Airport Security

JohnC6

JohnC6

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I wondered what negative experiences some may have had going through airport security. We always fly from Birmingham and the officers there are very good, some with a sense of humour, even at 6.00am

We were racing against time when we arrived at Tenerife airport on Tuesday for our flight home because the transfer bus didn't arrive at the hotel. It was.."10 minutes away"..then "15 minutes away" said the rep. What was annoying was that we were going to get a taxi much earlier not knowing how long it would take to get through the eye scan/fingerprint system. We'd gone through it after we arrived at Tenerife. As it turned out it was ok after we'd gone though security but many people, at Tenerife and other airports..Geneva for example (skiing crowds), It was so bad there they abandoned it. Passengers experienced very long delays and some people missed planes. The rep at our hotel assured us that we would be wasting the €80 had we'd e payed for a taxi. Of course, he wasn't to know at that stage that the transfer bus wouldn't arrive. An hour after we shoulld have left the hotel the rep gave up any hope of the bus arriving so he asked if two couples would pay for the taxis he ordered and thery would be immediately reimbursed,,in sterling. Two couples immediately volunteered and made a small profit. Eight of us got into the taxis.

We hurriedly went to the luggage check-in. One case was 22kgs, the othger 27Kgs. The 27kg case was 2kgs over the maximum . We've now bought a travel 'weigh' gadget. We'd weighed them before we left home .I didn't have the option to pay. So, we had to open it up and put whatever into the other case and some in to the carry-on. A rep there said it wasn't necessary considering the lower weight of the other case ..... but rules are rules. My wife is now getting a bit panicky re getting to the boarding gate. Worse was to come. Having left the cases at check-in we then had to go through security. Our carry-on had to go into trays,laptops out of bags, belts off. trainers are ok but shoes must be taken off. I went through the scanner and was still frsiked and,for the first time ever sent across the way to have my hands daubed with explosive-detection liquid. A random check said the officer. So..I wasn't there to collect my rucksack with my camera gear in on the other side of the belt scanner. My wife was with it and her own bag but the security chap told her to go back and take each lens/camera out and put them in a tray again. She had to ask some people if she could go infront of them because of our flight time. I've never had to take my photo kit out seperately. My wife asked the security chap if she could get me back and he said, very sharply .."No, you don't go anywhere, you stay here". I wasn't aware of what had happened and was looking for her and saw her as she was struggling putting my lenses/cameras back in my rucksack . We hurried to the passport and eye scan ,and still had to show our passports to a Border officer. We then got on the bus to the plane. My wife's pulse..Apple watch..showed 133. I asked the stewardess for water and she saw where we were seated and brought iced water.

I've found security and Border police here much more pleasant, they aren't atall abrasive. Not in my experience. Btw. I've bought elasticated casual t rousers becaue it's diffifficult to put my arms to the side...and out a bit..and then be 'patted down' with no belt on my trousers. Also waiting for the belt top come through the carry-on scanner.

We go through all this again in a few weeks then,thankfully, Scotland..Loch Ewe Gaerloch...(NW coast) in July
 
JohnC6 said:
I wondered what negative experiences some may have had going through airport security. We always fly from Birmingham and the officers there are very good, some with a sense of humour, even at 6.00am

We were racing against time when we arrived at Tenerife airport on Tuesday for our flight home because the transfer bus didn't arrive at the hotel. It was.."10 minutes away"..then "15 minutes away" said the rep. What was annoying was that we were going to get a taxi much earlier not knowing how long it would take to get through the eye scan/fingerprint system. We'd gone through it after we arrived at Tenerife. As it turned out it was ok after we'd gone though security but many people, at Tenerife and other airports..Geneva for example (skiing crowds), It was so bad there they abandoned it. Passengers experienced very long delays and some people missed planes. The rep at our hotel assured us that we would be wasting the €80 had we'd e payed for a taxi. Of course, he wasn't to know at that stage that the transfer bus wouldn't arrive. An hour after we shoulld have left the hotel the rep gave up any hope of the bus arriving so he asked if two couples would pay for the taxis he ordered and thery would be immediately reimbursed,,in sterling. Two couples immediately volunteered and made a small profit. Eight of us got into the taxis.

We hurriedly went to the luggage check-in. One case was 22kgs, the othger 27Kgs. The 27kg case was 2kgs over the maximum . We've now bought a travel 'weigh' gadget. We'd weighed them before we left home .I didn't have the option to pay. So, we had to open it up and put whatever into the other case and some in to the carry-on. A rep there said it wasn't necessary considering the lower weight of the other case ..... but rules are rules. My wife is now getting a bit panicky re getting to the boarding gate. Worse was to come. Having left the cases at check-in we then had to go through security. Our carry-on had to go into trays,laptops out of bags, belts off. trainers are ok but shoes must be taken off. I went through the scanner and was still frsiked and,for the first time ever sent across the way to have my hands daubed with explosive-detection liquid. A random check said the officer. So..I wasn't there to collect my rucksack with my camera gear in on the other side of the belt scanner. My wife was with it and her own bag but the security chap told her to go back and take each lens/camera out and put them in a tray again. She had to ask some people if she could go infront of them because of our flight time. I've never had to take my photo kit out seperately. My wife asked the security chap if she could get me back and he said, very sharply .."No, you don't go anywhere, you stay here". I wasn't aware of what had happened and was looking for her and saw her as she was struggling putting my lenses/cameras back in my rucksack . We hurried to the passport and eye scan ,and still had to show our passports to a Border officer. We then got on the bus to the plane. My wife's pulse..Apple watch..showed 133. I asked the stewardess for water and she saw where we were seated and brought iced water.

I've found security and Border police here much more pleasant, they aren't atall abrasive. Not in my experience. Btw. I've bought elasticated casual t rousers becaue it's diffifficult to put my arms to the side...and out a bit..and then be 'patted down' with no belt on my trousers. Also waiting for the belt top come through the carry-on scanner.

We go through all this again in a few weeks then,thankfully, Scotland..Loch Ewe Gaerloch...(NW coast) in July
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Seems like a higher stress palaver than usual but I wonder whether such, apparently extra, security measures are the 'backwash' of what is happening in the Middle East???
 
Box Brownie said:
Seems like a higher stress palaver than usual but I wonder whether such, apparently extra, security measures are the 'backwash' of what is happening in the Middle East???
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Yes..That did occur to me. I'm the most unlikely looking terrorist, though...... :D

None of this biometric scanning would be necessary had we not left the EU. Maybe they're naffed off with the Brits for causing a lot of extra work. No matter what we discuss on here, all too often the finger points to Brexit.
 
The scanning equipment is very sophisticated these days, last time I flew (in November, UK local) the security guy told me the detector you walk through is no longer a metal detector but a mass detector. I had purposely not worn anything metal and was miffed to have to take the belt off.
Also my phone got tagged for a check, the security lady took it to a machine and wiped it down then scanned the wipe. I forgot I'd cut myself a week or so before and there must have been a trace of blood on the screen that was picked up.
I'm so happy to have found that KLM fly from my local airport, it means I can get just about anywhere in Europe with far less hassle, previously I'd flown out of Edinburgh and that's a horrible place to get around in, particularly if you're in a rush.
 
Steep said:
The scanning equipment is very sophisticated these days, last time I flew (in November, UK local) the security guy told me the detector you walk through is no longer a metal detector but a mass detector. I had purposely not worn anything metal and was miffed to have to take the belt off.
Also my phone got tagged for a check, the security lady took it to a machine and wiped it down then scanned the wipe. I forgot I'd cut myself a week or so before and there must have been a trace of blood on the screen that was picked up.
I'm so happy to have found that KLM fly from my local airport, it means I can get just about anywhere in Europe with far less hassle, previously I'd flown out of Edinburgh and that's a horrible place to get around in, particularly if you're in a rush.
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Oh..yes.The metal buckle on the belt. I wear the M&S elasticated belts...still with a metal buckle. Leather can often be very stiff. Last November a security officer made me take it off and he pulled at it along its length. You just have to grin and bear it. They could cause anyone who made sarcastic comments a lot of grief. Not least, missing a flight.
 
One positive. Because we were amongst the last half-dozen onto the plane..all going back to the transfer bus not turning up at the hotel..our luggage was last on,first off and that saved our taxi driver a lot of hanging around and us, too. As we arrived at the carousel, there were the cases heading towards us. Every cloud etc.. :)
 
JohnC6 said:
One positive. Because we were amongst the last half-dozen onto the plane..all going back to the transfer bus not turning up at the hotel..our luggage was last on,first off and that saved our taxi driver a lot of hanging around and us, too. As we arrived at the carousel, there were the cases heading towards us. Every cloud etc.. :)
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Blimey John, that was heavy handed, I feel sorry for your poor wife as well.
Back in 2006, my wife went on a business trip to the US (Carlsbad, near San Diego) for a couple of weeks. I managed to get time off so went with her. The trip there was uneventful. We got to San Diego for the return flight and because my my wife has Tehran as DoB on her UK passport, they said we couldn't fly back direct to the UK. We had to pay extra and take a flight to Atlanta, where they would make sure that we were really going to leave the US (I don't no how they couldn't do that on a direct flight from San Diego, but there you go). So, we arrived at Atlanta and were told to wait until a customs officer came to check us before we boarded our flight. Three hours later a very fat guy, complete with uniform and gun, looked quickly at her passport and sent us on. We only just caught our flight.
That sort of behaviour doesn't win them any friends.
 
We fly from Edinburgh all the time, 7 trips last year, all the new equipment has sped up the security process, ie laptops etc can be left in carry on, the biggest cause of delay I see is folk collecting trays with their belongings and not moving to the area for emptying trays, or a family hovering around the end of the scanner conveyor until every member has their stuff causing a blockage.
 
Yes its always a hassle when carrying the amount of camera gear I take big tele lenses bodies and batteries split between my better half and myself
One time I had to take it through the scanner 3 times ended up taking out all the individual batteries and everything
It’s always stressful as Im panicking about leaving something behind
 
JohnC6 said:
Oh..yes.The metal buckle on the belt. I wear the M&S elasticated belts...still with a metal buckle. Leather can often be very stiff. Last November a security officer made me take it off and he pulled at it along its length. You just have to grin and bear it. They could cause anyone who made sarcastic comments a lot of grief. Not least, missing a flight.
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I bought a belt with a plastic buckle which was supposed to be OK for going through airport scanners, but every time I go through security at Manchester Airport they still make me take it off.... It's not a problem at any of the other security scanners I pass through in Doha and Bangkok!!! :headbang:
 
JohnC6 said:
Yes..That did occur to me. I'm the most unlikely looking terrorist, though...... :D

None of this biometric scanning would be necessary had we not left the EU. Maybe they're naffed off with the Brits for causing a lot of extra work. No matter what we discuss on here, all too often the finger points to Brexit.
Click to expand...
Sorry if this is off topic, but I was at Fuerteventura airport last Saturday and I only had my identity card (my biometric passport was left at home). They just had a quick look at my card and nothing else. No biometry checks or anything, either on entry into the country or on exit, and I'm not European either. Why did they annoy you with these things?
 
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