There are a lot of people on FT who could argue the case that the liquid restriction does not do much, if anything, to circumvent the real risks, which arise long before a would-be terrorist ever gets to the airport. A topic for another thread and another forum.

It's ironic that my usual argument on non-US carriers is for me to be allowed to store my backpack under the seat in front of me while the FA's try to insist that it should go into the overhead bins!

Powka the TSA isn't much worse than going through Heathrow T5. Sometimes it's better. (Not picking on T5, I haven't used the rest of Heathrow recently).

It seems to me that all problems associated with cabin baggage would be greatly eased if airlines actually enforced their own rules - all luggage to be weighed, measured and tagged before being taken aboard. Admittedly this would require everyone to pass through the check in line but this delay would presumably be compensated for by quicker boarding.

That's what they do in Europe, even cheap airlines like Ryanair - always make you stick the bag into the special box - if it fits, you can go, if it doesn't - you can't. Very rarely there's some people like to fit massive fridge-like luggage into that box, which is annoying, but it doesn't hold the line for too long, if the flight attendant is smart enough. It's weird that this is not standard - I can't imagine how much trouble there might be if they let people in with over-sized luggage and then everyone is trying to figure it out where to put it.

*shrug* Flying out of the U.S. isn't all that different than flying out of Europe or Asia IMHO. Overall security setup is similar, document requirements are similar, queues are sometimes just as long, and I've found that the liquids rules are pretty similar everywhere. Accidentally left a full beer in my bag going through security in Beijing...it was confiscated. I've had Heathrow take small liquids from me as well.

Pretty much everywhere you go in the world, non-citizens show passports and citizens show some other form of local ID. Some countries have an extra queue for outbound international flights...some don't. Some airports are well-operated, some aren't. I don't think there's any country in the world where I've either said "I'm not visiting because I don't like their airports" or "I'll visit, but I'm only going to use the bus/train when I'm there because flying is so awful." (I might use the bus/train because that's the optimal way to travel, but not because of I can't take a beer through airport security.)

To me, this is a lot of hand-wringing about nothing. My complaints are mainly when an airport either has inefficient processes or is improperly staffed, but none are so severe that Greyhound looks good.

I've never personally seen any airline turn an A321 in 10 minutes. When I've connected intra-Europe to/from narrowbodies, it's always seemed to move at a normal pace...maybe 30-45 minute turns. Loading domestic flights within China actually seems to take longer than in the U.S. or Europe...

The US isn't alone in this - British Airways now doesn't have a weight limit* on its hand luggage, which meant I saw rollaboards of 20kg being manhandled into overhead compartments - the few flights I took with them earlier this year were, for the most part, packed with very heavy big cases (I had a handbag, with my rollaboard as checked luggage) and saw more problems on those flights than I have on the majority of US carriers - in part because the legal size rollaboards didn't actually fit in the bins the short way, they all had to go in sideways - smaller aircraft I guess, plus you are also allowed a laptop bag or handbag as well.

*I think there actually is a weight limit of 23kg but below that it is just 'be able to lift it unaided)

Powka, the putting items under the seat - they go under the seat in front of you - i.e. in your own footspace, you don't put the items under your own seat.

ICAM about this point. I think one issue is that the manufacturers don't include the wheels when they are advertising the dimensions of a bag.

+1

I wish it would happen more often that the FAs would enforce it. The problem has come about because they did not want to enforce it, just suggest it. Why is it so hard to follow the rules? It is simple!

Conveniently enough, conventional wisdom at one point was that your breakables went under the seat in front of you to reduce their chances of being broken. It's not that hard to figure out.

Unless you are
- female
- wearing a skirt/kilt/dress
- physically impaired
- wearing/using some form of assistive device
- do not carry a US drivers license
- pronounce your name 'incorrectly' ie not the way that the screener thinks that it should be pronounced

The list goes on and on. For several years I did have unremarkable experiences, but in the last 3 years things became very different indeed, and all of the above has resulted in some very ugly experiences which put me off any leisure travel to the US at all, and had driven a lot of my business to AC to avoid transit in the US.

And for those who say 'it isn't any different elsewhere', it IS. One of the factors however are well-trained Americans who insist on removing their shoes where shoe removal is not required, and/or don't bother to learn the different rules. Look at how many FTers rant and rave here about something, when in fact they were the ones who didn't understand that TSA rules do not apply in the rest of the world. And much of the time that 'additional security' required on flights to the US on US carriers is mandated BY the US.

A big difference is the professionalism and the courtesy which screeners exhibit in 'rest of world' as well, compared to many of the TSAs (not all, but many)

Back to the discussion about bin space and big hogs... Which combined with the above, seals my decision.

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I have status, I board early if I am on my chosen airlines. I put my bag in the bin across from me where I can see it. I put it up against the side of the bin, the suitcase usually fills the space top to bottom, end to end. In about 1/4 of the flights I am on someone will see fit to move my bag that is fit in there snuggly for no reason whatsoever. Once someone took my bag out to rearrange things and the opportunistic person behind him shoved his bag into the space where mine was. Fortunately there was a FA in the mix and she sorted things out and my bag went back where it was. If my bag is stowed properly no one needs to be messing with it and I will say something, politely of course. I don't have a meltdown but I am going to request they leave my bag alone.

Which is fine
a) if you are not in the bulkhead, or emergency exit
b) if the case fits under the seat (many legal sized rollaboards don't under some aircraft seats, especially those seats with footrests fitted, or the way some lifejackets are attached to the seats)
c) you are not in the seat with the IFE box under your seat (as then the bag won't fit either)
d) you are not in the first row of economy where the seats are misaligned with business, and you can't fit your bag without encroaching on another person's foot space
e) The passenger next to you doesn't step on / kick your bag while trying to get out of the row
f) The passenger next to you doesn't drop their full starbucks coffee all over your bag
g) You are not in an aircraft which has been re-fitted to place more seats in, meaning there is a little extra strut under the aisle seats, that you can put your feet either side of, but not a bag under
h) You are not in a pod seat on some aircraft, because there is no where other than the overhead to store anything larger than a small handbag (not big enough for laptop bag storage so certainly nothing bigger)

I've never had a case fall out of the overhead bin, even in stomach churning turbulance - most tend to be recessed these days, so it pretty hard for a properly stowed bag to leap out in anything less than severe turbulance - and if that occured, I'd probably have more to worry about than whether a picture was broken or not (like my seatmate's 23kg bag falling on my head, for example).

I actually had an FA scold a passenger for doing something similar, but with my purse. I was in the bulkhead row, so had to put it up in the bin and didn't initially see what he was doing. She was very, very firm with him.

At the end of the flight, he jumped up before the seatbelt sign went off, and again started to move items around, and she shouted at him. My purse fell out, almost everything fell out of the purse, and while repacking it I realised that I had meds missing. She actually called someone from the airline to come deal with it because she was so angry that someone would touch the personal items of another passenger to that extent. Two managers crawled around on the floor for some time but the meds were never found.

The FA was more angry and upset about the situation than I, but I do think that she was justified.

Why don't you just put the bag under the seat for take-off/landing, then move it to the footwell--and put your feet under the seat in front--when you are airborne? That's what I've always done.