Dovster

It would, of course, be ridiculous to screen someone just because he is a smoker.

Remember, they are not worried about lighters being on planes, they are worried about terrorists carrying lighters on planes.

If you find a smoker carrying a lighter, you can understand why he has it with him. If you find a non-smoker carrying a lighter you might start to get suspicious.

Maybe they should start sending all non-smokers to secondary!

FWAAA

I assume that reeking of smoke at the checkpoint will now cause an auto secondary in an attempt to find that lighter.

OutOfOffice

Maybe I have to add a bottle of febreeze to my carry-on to mask the smell. I can't wait to see the "List of Smoker Friendly TSA Checkpoint" thread.

FliesWay2Much

Isn't it interesting that the TSA will be actually doing profiling??? ...but for the hopelessly wrong reasons...par for the course.

SDF_Traveler

At Tokyo-Narita yesterday, 4/13, in the smoking room, many American's were asking for lighters, explaining that the TSA had confiscated them at various airports such as Dayton.

With the international date line, I suspect they started their travel on 4/11 or 4/12 ex-US. Are some airports gearing up early and prohibiting lighters?

When I landed back in the states at DTW on 4/13, I had no trouble getting my lighter through security, but saw signs up saying lighters were prohibited.

In the smoking room (er, closet) at the main NWA WC, there were some with lighters and others who had theirs confiscated at various airports. While I walked in the topic of conversation happened to be the TSA as well. Everyone in there was more or less ranting about the TSA, the new lighter ban, and everyones favorite procedure, the shoe carnival -- which unfortunately I was subjected to at the TSA checkpoint after exiting the US Customs & Immigrations Hall as my welcome to the United States.

On a last note, I notice DTW is now using a new stamp for passports (typically DTW does not stamp US citizens returning, but I requested one). It reads "Department of Homeland Security - US Customs & Border Protection" and is in an oval type shape with DMA (Detroit Metro Airport) and the date in the middle. I've seen EWR use a stamp which reads "US Customs & Border Patrol", but this DHS stamp is a new one for me.

Best,

SDF_Traveler

Dovster

I've always had my passport stamped when flying into the States (and, yes, I am a citizen).

I have stamps from JFK, EWR, ATL and MIA. The earliest is dated May 14, 1968.

Dovster

Pity the guy who goes to Europe, plunks down close to $1000 for a gold DuPont cigarette lighter and figures he is okay because he is flying into ATL and won't be getting on any domestic flight.

Wait until he finds out that you are not allowed out of the Customs Area in ATL without going through a TSA check even if you are planning on taking a taxi home!

(The Customs Area leads directly into the "sterile zone" at ATL.)

Bye, bye DuPont!

mcuth

Same type of new stamp was in use @ MCO when I landed there (well. with ORL replacing DMA of course ) on 12th March

Cheers

Michael

SDF_Traveler

DTW, for some reason has a habit of not stamping the passports of US Citizens. I use DTW often as a re-entry point when flying NWA and they just don't stamp passports for whatever reason. Probably a good thing at times, otherwise I'd already need more pages as I've used them at least two dozen times over the past two years.

I've had to ask them each time for a stamp when I wanted one; I only have two stamps from DMA (DTW), both which I had to request.

This time I asked as I wanted my return to the US to be documented after being overseas for awhile because I am in the process of migrating overseas. While on the subject, MEM, has never stamped me either, FWIW, when flying in on the AMS-MEM flight.

All other entry points I've used, JFK, LAX, ORD, ATL, EWR, MSP, BOS, IAH, DFW, etc., always stamp my passport upon re-entry as part of the process.

The same applies to MEM, where the Customs Area is at the far end of the B pier. All passengers must clear a small, slow, two lane TSA checkpoint (and drop baggage for delivery at a regular carosel in baggage claim) even if the destination is MEM.

CVG also operates a similar setup as ATL where all pax must enter the sterile zone and I believe both PIT and PDX does, but I have never entered at PIT or PDX personally. Say bye-bye to that expensive lighter and today is the day according to this mornings news.

FWIW, what other US airports must pax re-enter the terminal / sterile zone after clearing US Customs & Immigrations?

Best,

SDF_Traveler

3Greyhounds

Which is exactly why it will probably happen...

Bart

I cannot believe how this thread has wandered from a discussion on the lighter ban to the paranoia that smokers are now going to find themselves "profiled."

I don't claim to speak on behalf of all screeners, but I think I'm not far off the mark when I say that screeners find this new ban a great big pain in the a**. We're not too happy about it, neither. However, we are sworn to perform our duties and will do so.

As for smokers, I'm afraid it's smokers who place themselves into the spotlight. A lot of airports are non-smoking with smoking areas located outside of the sterile area and outdoors. If you repeatedly leave the sterile area to smoke, then you increase the chances of your lighter being detected IF you successfully got through security the first time without it being caught. There's no profiling going on here; just a mathematical increase in your lighter being found with each time you pass through security.

Contrary to popular belief, lighters are not difficult to detect. However, don't be surprised if it takes a while before lighters are spotted on the x-ray. This is because screeners were conditioned to not react to spotting lighters in the x-ray unless they were torch lighters or unless there were more than two lighters inside a bag. The frustration for both screener and passenger is that it's going to take longer to process people through a checkpoint because I anticipate an increase in bag checks to locate lighters. People will eventually learn to leave their lighters at home.

eyecue

Today is the big day that the ban goes into effect. The real irony is of course that the airport is divided into three areas: The public area, the sterile area and the restricted area. The sterile area is the only area that lighters are prohibited in. So dont be surprised to see someone that has assignment to the restricted area i. e. the ramp, lighting up with a lighter when you look out your window from the cheap seats. The bics are probably not going to get much fuss, its that family heirloom that grandpa had in the form of a classic zippo that has been carried for years in the bottom of a purse as a momento that is going to start the hassles.

Doppy

I'd be interested in seeing what a lighter looked like on an x-ray to see how detectable it really was. If you remove the metal guard, there's not very much metal in a lighter, and in a bag full of stuff, that's got to be tough to see. Screeners routinely miss things like grenades, bombs, guns and butcher knives in tests (or real life, in the case of the butcher knive in a purse) - all of which seem a lot more obvious than a small mostly plastic lighter.

And, of course, you could just walk through the WTMD with a lighter on your person with no problem at all. Especially if you take your shoes off in advance.
And because it will distract attention from actual threats to non-threats like lighters, increasing the chances of terrorists getting real weapons (not bookmarks) and explosives through.

Wally Bird

Wait and see. If no-one is secondarised simply because they are carrying a pack of cigarettes then I'll admit to having been paranoid. If on the other hand....

The ongoing point of contention is that you (and other reasonable TSA posters here) seem unwilling to acknowledge that airports other than yours are full of power-tripping, undisciplined screeners who make up their own policies and implement their own procedures at a whim. Maybe pax won't get punished at SAT or MYR for carrying smokes, but I'm willing to bet that they will at <insert notorious airport code here>

ClueByFour

PIT does, in fact, operate this way (although that's a post-9/11 thing--they used to simply let you back into the sterile area, assuming that Europeans and Mexico can actually screen people and bags).

IAD, if you enter via the C/D midfield CBP checkpoint instead of the international arrivals building. Of course, in that case you would probably be connecting, but I've done it even with Washington as my final destination because it tends to be a lot faster during the afternoon arrival push (and I suspect I'm not alone in this).