Baggage searches

@maximax8 (31042)
United Kingdom
August 27, 2012 8:05am CST
At airports luggage is usually searched by x ray and if worried they would do a detailed baggage search. One time they asked if I had a loaf of bread but it was a box for my food. I don't like not being able to take water bottles through security. Often on a trip I take an empty bottle to fill the other side of security. The first time I went to Australia no food was allowed. There were notices and bins. I had to throw away all food I had brought along from Fiji. I will never forget how detailed a check my baggage had in Israel? They treated me like I was a terrorist but I was just an innocent traveler. I hate having a difficult time putting back all the stuff they have inspected. What have your experiences been like to baggage searches? How do you feel about the no water bottle rule? Have you ever had a very detailed baggage search?
3 people like this
9 responses
k sridharprasad
@yugasini (12892)
• Secunderabad, India
27 Aug 12
hi Maximax, It is very difficulty to carry food on flights and it is some what inconvenience at Airports for checking authorities. I have not carried food items when I traveled to Singapore and Thailand,but I carried some food from my home to Maldives.At airport Maldives authorities does not object my food pockets.Most of the western countries does not allow to carry outer food to their countries,have a nice day.
maximax8
@maximax8 (31042)
• United Kingdom
27 Aug 12
Hi Yugasini. I eat a vegan diet so I do need to take food stuffs with on my trips. I know Australia does let in some food. Travelers arriving there must not make any mistakes on their declaration forms. If the passenger ticks no he or she will get a fine if fruit or vegetables are in his or her luggage.
k sridharprasad
@yugasini (12892)
• Secunderabad, India
28 Aug 12
Hi Maximax, Thanks for the response, you are expert in traveling since 20 years. So you might know the rules and regulations on the airports and frequent traveler it is must to know all about this this.Our batch at Bangkok faced a small problem one person carried a small knife to cut the fruits,but the staff at Airport warned that not to carry such knifes on the flights.Have a nice day.
GreenMoo
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
27 Aug 12
When I was younger I used to get searched regularly but perhaps I look less suspicious now I'm older as I am now rarely searched even though airport security is now tougher. Whilst I understand the reasoning behind the liquids ban, it does seem to be rather a licence to print money for the airport authorities.
maximax8
@maximax8 (31042)
• United Kingdom
27 Aug 12
I am glad for you that you look less suspicious these days. I saw a documentary and on it was a black British man. A whole load of white people would walk past and he would get the baggage search. He felt such a victim and he spoke in an annoyed way to the customs baggage searcher. I guess the shops the other side of security get loads of money from the drinks that the travelers are having to purchase. I sometimes put a two liter bottle of water at the top of my large backpack that I check in. That is when I go to a developing country that doesn't have safe tap water.
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Oct 12
I fly to various European destinations at least a couple of times per year, but there are only minimum restrictions enforced so it is not an issue. I have been stopped with a couple of bottles of Coca Cola, which I had actually bought in the airport itself, so I had to purchase 2 more after passing through customs. Moscow airport had strong security at the time I went there, which was about 1980. I had nothing that I should not carry so the security was irrelevant to me. However, I did see a few passengers there who had their suitcases emptied and the contents literally spread across the floor. They were then told that they could proceed and had to gather up the contents themselves, although I have no idea what prompted the search to be carried out to that degree.
Amber
@AmbiePam (120585)
• United States
2 Sep 12
The last time I was on an airplane was BEFORE 9/11. So I have no idea how crazy it is now. I remember leaving New Zealand and the signs said do not bring any food with you on the plane. Well, I did. I wanted to take it home as a souvenir and I guess I was at that age where I thought getting caught was no big deal. My sister was so tense! The dogs came sniffing around and my sister was so scared I was going to get caught and we couldn't leave. I really wasn't concerned. However nowadays, I would NOT try to get anything past security. If I brought a fruit on the plane illegally I think they'd probably strip search a person. I have heard such crazy stories.
ShepherdSpy
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
27 Aug 12
Seeing as you created the follow up discussion.... I'd posted before about airport security refusing to let me bring my airband radio along on a trip to London..the last of these radios I'd bought I picked up at East Midlands airport! So, one airport can sell them,and another can refuse you bringing one along?! The water bottle issue is a PITA..Intending to finish a bottle before going through security,I've had the bottle taken and dumped..they wouldn't let me finish it... Another time,I had an emptied bottle and got through with it,yet another time they've taken the empty bottle! I just wish they had a clear ruling on what you can and cannot do..last time I flew,I bought a steel waterbottle to save on the plastic..Haven't travelled with it since..!
maximax8
@maximax8 (31042)
• United Kingdom
27 Aug 12
Yes, after seeing your response I was very keen to read about your experiences at baggage searching. It was unreasonable they took the water bottle that you were drinking from. They shouldn't be able to take an empty bottle either. I don't like them asking a mom to taste her baby's bottles. She is asked to taste around 50 per cent of the baby's drinks. It was great that you bought a steel bottle to not keep of buying plastic. It is unfortunate that bottled water is really pricey the other side of security. It is healthy to drink lots of water before and during a flight.
Porcospino
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
27 Aug 12
I have experienced it a couple of times. One time it was my own fault, because I had forgotten the rule about scissors in the hand luggage. I had a small pair of of scissors in my hand luggage. They saw the scissors on the x ray machine, searched my bag and confiscated the scissors. Another time they saw something on the x ray machine and searched my bag for a long time. They didn't find anything that that I wasn't allowed to bring and they didn't understand why the machine kept on showing that there was a problem. Eventually they came to the conclusion that it was the lead in my pencils that caused the problem and they let me go.
maximax8
@maximax8 (31042)
• United Kingdom
27 Aug 12
Thanks for your wonderful response. Sometimes a traveler packs but forgets he or she has a small pair of scissors in his or her hand luggage. This too happened to me in LA Airport. I was flying off to French Polynesia and I was too busy looking forward to the tropical sunshine than thinking very carefully about my luggage. It must have been scary when the x ray machine showed a problem in your luggage. Yes, it was the lead in your pencils. I am glad that they let you go without treating you like a terrorist.
suspenseful
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
28 Aug 12
The last time I went anywhere was in 2007 when we went on our Alaskan Cruise and my niece in law and her fiance got me a small sculpture and they broke it. I would be wary about x-rays because well what about the camera and the iphone? WE never had a detailed baggage search but then I am Canadian. But then it would bother me very much. If I had food inside it would be for me to eat on the ship or the plane and I know that food is expensive on a trip.
youless
@youless (114117)
• Guangzhou, China
28 Aug 12
Actually I haven't experienced a terrible baggage check in the airport. Just lately they didn't allow me to bring a bottle of water. No liquid is allowed to enter. And I think the airport will not allow you to bring the fresh food and fruit to enter. I don't like that but I can't change it. If I were you, perhaps I had to try to finish the food before enter the airport check so that at least it would not be wasted. I love China
pandora22
@pandora22 (868)
• Romania
28 Aug 12
It never happened to me to have my hand baggage searched either way then the X-rays. I always try to put in my other baggage everything that is forbidden, especially since a friend of mine had to give up a beautiful, expensive makeup kit.