remarkable about TXL. They are just applying the same law as everyone else.

Most airports in Europe make these freely available - just grab a handful the next time you fly.

blue2002

Flying out of WAW, I was asked if liquids were in allowable quantities, but not required to remove the baggie from my carry-on.
I am not sure I get this part. What do explosives scanners have to do with whether my deodorant passes through security in its own plastic baggie, or in my carry-on?

Flying Lawyer

It is so easy: It is the law. Laws might be stupid or not, they are however binding.

irishguy28

Because, until such time as scanners are deployed that negate the need to remove your liquids, or indeed negate the need to restrict the amount of liquids carried on board, the current system is simple and straightforward: liquids carried onboard must be in limited quantities, and presented in a 1L plastic bag so that security staff can instantly see that the requirements have been followed without any further intervention.

If they see further liquids or pastes in your carry-on, your bag will be pulled and they will have to investigate further.

And, as said above, it's the law.

I really don't see why this is such a big deal. If you have a baggy, hold on to it. I have had the same one for probably 3 years. Don't throw it away. You don't need a new bag every time you fly.

Given your difficulties, you may prefer to just check all of your liquids into your checked luggage. If you can't transfer the contents of your washbag to a baggy, and keep them there, then put your washbag in your checked luggage. Carry a small tube of toothpaste in your baggy, and anything else you would indispensable on board or waiting for your bags to be returned to you.

(You may find, however, that the new scanning regime takes far longer than the current set-up, as each bottle will have to be analysed separately and individually. It will still make more sense to check all liquids into your checked luggage).

Concerto

It's hard to believe it's the second decade of the 20th century, though- they can send probes to Pluto but can't tell the difference between innocuous liquids and potential explosives. So, it is a scam in some ways, because someone somewhere is making serious money out of it (not to mention the rubbish airlines that charge for water and other drinks).

No problem abiding by it, am always prepared with my toiletries bag just in case and so far I haven't come across a security check stupid enough to bother with such small amounts. Like Irishguy suggests above, I have a couple of clear sealable bags that travel with me every time for the past 3 years. Oh dear, just realized I took a different bag with me to Dubai and I don't have the bags with me. Honestly, it just hit me now as I write this. So you see, we're all travellers, but we can make a mistake from time to time. That's annoying.

Shareholder

While I do agree this should have been rescinded (along with normal water bottles!) it is still implemented at every airport I've been though outside the US since the shoe bomber did his number. WAW is in violation of EU and IATA rules and should be disciplined.

That said, in the US, if you've been cleared as a Trusted Traveler, then your liquids (and computer) remain in your bag when you go through security. This procedure likely affects about 20% of the flying public who represent likely more than half of trips taken each year at US airports.

Fanjet

Oddly enough, when I fly out of Poland, they make me put my tablet in a separate bin at security; while in the U.S. I can leave it inside my luggage.


As for this thread. How is this an AB matter (and a scam on their part)? Other than the fact that they fly out of TXL.

blue2002

Sigh... By now I earnestly regret ever starting this thread:

1) It is not an AB matter. It is a TXL matter. There are no airport fora (or forums, if others so prefer) on this site. TXL is an AB hub. It has been customary in other airline fora (e.g. AC on this very site) to discuss hub airports within the given airline's forum. Hence the location of this thread in this forum. Please feel free to suggest another location, preferably directly to the mods. I don't give a flying intercourse about this anymore.

2) It is not a scam on AB's part. It is not a scam on the part of TXL. It may be a scam by the vending machine operator, given the pattern of collecting money without dispensing a bag, combined with the lack of clear contact information on the machines.

ralfkrippner

As long as the discussion is civil and friendly IMO we can discuss anything that is remotely connected to AB here on this board. It's not as frequented with new threads as the big boards and with the one or other slightly off topic post or thread our small little place here on flyertalk still is tidy and easy to navigate.



ralfkrippner,
AB forum moderator

UA1K_no_more

TXL is also a base for Germanwimgs. Using your "logic" you might as well have posted your rant in the LH forum.
Or you could have posted your rant in the forum for practical travel safety and security issues...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/pract...ty-issues-686/