OffToOz

You admit you'd never gate checked a bag before and didn't know how you'd be getting it back. Wouldn't the simplest thing have been to ask the person who was actually taking it where you'd get it back? I can't fathom that someone would turn their possessions over to another person and not just throw out a quick "Ok..and where do I get this on the other end?" when they know that person isn't going to be at the arrival destination to hand it to them. Then you would have known before you even got on the plane, much less reached your destination and deplaned.

craz

OP my take on all this is You wanted a Showdown and came prepared for it.When You got it and Lost you come a crying. But You won , You did get thru the security process with everything you brought with You. Only you ended up missing your flight, so as I see it You Lost.

I can see you now that when TSA protested you simply waved something at them saying, Wrong I can do this or bring that as is. So you were prepared and did a very good job of rubbing their noses in the dog doo.And in that respect you can keep your head up high as you came to the showdown and prevailed, but if that was your sole purpose for going to MHT that day it would end there. But it wasnt you had a flight to catch and You didnt , so TSA won and you Lost.

the biggest Loser Id say was your kid, who ended up crying and feeling lousy. I think the showdown with the TSA meant more to You then your kid seeing their sister which seems to have been the purpose for the trip to begin with.

I too like to duke it out with different types but I would never start up with TSA unless I had so much time to kill at the airport that I didnt know what to do with myself. The best part is when you know the other side is gonna protest and that you got the goods that will simply force them to have shut their mouths.

Something tells me that you will be back and play the game again and again, as you know full well that you are holding a couple of Aces up your sleeve and want to see the TSA be powerless to stop you. Why you chose to play thsi game I dont know and its not important.

An old saying says, If you play with matches you will get burnt. You were the one who decide to play with the matches and you got burnt, so now you want to blame the matches.

Sorry but in my book you Played and Lost

wharvey

To the OP and the gate checked bag, did the flight attendant NOT announce that people who gate checked bags should wait at the bottom of the ramp or at the jetway for their luggage? I have honestly NEVER not heard that on a flight where bags were gate checked and would be available aas soon as the passengers disembarked.

Perhaps you were not paying attention to the announcements after the plane landed?

Just wondering.

oneofthosepeopleyouloveto hate

Here is something to keep in mind: At many airports, in addition to testing by Regulatory ("red team"), TSA management will send people carrying fake bombs and guns through the checkpoint. Sometimes they use airline administrative employees, sometimes it's their own friends or relatives -- people with whom the TSOs won't be familiar. The object is to see whether the TSOs find the prohibited item(s), AND whether they follow the proper procedures, including using the correct verbiage and carrying out the appropriate tests in the standard ways.

The fact that NHCowboy made so many requests for special screening leads me to suspect the TSOs in question may have believed they were being tested. (What better way to test your officers on a variety of procedures than to have them demonstrate several on a single passenger?)

Now, nobody wants to fail one of these tests -- it may not get you fired, but it will surely go on your record, and may hurt your chances for promotion. So the TSOs may have searched those bags with increasing desperation, certain there was a prohibited item concealed SOMEWHERE, and by God they were gonna find it!

By the same token, in the exit lane, there is a "point of no return" beyond which we are not allowed to let a passenger return to the sterile area. No exceptions! (Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense, but that's the way it is.) This "point" may be marked by something as subtle as a piece of tape on the floor -- the TSOs know where it is, even if it isn't readily apparent to passengers. It sounds to me as if NH literally crossed the line, and the TSO simply enforced the rules.

Again, the officer likely was covering her bee-hind -- there's a security camera on her, she knows it, and if she deviates from the proper procedure, she's going to catch heck for it later. (I left my X-ray machine briefly this morning to try to return a Palm Pilot someone had left behind -- I didn't have a bag checker to chase the PAX down, and there was no one waiting in my line, but that didn't matter -- I got in trouble for it anyway!)

The exit lane TSO also may have believed the situation was a setup and she was being tested.

(BTW, for the record, I'm not opposed to covert testing. I believe it's a good thing -- it keeps us on our toes!)

Wally Bird

Stop pussyfooting around. This is abuse of authority. Nothing but an intimidatory threat. That it's an empty threat, since a screener can not "have someone arrested" doesn't matter, most occasional flyers would believe it.

Six and a half years on and the same old posturing and bullying, and you yet you still wonder why some of us hold the TSA in contempt ?

Firewind

Lest I start sounding like Neil Young with this refrain, how did this story start?

nhcowboy

I have no doubt that there's such a point - and that it may on occasion not be obvious. But if, in this case, that "point" was 10 - 15 feet inside the sign that said "you are now exiting the sterile area," that's just stupid.

With regard to the gate-checked bag and all who have said it was my fault I didn't know where to go, I've already acknowledged that to be the case. The penalty for my mistake should have been having to walk all the way back to the gate again to get my bag, looking foolish. Instead, I was told, "sorry, you crossed the invisible line - you lose!"

oneofthosepeopleyouloveto hate, I have no doubt that the TSO was trying to cover her a** . . . but it's a sorry system where TSOs get commended for harassing passengers and disciplined for helping them!

nhcowboy

I can't remember the last time I flew to California - 1998, maybe 2000? I used to have to go there fairly frequently, and once I didn't have to anymore, I stopped going. This year I needed to go, so I went.

Started flying in the 50s - when the most exciting thing at San Francisco airport was the Donald Duck Orange Juice electric train exhibit.

lianluo

I have found going to the airline baggage office usually fixes things.

Always Flyin

I can't believe the O.P. sat on the completely unsanitary, germ infested seat cover on the aircraft for the whole flight.

People have farted on that seat, likely changed diapers on it, and picked their noses and wiped it off on that seat cover.

Didn't she DEMAND that the airline open a new seat cover sealed in plastic from the factory in front of her and install one on her seat and another on her son's seat before she sat on it?

Otherwise, just think of all the germs they were exposed to! Didn't her doctor give her a note stating that new seat covers were a medical necessity? If not, maybe she should sue that doctor for malpractice. Just think of the psychological trauma!

[And lawyers wonder why so many people hate them...]

flyingfkb

After reading the second long posting of the OP I still stand by my words. There are ways you can make traveling by plane a nightmare for yourself. Pushing a system to a limit especially the security circus at airports will most definitely result in a very unpleasant experience. It is most unwise to even push the system further in such a situation. The airport security checkpoint is not the place to fight the system or to test out its limits. Maybe some long time flyertalk members are able to push the system without letting the situation getting out of control.

My only advice is to right your congress member and state senator and describe short what happened to you.

Occupationalhazard

Right, b/c one should never expect that the TSA folks at the airport won't be @ssclowns.

O/H

BearX220

In order to accomplish what?

Wally Bird

Waste two postage stamps.

StarAllianceFanatic

My experience has been the complete opposite. TSA at MHT is so over the top, I often fly out of Boston just to avoid them adding an hour drive. A few weeks ago I had an experience with TSA at MHT that still has me shaking my head.

The BDO was cutting her teeth and decided to pick on me. She started by asking me questions before I had even had my boarding pass and ID checked. I answered her questions but wasn't particularly chatty. I had one back pack with a laptop. Before getting in line, I took my watch, silver money clip, cell phone, and wallet except my drivers license off and put them in my computer bag. Shoes on the conveyor (not in a tray), computer out, backpack layed flat, No SSSS on my boarding pass. I went through the metal detector without any alarms, but was told to wait for secordary screening. Fine. While I am standing their, the BDO takes my belongings behind the barrier. I asked they they be kept plainly visable to me while I was screened. The BDO was obviously offended by this remark and argued with me. I stood my ground and things escalated. After having every square inch of my body hand wanded and frisked, I went over to watch the inspection of my property.

This is where things went south. A second TSO (I'll call him Wookie because that is what he looks like) came and started asking me all kinds of personal questions:

• Where I was going
• Why I was going there
• Who I worked for
• Where I worked before
• Where I worked before that
• Where I live
• How long I have lived there
• Where I lived before that
• What political party I support
• Whether I was an athlete
• What team I played for
• Why I was carrying so much cash

The questions were completely out of line. I answered those that I thought were relevant for the security screening process. The others I asked why such inappropriate questions were being asked. Their response "we are trying to be more friendly". Ultimately, I answered every question but political party that I support but made it clear that I objected to the nature of the questions. The wookie called his supervisor because he said I was being difficult. Meanwhile, the BDO and TSO went through every single item in my backpack. My wallet with 20 credit cards, they took every single one out and looked at it. They went through everything. Opened everything. I don't have a problem with this as much as the questions I was asked, but still, I wasn't happy with the entire process. I told the supervisor that I couldn't see what two different people were doing at the same time. All told, it was 35 minutes from getting my BP stamped to having my belongings returned to me to repack. The supervisor actually told his TSO's to speed it up, not because of the unreasonable and intentional delay that was being caused because he said "it was now creating a distraction in the screening area."

The kicker was that I was missing $100 bill from my money clip. I immediately complained to yet another supervisor. He was argumentative, then called for the supervisor and local police. At this point in time, it was getting very close to flight time and I could not afford to miss my flight. I was told I needed to fill out a report and that doing so would definitely cause me to miss my flight. I made my displeasure known to the police and the supervisor who both said they would check the tape and they had enough information and that I could go. The supervisor said "well no wonder you got searched, you are sweating." I said: "Yes, well, I am diabetic and hypoglycemic and was hoping to get something to eat before getting on my flight but thanks to this circus that won't be possible."

I was the last one on the flight and barely made it. There was a lot more money at stake for me if I missed the flight than $100, but I never heard another peep about my money.

The general feeling I get at MHT with TSA is that they are overstaffed and bored and that they are over the top. Never a problem at any other airport, but MHT has some issues.

The fact that the questions posed to me were even uttered by TSA is unforgivable. The supervisor reiterated that they were trying to be friendly. I said I have enough friends and it is impossible to be friends with someone who has control over whether or not you are able to make a living if they get a hair across their a..!! I also reiterated that I am happy to cooperate in any way and answer any relevant questions but that I shouldn't have to answer questions about every employer I have had in the past 20 years and how I voted in the last election.

I almost turned around and went to the main security entrance when the BDO started asking me questions...and I regret I did not.

The agency is out of control and needs oversight from congress. What happened to me is un-American and totally inappropriate. It was a clear abuse of authority. Maybe Janet Napolitano's threat to investigate anyone that went to a tea party met me head on.

Boston had two aircraft depart from there on 9/11. They are thorough without being over the top. MHT has issues and the Londonderry police make it worse by being unwilling to hear the other side of the story. Their job is to seek justice, not to tell the passenger they are always wrong and to shut up and take whatever abuse they want to dish out at you.

Don't really have any idea about how to address this?! For now, I am just venting on FT. The only good thing I have heard about TSA at MHT is that during the political debates, they did secondary screening on Katie Couric and that she was completely pissed off. If they really were concerned with our safety, couldn't they find a way to keep her off the air!! :-)