they found my lighter
 

OMG, the TSA found my lighter yesterday. 3 times in 2 years, wow was I em barrassed! Guess it's time to stop smugglng shampoo. Just so you all know, crew are still violated.

didnt find mine last week at TPA or PHL

Got through a patdown Friday (because my shirt was baggy?) with a lighter in each front pocket. He had his hand on both of them and never said anything.

yep, if you fly enough, they'll find them :rolleyes:

funny, i've been flying with a pack of matches in my purse since 9/11 and they finally found it last month at a secondary in hkg...i replaced the matches when i got to my destination and they're still there.

this started, btw, as an accident...i'd been to a restaurant i liked and took a pack of matches. when i realized they were still in my purse, after several trips, i left 'em there...strangely, i don't feel any safer.

I thought normal matches are fine, just not strike anywhere. Did you pick up a book of strike anywhere matches from a restaurant?

Really defeats the purpose of smoking areas past security if no matches or lighters.

In the US, matches that you generally pick up at a restaurant are not a prohibited item for carry-ons, but are for checked luggage. HKG may view it differently.

Last month MXP to ZRH, I dutifully put my bic on the table beside the bins I was filling with laptop, etc.

The screener picked it up and put it into the bin and passed it through.

An hour later at ZRH, as I was approaching the screening line, there was a person holding up lighters and barking, "Give me all your lighters!"

What's safe in one airplane is not in another? :confused:

when transiting airports in the u.s, 4 books/boxes of matches (book or wooden but not wooden strike anywhere) are permitted in either carry-on/person or in checked baggage-if the tsa tells you otherwise, they are flat out wrong. not sure about int'l airports other than cdg & lhr but at those 2, i've gone thru with both matches and lighters so perhaps your situation was a "hkg thing"

Agreed. Haven't been hassled over this, fortunately. ;)
While I can't speak to CDG (haven't been through there recently), but as for LHR - It was actually YOU that got lucky. No lighters permitted after security at LHR.

Best, Dave

Did you get the penalty that employees are supposed to get for bringing a prohibited item into the checkpoint?

Passengers are still violated too.

We should be working together to evict the TSA from our airports.

6ozs of shaving gel in carry-on and not removed by security screeners at a single North American or European airport in 30+ flights. Whoop-dee-doo. :rolleyes:

that's what i figured (and that goes for cdg as well) but at both airports, the lighter was in "plane view" in my briefcase right next to the case with my extra glasses in it. :eek:

It's actually lighters and matches at LHR than aren't allowed. They did find my matches which were burried down so far in a very messy bag that I couldn't find them myself to throw them away so I figured I would let them find them!

LHR has trouble finding matches, as evidence by my still having a set of hotel matches that have made 200+ trips through LHR without being taken away.