I got the full treatment last week and the TSA agent took all of my clothes out of my suitcase ans piled them on the table. After going through them, she just walked off. I asked for supervisor and he told me it is not their job to re-pack my stuff. ...? Is that for real? They take it apart but refuse to put stuff back the way they found it.

What is the actual policy?

I don't know what the actual policy is, but I've insisted that they repack my bags in the past and they've complied.

I recommend this course of action to everyone.

I insisted. They refused. The supervisor I called over refused.

Our tax dollars at work!

Nobody wants their stuff searched and the contents of their bags taken out. But do you really want them touching your stuff any more than they already have? And do you think they'll pack your stuff with the same level of care and consideration as you would? No way, they would just cram your stuff in there, only concerned with getting the bag zipped up and out of their hair.

I've never had my stuff taken COMPLETELY out of my bags (including many flights to/from TLV), but should it happen, I'd rather pack my own bag after!

I've had my stuff completely taken out and much preferred to repack it myself. On the odd occassion when security/customs helps repack I always end up with a mess - badly crumpled clothes, struggle to close the case, hard to find everything.

Much prefer to do it myself - it only takes a few minutes.

I prefer to do it myself if and when that day happens.

They're not going to pack it with care. And, have fun looking for your stuff after they have packed it. At it's worst, they're going to break something or something might get left behind.

When I was a struggling college student ages ago, I had this crappy retail job. I folded tons of clothes.

I can't believe years later because of that job, I can quickly pack with ease.

If only some of you can see how some of my relatives pack their luggage.

At the checkpoint: The actual policy is to do one or the other. Screeners should ask you first if you prefer to repack your bag or if you want them to repack it. Here's the catch, we are not obligated to pack it the exact same way you packed it. There are reasonable limits, of course, for fragile items or other items of particular concern. However, I've had passengers insist that I pack it exactly as they did, and I politely repeated the offer that they can repack it if they want it done a certain way.

At checked baggage: you have no option. The screener repacks the bag. Period.

Having said this, TSA policy is that we repack it as neatly as possible and not just stuff everything inside the bag. This isn't always an easy thing to do. Some bags are real Rubic's cubes: we know they fit because it's how we found it, but for some reason they won't repack the same way. Again, as I said, there are some passengers who are so picky that it tends to be frustrating to repack the bag that it's just plain easier if they repack it themselves.

I encourage you to write the FSD of that particular airport and complain about how you were treated. Screeners are not supposed to just walk away without making any attempt to offer to repack the bag.

I believe a different attitude would exist if screeners are not required to repack. If I am unpacking at home and not having to worry about repacking, I don't take much care in unpacking. But if I have to repack after unpacking, I am careful about how and where I remove items.

In much the same way if a screener knows that he doesn't have to repack the suitcase, he probably won't be as careful in unpacking it. It's just human nature.

And that, ladies and gentleman is the most voiced complaint that TSA gets. Especially in checked luggage.

If you're travelling with somebody, and only you got SSSS, just hand your stuff to the other person, and make sure the person with the SSSS on their BP doesn't have anything but a BP on them.

Here is what happened to me in San Diego in April of 2003:

The screener took each one of my clean shirts out of the plastic bag, unfolded each of them and threw them on the dirty table. After she was finished, she stuffed my clothes back into the suitcase in way that it would never close and walked away, saying with a smirk: "Have a nice flight." I had to unpack my suitcase and repack it again.

I tried to complain, but the response was the threat to call the LEO if I did not shut up.

Did the policy change since or was it always as you described and this screener deviate from the policy?

The screener didn't just deviate from policy; the screener violated it. I discourage my screeners from threatening to call in a LEO or saying anything about the passenger not flying. If a screener told you this, then that screener needs to be reprimanded. What I tell my screeners to do is to call for either a lead screener or a supervisor.

In short, there is no excuse for how you were treated.

And that's the major flaw of the SSSS policy. However, your bag still gets screened, and if there's anything suspicious in it, it will be checked physically. Net result is the same. Therefore, the selectee screening policy is unnecessary.

Again, since the 9/11 Commission embraced it, politically speaking it's here to stay.

That is a big concern when I do have checked luggage as well as a concern of associates and friends of mine.

Case in point, I saw a friend off at SDF who was traveling SDF-ORD-LAX-SYD-MEL. While here in the states he did a lot of shopping and purchased a lot of things such as cosmetics for family members. Clothing wasn't a big issue when it comes to re-packing on the return trip, but some of these other items are.

These items were too much to reasonably carry on, especially after he did his duty free shopping. As such, I provided him with a FedEx box to assist him pack and sealed one end of the FedEx box but suggested the other end be tucked shut but not sealed in the event of a search. As the cosmetics, moisterizers, etc., were "dense" in nature I fully expected the CTX to alarm.

The TSA wasn't in any hurry screening luggage at the POD's in the lobby and they just had him put his checked item down with others and he was free to go. From a theft standpoint, while there were TSA employees in the vicinity, one concern is anyone could have picked one of these suitcases up and walked off with it while alledgedly in TSA posession.

We went for a walk as I wanted to return to the CTX pod as I was fully expecting a search. When we returned 10 minutes later a TSA employee had just put the bag up on a search station and opened it up. Initially she was doing multiple swabs, outside of luggage, inside of luggage, inside left, inside pocket, etc. Swab crazy! (As these are sensitive, how many swabs actually have to be done on one checked item?)

We were watching her and as she started to unpack I approached the POD / search station with my friend and had him tell her it was his bag. She invited us over to watch, a welcome change at SDF. My friend was concerned about the contents which were packed carefully into the FedEx box. The screener eventually got to the FedEx box, opened it from the open end and removed all of the items. Each got a once over and again swab, swab, swab. It may have seemed strange for a man to have all these ladies cosmetics, but here in the US they are cheap and available at drugstores (i.e. Walgreens), but in Australia they are expensive and one must go to a higher market dept store and pay 5 x's the cost.

She cleared it all, but was a bit sloppy with re-packing. Instead of properly re-wrapping everything in plastic before putting it back into the FedEx box, she just started stuffing everything back into the box, closed it, and did what I felt was a decent job at placing the box in the center of the luggage for best protection. Finally, off the bag went!

Now my friend was extremely concerned about leakage because each item was not re-wrapped in plastic as it originally was. There were hundreds of dollars of items in this box. I would have preferred he carried it on, but it just wasn't possible.

Fortunately, about 30 hours later everything arrived safely in Melbourne, Australia, with no damage or leaks with any of the lotions/cosmetics/etc.

I have similar concerns when I check luggage which contains items like shampoo bottles, etc. I always secure anything such as this which can leak into sealed plastic bags and try to further protect it using a FedEx or UPS box -- or alternatively one of the UPS foam Pak's. I don't want liquids coming open and spilling onto my clothing. All too often the TSA does not bother to properly re-pack these items in the plastic bags and re-seal them. It's rather simple, but they can't be bothered!

I don't check luggage often thankfully - I now only check luggage when flying between the US & Australia as I have a residence in Australia and I bring products with me from the US that are not available in Australia -- or very costly there such as Clinique face scrub and shaving gel (I swear by that stuff for a clean shave, but it's a bit pricy in Australia). Some personal hygene products I prefer are not available in Australia or more specifically are made with different chemicals there where the US product is better. When I fly Australia -> US I purchase and bring many things with me which are not on the market in the US. Same problem likewise with luggage once I clear US Customs and must turn my bags over to the TSA.

It is frustrating and I can certainly understand why it is such a complaint. I don't care so much about clothing, but I do care about items which could leak or items which can break which aren't exactly fragile, but can break when mishandled, handled with negligence, or a lack of care.

Ok, Rant Mode Off

SDF_Traveler