Reading the thread on missing the IFE made me think. The new rules put into place by CO and the TSA are making my trips more time consuming. I'm going out of my way to book flights that have IFE so I don't have to always pack my extra electronics.

For instance, the rule about putting every electronic "gadget" into its own bin is holding up the lines. I realize that the TSA must think it is very important and I comply, but it is holding up the lines, and not just me!

On Tuesday I had to have 6 bins go through security b/c they insisted each electronic item have its own bin. So, I had an Ipod, a BB, laptop, camera, video camera, and DVD player. (I was coming from a family event.) The man behind me looked like he was going to kill me! I offered to let him through but he shook his head. I don't know if he was mad at me or the TSA.

And if I were NOT a Plat or other Elite, I would have had even more stuff with me. With the one bag allowance, people are stuffing more into their carry-ons and taking up more time at the security line and the check-in.

I usually fly the same routes, so I'm wondering, is this electronic new rule at ALL airports? So far I have been forced to separate my electronics at DTW, MKE, and LAS. The latter being the worst as those lines to get to the CO area are LONG!

Anyone else having trouble with these rules? I had to wait while checking in at MKE b/c the couple ahead of me had more than 1 bag apiece and only one person working the CE check-in. By the time they repacked stuff into their carry-ons and paid for one extra bag, I could've checked in and been sipping a diet coke at the NW Club.

And LAS is the worst! Even the Plat line is long, and most of it is about electronics. I don't even recall when this began, though I know it was recent. Anyone know why each piece of electronics must be in a separate bin? Is it at all airports? I'm just seeing more and more congestion at the security line and while I don't mind leaving earlier to appease the TSA, I wonder if I need to do this at every airport.

Just wondering!

What!? That sounds a bit overkill to me. Did they specifically tell you to put every electronic device in a separate bin or did you just assume that this needed to be done? I always travel with an iPhone, camera and 1 (sometimes 2) laptop(s) and the only thing that goes in a separate bin is the laptop. I have never seen anyone having to put their cameras, iPods and cell phones in separate bins.

Sounds pretty silly - I always have my iPod, cell phone, camera, usb drive in my handbag, and that goes in one bin with shoes and ziplok baggie. Never had a problem... yet...

(But then again LAX always misses my mini Swiss Army knife too...)

Yep- at DTW I was told every electronic had to be put in a separate bin. I had my BB in with the laptop and they sent it back! I had to put it in another bin. On that 1st flight I had (I know, I know, never do this) packed the cameras. So I had my shoes in with the ziplock bag and the DVD Player and my laptop and BB in another with my purse. They sent the laptop and BB back, putting each in a separate bin.

So on my way back I ASKED. The TSA said each one needed it's own bin, or as he put it, "no doubling up on electronics". It does sound ridiculous, I agree.

A week before, I had same problem at LAS but thought it was just the Vegas airport. At THAT time I had DVD and Laptop, and put BB in with DVD. They grabbed it before it went through and threw the BB in one of those little bins for keys. etc.

I was sure it was just Vegas as I fly out of DTW 2 weeks every month (more, lately) and had always had my cell phone (the BB is newer) in with the laptop and never had trouble.

I leave for Cancun on Monday and wonder just what it'll be like there. They always have different rules than we do, like the bags they have for gold/metal jewelry. I just wish they could decide on ONE way to do it that every airport and government agreed to.

To be honest, I am exhausted by all these rules. I know they're for my safety but sometimes I have to wonder why the rules are as they are. One thing is for sure, it's fairly new. I haven't slept in my own bed more than 3 nights in a row since January and I am just now noticing it. Call it jet-lag as I can't recall the 1st time but I would guess that it began in March in Vegas.

So I am guessing by your response that this is NOT every airport. But, come to think of it, flying out of Heathrow last month I did have to separate laptop and DVD player into separate bins. Hmmm....

only the laptop needs its own bin, do not put anything with the laptop everything else is fine.

that laptop may be an evil tewwerist bomb!

I've always put my freedom baggie in the same bin as my laptop (so I only use one bin) and I've *never* had a problem with that (I have a small laptop that takes up less than half the bin).

I tried it once and screener yelled at me to get back and fix it....maybe wit the new HP MiniNote 2133 I can get by with it if they think it is DVD player

I'm curious as to anyone who has recently gone through LAS security and having the same trouble. It feels like it all began there...

I've gone through DTW security 4 times in the last 2 weeks and haven't had to do any of this... or at any other airport for that matter! This is most definitely not an official TSA policy. Nor have I taken my liquids baggie out of my carry-on bag in about a year (150+ flights) and not once has this been even mentioned by security. Huge variations in the standards it appears...

Report the airport by filling out a comment card. The whole point of TSA is to have some consistency among the airports (aside from the "planned inconsistencies.")

TSA says full sized electronics need their own bin. Full sized meaning a laptop, home type DVD player, video game console such as a Wii, PS3, Nintento, etc. Video cameras requiring film also need their own bin.

No where does it say iPod, BB, etc. If they make you put those in their own bins, like I said, fill out a comment card. That TSO needs some retraining.

Maybe they meant you couldn't send it with your laptop, but not that it all had to be separate.

This really belongs in the Travel Safety & Security forum

Xyzzy
CO forum moderator

This is the actual rule, regardless of what the TSA actually said to you. I often will send by BB through with my laptop in a single bin, and as long as they aren't stacked it it fine. If the BB is on top of the laptop they'll send it back/scan it again.

But small things can just stay in your bag or be in a bin together.

Oh, and this is all TSA stuff, not CO.

I travel with, at a minimum, laptop, blackberry, cell, iPod and noise-canceling headphones. All I've ever needed was two bins, one for laptop and one for the electronics that were not already in my bag. Its absurd how some airports, especially a large one like DTW, continue to make their own rules. You would think TSA would have their own audit department to check who is doing what, but I guess that's asking for way too much.

If the TSA had an audit department that held any clout, the entire agency would be dismantled.

I travelled yesterday from CMH with a cell phone, laptop, camera, noise-canceling headsets, an extra battery, and an AC adaptor. I left all but the laptop in my bag; nobody said a word. They were too busy yelling at other passengers.

Could you please explain how you came to that conclusion?

Only thing I know is that the laptop shows up dense enough on the X-ray that the X-ray operator may miss a significant weapon, including, potentially, a handgun, if the weapon is under the laptop as it passes through the X-ray. A simple rule seems to have been developed from that fact, that laptops must go thru the X-ray solo in the X-ray buckets (although I've seen thinking TSA stations allow small items in the same bin arund the periphery of the laptop.) Rather than choose better, ie multidimensional X-ray equipment, or better training for X-ray operators, TSA chose all laptops out all the time... arguably a rule that does increase security/safety.
However, we then get the typical overreach by singular TSA stations or even by individual TSO's. This is often seen in the pax experience as all battery operated items out of bags for the X-ray, all electronics in their own individual bin, no mini toothpaste in the same bin as a DVD player, etc. etc. This has virtually nothing to do with security/safety and a whole lot to do with misapplication of a relatively simple policy, some of which got the official blessing when TSA HQ equated DVD players with Laptop computers.
To give the benefit of the doubt, these add-on rules come from a logic that probably goes; electronics over anything else bad, so all electronics separated all the time. The "500 lb. gorilla in the room" for this logic is that anything dense to X-rays can clutter or obscure the image of a weapon, and make it difficult to pick out, but no-one at the TSA brain-trust has been able to articulate a list of items,easily understood by TSO's and pax alike that must be X-rayed separately.
Bottom line: Never attribute to "for your safety" rules or actions that can be properly attributed to overreaching bureaucratic ineptitude.