Is this surprising? Are they more interested in pretend security or $3 bottles of water?

It's all about money...
 

The TSA throw your water bottle away so you'd have to BUY water bottles from the vending machines located so strategically a few feet beyond the TSA check point. I witnessed happy workers filling up the vending machines for water bottles joking about how the passengers get ripped off. That's how corrupt gov officials get rich.

Well said! The whole thing is a scam and a lot of people have not waken up to the reality that the TSA is not in it to protect you but only to get rich out of the manufactured fear.

I'm not sure it's government making the $$ - TSA does not own the machines...

That said, this IS why I typically carry my own refillable bottle!
:)

I may have missed it, but has anyone emptied their bottle of water into the liquids zip-lock bag to go through security, and refilled the now empty bottle once past the checkpoint?

Not going to work.

You are allowed a baggie-full of 3.4 ounce or less containers of liquid and it is not uncommon for TSOs to challenge (and deny) a container based on 1) the amount the container holds is not printed on the container (even if the container is clearly so small that it can't be over-volume) and 2) the container (toothpaste, for ex.) clearly has less than 3.4 ounces in it, but the container's label indicates a larger potential capacity.

I don't recall ever seeing this labelling requirement spelled out on the website or at the checkpoint videos and signs, but I've see it enforced at the checkpoing on more than one occasion. (Once the TSO got worked up because he said my deodorant (not a gel) was bigger than the container stated (a lot of them do look pretty large, but it's just the container/cap that are big). The best part - it wasn't even an LGA, it was just easier to corral all my toiletries, including my toothbrush, in the Kippie baggie.

If you just pour the water into the baggie, even if it's only two ounces, there's no way for you to 'prove' that the amount is less than 3.4 ounces, so you'll have to toss it. If you put it in a smaller baggie inside the regular baggie, you will still have the missing container label problem.

The thing is it's the corrupt government officials who decide on what can be sold near the check point. In this case, they may get kickbacks for allowing the vending machines to be located just a few yards from the check point (on terminal side).

The question isn't about how much liquid you have with you. It's all about authority and assertion of ego-based abuse of power and authority. It's the kind that the Nazis once enjoyed. Remember, the losers at the checkpoint with the badge have nothing else to feel good about themselves and they are using you to boost their self-worth.

I agreed with this....

Flew out of PHX Sky Harbor today, the anouncements at the Scanner/xray were

"Remove ALL liquids, gels, aersols from your carry-on regardless of size. If you do not have a clear 1quart size bag to place your liquids in, you can either check your carry-on or abandon the items".

The TSA people also stated this was a nationwide TSA rule and that it is now being strictly enforced. I visited the TSA website and there is a search feature, so just for kicks I search for "nail polish" and "mascara" (I searched for these two items because they are common for travelers to carry and are very small). Suprisingly, both these items came up under the 3-1-1 rule.

Bolding mine: Sort of....

From what I've been told, the policy of removing the Freedom Baggie has always been in place however it was sporadically enforced but is now being strictly enforced and......<wait for it>

If one forgets to remove their baggie (i.e. 05:30 flight and not quite awake ;)) or deliberately doesn't remove their baggie, they will win a bag check and will be then sent back to the end of the line to start over. Yes, be sent back to the end of the line and also from what I've been told, there is a big uproar with TSO's and their supes having to enforce this as it is going to majorly slow down the screening process

You Have Got to Be Kidding!!!!
 

Scans and gropes won't galvanize the American Flying Public, but this just might! And not even a poorly designed and reported Gallup poll will make them popular:rolleyes:

I've not taken my Kippie bag out at a US airport for 2 years and have not been asked to. Last week, I checked baggage, but I saw none of this in either RDU or PHL.

No doubt they get sent to bed without dinner, also. :rolleyes:

Mike

All I can say is what I was told by a TSO friend of mine and suffice it to say, they are not happy about it

Um, you should know bettah that the correct word for those of us from The Hub of The Universe is suppah ;) :)

This is exactly what I experienced at IAD last month. Lines were crawling. But I thought it was airport specific, since I didn't experience anything unusual at PIT or JFK later in the month.

It's gonna suck if they're really going to back to enforcing the 3-1-1 rule after years of not caring.