Petrus

Somewhat OT; watches will get "damaged" no matter how careful you are. A bump happens, you get nicks, dents and scratches. As long as you don't smash it or prang it hard the delicate automation will be fine. My wife managed to (not on purpose) nearly murder my IWC when it dropped from 5 ft on a carpet. It survived. External blemises can be polished also. e.g. when your fine piece goes in to the watch maker for servicing, add a couple of hundred more on top of the fee to get it polished.

As posted above, T5 has CCTV everywhere so trying to steal there would be beyond stupid.

jfallesen

I have always thought that Fast Track access should only be given to people who can pass an exam showing that they know how to go through security in an efficient way. And if repeated cases of not following proper protocol are seen, the privilege will be revoked until taking a training course and a new test.

For many obvious reasons, this will never happen but I can still dream about it. :-)

gms

In that case, I would suggest you buy an expensive watch that is not incredibly fragile! If your watch is going to be damaged by putting it in a security tray then I suggest you don't wear it for travel!

Solution = place it inside your hand luggage for the security check

JamesKidd

Surely, this is down to common sense. If its valuable put it in the bag. Train your mind to do it. I put everything in the bag including belt, phone, wallet. I don't wear a watch. Recently at mumbai airport, the security staff were insisting all valuables in the carry on bag.

Foltan

Crime does indeed happen. Some people are just desperate or unable to resist temptation. It is always good practice to put all valuables safely inside a bag, or at least a jacket, when going through security, so as to avoid light fingers being tempted. Also if it gets 'selected' for an inspection, keep an eye on it!

You may be confident to argue your case in London if something disappears, but when in a foreign country where you're not able to speak the language and the local police being less 'accommodating', you'll probably be out on your own. So just get in to good habits regardless!

JamesKidd

I like this idea. And in an element of Global Entry style interview before issuing clearance for Fast Track access. Any breach of rules, fast track access get revoked

PUCCI GALORE

This.

Frankly, I have never understood the obsession with watches that cost as much as a family car but each to their own. What I do not believe is that anyone attempted to steal a watch at Security at T5 and if they did, why were the police not called? I'd suspect another passenger rather than a member of staff, and I am no fan of those at Security T5. Those at Gatwick, and Stansted of all places are far more pleasant. I have long suspected that Fast Track Security is deliberately slow and disagreeable.The coming of the First Wing has alleviated that, thank heaven

For obvious reasons, these places are festooned with CCTV.

simons1

Indeed. The OP at several points refers to 'tale' and 'story', quite appropriate really.

markzz2

Well thank you to those who have responded constructively and helpfully.

To the others thank you for making me feel stupid !

The person on Monday who had this experience was my Mother In Law and I had seen her off and was still at T5 when she called me distressed by the whole affair. The other person was a dear friend who called the supervisor and was calling the police when the watch miraculously appeared.

I travel frequently and my watch normally does not set off the beeps, but occasionally it does. That is why I do not always take it off........ I have got to know most places it does set it off so those are the places I remove it. So sorry if I have delayed anyone.

Actually it was damage that may occur that was the reason she was reluctant to put it in the tray on the belt anyway not the fear of it being stolen. She knew nothing about my friends previous experience.

I will recommend to her that in future she puts it in the bag before security. Good Advice but she is not a regular traveller so would not have been aware this was the best option.

I have to say the sarcasm and rudeness of some posters on here is the reason I rarely make an appearance. Sad really as the few of you guys I have met in "real life" have been very nice.

I am off to Facebook to post some more "rubbish!"

Happy Flying

pacenotes

This happens, They are prying on you being stressed and rushed as you need to go catch a flight.

If it happens call the police straight away, Don't let the airport security team do it as they mightn't want anyone to look at the CCTV.

Like the article below if they can look at the CCTV straight away they might be able to track them down before they get on there own flight. But most people will rush off to there own flight and try to sort it out later.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...d-no-one-cares

Fitch

Unfortunate story, but who on earth travels without first backing up critical data from a device ? Madness !!

If I lost a work laptop with irreplaceable data in similar circumstances, I'd be having a very uncomfortable discussion with the boss shortly thereafter

simons1

Nothing to do with making people feel silly or not. But let's face it the cases aren't exactly conclusive.

In the first one you refer to demanding to see the CCTV and causing a drama.....so what did the CCTV show? You are clearly implying something underhand here, the place is fully covered by CCTV so the 'incident' would surely have been there for all to see and the Police would have taken the appropriate action including statements from all parties.

On the second, again I see no evidence of anything underhand. Rude or surly behaviour from security maybe (not uncommon on here) and perhaps a disagreement on how the watch was to be scanned. Maybe an attendant who thought re-boxing the item might cause a hold up. But was there really any intent on the part of staff?

If you are seeing sarcasm and rudeness that's a shame but when posters come here and make thinly veiled accusations one should expect to receive equally robust comments back.

WorldLux

Personally, this sounds very familiar to an experience I've had in Turkey. My prescription sunglasses miraculously disappeared from the tray. I had double checked the tray (including flipping it upside down) before confronting security. After persisting and explaining that they were prescription sunglasses and useless to pretty much anyone else, they reappeared as miraculously as they disappeared in an otherwise empty tray with the words "you must have forgotten it in the tray". Yeah, right.

As other posters have pointed out, the best advice is to put your valuables into your carry-on/personal item before entering security.

Howard Long

JamesKidd

Isn't that pretty much the standard for all open internet forums ? You'll always get a handful of helpful replies, sarcastic replies and rude replies. Show me a forum which doesn't follow this trend.