travellingcari

weather delays + new policy = disaster

I figured it wouldn't be too much worse than normal for me: laptop which has always come out + iPod. Nope, bag had to be re-screened for a battery powered travel alarm clock.

Plus there were delays from the infrequent travelers who are still unfamiliar with the 3oz/100mL liquid rule and the shoes. Personally I think if flying was something I did so infrequently, I'd be reading all about the rules. They certainly know all the stories about flight dangers.

Not looking forward to security here at LAX when the Qantas check in opens.

JDiver

Lady JDiver departed SMF Terminal B (north - AA and UA) yesterday (Tuesday) and said things were pretty calm - no electronics flap for the small stuff (electric toothbrush, cell phone, charger, etc.) Sounds like they got the memo.

Superguy

Did you read anything here? First article said all electronics. TSA revised it to just things like an Xbox. However, some airports say all electronics out like they didn't get the memo.

And folks who like to complain about those that complain. Are they any better?

No, it's TSA's fault. Before TSA, I was never in line more than 10 minutes, and that was with people bringing family and friends to see them off. Now I get thru security in 10 minutes on a GOOD day.

Rather than fix a broken system, I guess your solution is to put your head down and be good little sheeple?

travellingcari

Compared to HPN this morning, LAX was a breeze (Bradley at ~6 pm). I wasn't asked to remove anything other than the laptop. Couple in front of me asked re: their SLR cameras and were told to leave them in the bag. Lots of lines open and it moved fairly quickly.

More than TSA, the ones I'm losing patience with are those who think the rules don't apply to them. Not talking about those here who question TSA not following their own rules, but rather those who think they're better than the system. "But i'm hurrying to make a flight. Wanted to hug the screener who said, "Well you should have gotten here sooner. Take off your shoes and take out the laptop."

There is nothing down here by Gate 121.

ALARISstl

STL on 8/6 - Nobody in line B concourse security, 30 sec. Cell phone and Ipod fine in the bag

DFW on 8/7 - B20 checkpoint, 3 min. Cell phone and Ipod left in carryon. They said only DVD/CD players.

LIT on 8/8 - A frickin zoo. Announced that everything had to come out. Ipods, chargers, cell phones. Then they are telling people that shoes must be placed directly on the belt, not in the bins. I guess these morons didn't read the memo carefully.

I can't wait till school starts!

exerda

Have you actually read any of this thread?

If you had, you'd clearly have seen that (1) the original press release (and apparently original instructions to TSOs) were "all electronics," and the "DVD/video games only" version was issued as a "clarification"; and (2) that many airports seem to have NOT gotten that latter memo and are still insisting on "all electronics out."

Not to worry, we have plenty of TSA apologists here who feel that Kip can do no wrong.

exerda

My boss had a trip to brief someone at the CDC on some of our work. I warned him to be on the lookout for the electronics nonsense since he was traveling with two laptops (his + our demo system), a projector, two cell phones (work + personal), a crackberry, and misc. other stuff.

No problems going out of DCA... but coming back through ATL, he said there were people shouting, "ALL ELECTONICS MUST COME OUT! iPODS, CELL PHONES, EVERYTHING MUST COME OUT!"

He ignored them (not wanting to bother with the hassle) and just took the laptops out. Didn't get a secondary or even a bag check, and they even missed the Kip's Zippie of liquids he didn't remove from his carry-on.

GUWonder

Out of DCA and EWR and LGA I have not been taking all of my electronics out. Just the laptops while the comm equipment and iPod and the like remained and didn't cause any ruffles.

pixpixpix

JFK 8/8 Terminal 9 AA.

No problems at all, laptop out of the carryon, and the densely packed camera bag just sailed thru.

p1cunnin

Are we now faced with a variation of the old shoe carnival? Consistent inconsistency yet again? "Well, I was just at ORD this morning and they didn't make me dump my bag." "They aren't doing it right." or "LAX told me laptop and video players only." "We're keeping the bad guys off balance."

Well, if I travel someplace where they make me take everything out, I'll just get about seven bins and dump my bag completely. With all the spaghetti I carry on a normal day, that should shut down the checkpoint for 30 minutes while I carefully pull everything out and then stand on the other side carefully repacking. And I will make sure that I carefully separate every piece of equipment that has a wire or chip in it. I carry several thumb drives, a bunch of chargers, rechargeable batteries, patch cords, iPod, keyless entry, etc. Heck, if it happens enough, I'll toss in an old ZIP drive and a network hub.

If I do that at MCI, I could shut down an airline's boarding area for a while since they usually run only one WTMD per checkpoint.

The only full bag dump I've ever endured was at LHR -- and that guy never found all the pockets in my backpack; FRA only wanted me to pull out my digital camera after x-ray.

In the meantime, only the laptop comes out and my cellphone and earpiece go in that bin with it.

pbjag

Hmm, I had missed hearing about the new rule until this evening. Thanks to Flyertalk for enlightening me! My experiences this week have been:

8/7 - PBI -- passenger IDs checked multiple times while in the queue by different ID checkers staged at different points in the line. Lines were very slow, caused by a lot of amateurs in line and slow/careful scrutiny as bags passed through the machine. I did not hear anything about electronics, but that's because i always tune out the barkers. In my ignorance only took out my laptop; no problems.

8/8 - RDU - Did not notice/hear anything about all electronics. Took my laptop out but left everything else in; no problems.

I also noticed that on both DL and UA this week, the FAs took the exit row conversation to a completely different level..about a 5 minute very detailed briefing discussing what to do in various scenarios. Even a "pop quiz" on UA; the fellow who chirped out the correct answer first got a free drink
We shall see what happens at IAD tomorrow.

mkt

I don't want to deal with the Electronics Carnival at MIA TSA in 9 hours... so lappy went out via Fedex this afternoon.

JohnneeO

EWR, Terminal A, 8/9/07, 1 PM. TSA Barker says "All electronics must come out of the bags."

Actually, not much of a barker. Just a nice older lady, quieter than most barkers, and still waiting for the latest memo.

gfunkdave

ORD, Terminal 3 (AA), just now. TSA asked me if I had a hard drive in my backpack. I said no (I don't). He proceeds to remove my laptop's separate DVD drive and tell me all electronics must come out of my backpack as of Saturday. He ignored my various chargers and iPod. I'd actually forgotten I had the thing in there - I never use it.

They also noticed my Freedom Baggie that I neglected to take out of my carryon. I never take it out, and 9 times out of 10 they say nothing.

mkt

MIA today, term D "All electronics the size of a laptop or video game system must be removed"

Better. I made it through with a rather large portable HDD in my carryon though.