No Cuticle Scissors or Nail File allowed in CUN?
 

I fly domestic routes almost exclusively but this past week had occassion to fly to and from Cancun. In my toiletries bag, I always carry a small pair of cuticle scissors (pointed tip that is about 1/4" long if that) and a small nail file that also has a pointed tip. Neither of these items has ever caused concern at any US checkpoint. Once, the scissors were found during a search of my bag but I was allowed to keep them. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to keep either when the Cancun security officer found them. Is there a good website somewhere that shows country by country what is and what is not allowed in carry-on? Just to be safe, I went out today and bought a pair of cuticle scissors with a rounded tip. On a side note, Cancun follows 3-1-1 but we did not have to take off our shoes or take out our laptops. Thank you for your help.

Mexico is somewhat variable as to what they allow or do not allow. Probably you will lose any argument where you come into dispute with them regardless of the facts.

The official regulations for Mexico can be found here though.
http://tijuana.aeropuertosgap.com.mx...en_objects.pdf

All pointy scissors are on the list along with pictures of cuticle scissors.

Not that I would expect it to be absolutely strictly adhered to all the time, every place in Mexico. On "not to the US" flights they let you keep your bottled water and you don't need safety baggies.

I had the same happen with my cuticle nippers in Australia. They made it through US security in my carryon fine, but for a flight within Australia, I was stopped and told they'd have to be thrown away or checked.

I honestly thought that no one was more anal retentive about these things than US security until that point. :)

Ran into a similar situation in CUN a few days ago. The Cancun security officer flagged my teen daughter's bag and wanted to look inside. Turns out the 2-and-a-half inch long pair of tweezers was a no-no. He did a great pantomine of getting stabbed in the stomach by the tweezers to show how dangerous they were. :rolleyes:

I felt like pointing out several potentially more lethal non-prohibited items in my own carry on, but fortunately resisted the urge.

A ballpoint pen is just as lethal as a pair of tweezers.

The sad thing is that these security officers really believe in what they are saying!

That's totally strange--when I flew domestic in Australia in January, they didn't care _what_ we had in our bags, and in fact we were greeted _at the gate_ by our friend picking us up in Brisbane. It was so lovely and old-fashioned feeling...

Wow... this was May 2007. The flight was from Sydney to Brisbane. I ended up going back and checking my carryon bag because I really didn't want to be the rest of the trip without them.

On the return flight, Brisbane seemed to have the same "no one beyond this area without a boarding pass" in place as other airports. Did your friends happen to mention how they got to the gate to meet you?