All Food and Electronics Larger than Cellphones out for Screening
Nov 7, 2017, 7:02 am
#227
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 35
I flew out of PHL D Terminal yesterday afternoon, everyone sort of got the TSA PreCheck system, told to leave shoes, jackets and belts on and electronics stay in bags, if you beeped in the standard metal detector you got sent to the body scanner. The TSA employee directing everyone made no mention of food and claimed they were testing out a new system, half of the people in line were confused or not paying attention and took off their shoes and tried to go into the body scanner only to be directed to the metal detector.
Nov 7, 2017, 7:13 am
#228
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
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Posts: 102,095
For some PreCheck passengers at TSA screening checkpoints, I've seen TSA ask for the passengers to take out sausages and cheese but leave other things as usual. Seen this in recent weeks at airports catering to "cheeseheads".
Nov 7, 2017, 8:55 am
#229
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 28,110
I flew out of PHL D Terminal yesterday afternoon, everyone sort of got the TSA PreCheck system, told to leave shoes, jackets and belts on and electronics stay in bags, if you beeped in the standard metal detector you got sent to the body scanner. The TSA employee directing everyone made no mention of food and claimed they were testing out a new system, half of the people in line were confused or not paying attention and took off their shoes and tried to go into the body scanner only to be directed to the metal detector.
Was a TSA or other security canine present?
Nov 7, 2017, 9:26 am
#231
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
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Posts: 102,095
I flew out of PHL D Terminal yesterday afternoon, everyone sort of got the TSA PreCheck system, told to leave shoes, jackets and belts on and electronics stay in bags, if you beeped in the standard metal detector you got sent to the body scanner. The TSA employee directing everyone made no mention of food and claimed they were testing out a new system, half of the people in line were confused or not paying attention and took off their shoes and tried to go into the body scanner only to be directed to the metal detector.
Did PHL pay for that kind of approach to speed up things too?
Nov 20, 2017, 3:53 pm
#233
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,631
Moderator's Note:
Please discuss the use of dogs to expedite the security screening process in the following thread:
TSA Using Passenger Screening Dogs
A post discussing long lines at airports and which did not specifically address the pilot program which is the subject of this thread was moved to the following thread:
Long TSA Lines [merged threads]
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
TSA Using Passenger Screening Dogs
A post discussing long lines at airports and which did not specifically address the pilot program which is the subject of this thread was moved to the following thread:
Long TSA Lines [merged threads]
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
Mar 4, 2018, 11:02 am
#234
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: Delta Diamond Medallion 1MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, National Car Executive Elite
Posts: 550
Came through DTW today. Sign at TSA checkpoint said all electronics larger than cellphone need to be removed from bags and put into bins. I ignored it and kept my portable wifi router and other non-laptop electronics in my bag (spoiler: TSA did not flag them). However, TSA was VERY FOCUSED on books and food/snacks. My books had to be hand-inspected (not swabbed, surprisingly) and other people's bags of chips, containers of nuts, and candy bars had to be swabbed and rerun through the X-ray scanner.
Boy, flights from DTW today are REALLY safe..... what a joke.
Boy, flights from DTW today are REALLY safe..... what a joke.
Mar 4, 2018, 3:12 pm
#235
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
Came through DTW today. Sign at TSA checkpoint said all electronics larger than cellphone need to be removed from bags and put into bins. I ignored it and kept my portable wifi router and other non-laptop electronics in my bag (spoiler: TSA did not flag them). However, TSA was VERY FOCUSED on books and food/snacks. My books had to be hand-inspected (not swabbed, surprisingly) and other people's bags of chips, containers of nuts, and candy bars had to be swabbed and rerun through the X-ray scanner.
Boy, flights from DTW today are REALLY safe..... what a joke.
Boy, flights from DTW today are REALLY safe..... what a joke.
Mar 6, 2018, 7:13 pm
#236
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,631
Moderator's Note
Folks,
The TSA pilot project concerning books, magazines and other paper products is discussed in this thread:
Posts have been moved.
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
The TSA pilot project concerning books, magazines and other paper products is discussed in this thread:
Posts have been moved.
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
Mar 13, 2018, 10:35 pm
#237
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 561
RSW (Southwest Florida) Saturday was a TSA zoo. Everyone pushed into a single line which stretched all the way back to the escalators, ostensibly so a dog/handler team could check folks. Meanwhile, said dog/handler team was standing a solid 40' from the line and not moving anywhere for a good chunk of time. Never came near us. When the line finally made it close to the entrance to security screening, those of us with Pre-Check then got peeled off into a different section. However, *new rule* -- if you had more than one tech device in your carry-on, one of them had to be taken out. They didn't ask about food.
And, a better example of Thousands Standing Around I haven't seen in years. Literally dozens of TSA folks wandering around the terminal and concourse while hundreds of folks are waiting in long lines.
On the good news front, the screening folks were courteous, and unlike DEN, RSW somehow figured out how to buy tables that are all at the same height in a single screening line.
And, a better example of Thousands Standing Around I haven't seen in years. Literally dozens of TSA folks wandering around the terminal and concourse while hundreds of folks are waiting in long lines.
On the good news front, the screening folks were courteous, and unlike DEN, RSW somehow figured out how to buy tables that are all at the same height in a single screening line.
Mar 19, 2018, 6:51 pm
#238
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 3
TSA Precheck traveller flagged for having too many snacks!
I thought you all might be amused by something that happened to me the other day. I was flying out of SJC. When I went through TSA pre-check, they spent some time looking at the screen and then told me they needed to look through my briefcase. After the gentleman checked my bag and returned it to me, he told me it was flagged because I had a lot of snacks.
I was a little taken aback by that. I didn’t know that was a suspicious thing. It is true that when I fly, if I am given a package of pretzels or cookies or what have you, I often toss it into my briefcase so there were several flights worth of those. I sometimes toss in a packet or two of instant oatmeal, too, and they were in there. My hotel had given me a granola bar. I also had an apple in there. Admittedly, it had been a while since I had cleaned out the snacks so this was both embarrassing and humorous.
It gets better. I raced to the gate to see if I could get on an earlier flight and the gate agent could not have been nicer. The doors to the gate were already closed But he phoned the plane and they were going to let me on. I reached for my phone to text my ride to pick me up earlier, and it was nowhere to be found. I realized I left the phone at the check in counter downstairs, where I had stopped to ask about the possibility of getting on the earlier flight.
The lovely gentleman at the gate called the ticket counter and they confirmed they had my phone. I went racing downstairs to get it and of course had to go back through security.
Once again, TSA pre-check checked my briefcase because what could be more suspicious than a lady with snacks, except for a lady with snacks who has already been singled out once and then left the secured area to go downstairs and has come back?
Needless to say, I was unable to board the earlier flight. I only blame myself for that but being twice checked for snacks is, I think, pretty unusual. Or is it? Has this happened anyone else?
I was a little taken aback by that. I didn’t know that was a suspicious thing. It is true that when I fly, if I am given a package of pretzels or cookies or what have you, I often toss it into my briefcase so there were several flights worth of those. I sometimes toss in a packet or two of instant oatmeal, too, and they were in there. My hotel had given me a granola bar. I also had an apple in there. Admittedly, it had been a while since I had cleaned out the snacks so this was both embarrassing and humorous.
It gets better. I raced to the gate to see if I could get on an earlier flight and the gate agent could not have been nicer. The doors to the gate were already closed But he phoned the plane and they were going to let me on. I reached for my phone to text my ride to pick me up earlier, and it was nowhere to be found. I realized I left the phone at the check in counter downstairs, where I had stopped to ask about the possibility of getting on the earlier flight.
The lovely gentleman at the gate called the ticket counter and they confirmed they had my phone. I went racing downstairs to get it and of course had to go back through security.
Once again, TSA pre-check checked my briefcase because what could be more suspicious than a lady with snacks, except for a lady with snacks who has already been singled out once and then left the secured area to go downstairs and has come back?
Needless to say, I was unable to board the earlier flight. I only blame myself for that but being twice checked for snacks is, I think, pretty unusual. Or is it? Has this happened anyone else?