Question About Airport Screening

[Figaro]

Because of the wheelchair, I always get a full pat-down (which I am fine with) and then have to take up my shoes, which is more of a hassle to do and get back on. I was wondering if just wearing a pair of fluffy socks when we go through baggage screening would mean that they wouldn't make me take those off?

I just hate asking my spouse who is usually loaded down like a pack mule with all of our regular and my medical carry-ons to put them down and get down on his knees to take off my shoes and then repeat the process to put them back on. I tried wearing a pair of very thin soled, rubber bands for the top sandals the last time we flew, but those still had to come off and go through the x-ray screening.

Thanks for any help/ideas!

 

[CarolMN]

Ever since that terrorist tried to blow up a plane with a "shoe bomb", they've been looking at shoes more closely. Since you can't go through the detector, you may not have an option of leaving your shoes on. FWIW, I was asked to take my shoes off on my trip this past August. Since they are hard to get on and off (and now I feel bad complaining about that given your story), I asked the TSA if it was absolutely necessary. He said it was my choice so I left them on. I did not set off the detector so everything was OK.

I've never seen anyone asked to remove their socks and the only "barefoot" people I see are those who chose to wear shoes without socks or sandals. I cannot believe that they would ask you to remove your socks. They can wand those just fine - it's no different than wanding the rest of yor clothes. I think your idea of wearing just socks is a good one. You can pack your shoes in a carry on and put them on at the gate when you have more time and are under less "stress".

Good luck!

 

[Figaro]

Thanks, Carol!

I don't mind the screening and I usually bring along socks to wear on the plane, but it is much easier for my spouse to help me with those after we get on the plane since we are first on and last off. When we went through customs in Memphis earlier this year, they sent my spouse off to have every carry-on hand checked and told me to give him my carry-ons and purse.

Which I did, and then one of the screeners pushed me through for the usual pat down screening. They then asked me for some identification, which I didn't have since they had told me to send everything with my spouse. I finally started laughing and said that if they wanted to push me back to where my spouse was in line getting the carry-ons hand checked, I would get my passport, but that I didn't really have the energy to wheel myself all the way back there for the stuff they had told me to give to my spouse.

They finally got that straightened out, but then they wanted me to transfer from the wheelchair to a regular chair. Which I can do just fine (arms of my wheelchair flip up), but not into a regular chair with arms unless my spouse is there to help me pivot and lower me down. Two chairs with arms later, they finally understood what I was trying to tell them, and got me a plain old straight back chair to put next to the wheelchair.

I've found that just planning for stuff like that to happen makes flying a heck of a lot easier for everyone. Having very low expectations seems to help things go better.

One time no wheelchair showed up for me to change gates and that was after repeated calls from the flight crew. So the navigator ended up going out, grabbing an empty wheelchair and pushing me to the gate. Which was way above and beyond anything that I expected! Plus he even said that pushing a wheelchair and not hitting other people was trickier than it looked!(smile)

 

[Sara1026]

It's my understanding that shoe removal is not "required" as much these days, but a lot of people know that their shoes are going to set off the alarm, so they take them off automatically. I left my Tevas on when we went from DIA to MCO the last time and no one said anything. When I travel for business and have dress shoes on, I always take them off just in case.

DH flies almost every other week for work, and he says he always leaves his shoes on when he walks though. I would think that you should be allowed to wear your shoes when you're wheeled through if he's allowed to wear his to walk through.

I hope your trip is wonderful.

 

[Figaro]

Thank you, Sara1026!

What they have told me is that I have to take off my shoes to send throw the x-ray with the carry-ons because I can't walk through the gate. They actually never use the wand on me, just the wheelchair. I get to have a full pat-down search. Which I really don't mind except when they bring the wrong kind of chairs and I can't transfer without assistance to chairs with arms.

Oh well! At least I can wear shoes that aren't the least bit practical at WDW since I don't have to worry about getting blisters(smile).

Thanks again!

 

[yooperfan]

My dad is a redneck and proud of it. That said, the first time he ever flew was to WDW with us and he wore his steel toed boots. You can just imagine what happened when he went threw the detector. Sheesh!

 

[SueM in MN]

It sounds like the screeners are a bit inconsistent. My DD always gets wanded and gets patted down while she is sitting in her wheelchair. They both wand her and pat her down. They have never asked to have her remove her shoes. Once they know that she is not able to walk thru the scanner, they have never asked her to get out of her wheelchair. The most they have asked is for her to lean forward and then they pat down her back and the inside back of her wheelchair.

 

[Figaro]

Interesting how different it is Sue, especially since I fly out of Minneapolis Airport most of the time. They make me transfer out so they can remove the seat cushion from the wheelchair and pat me down on my bottom and up between my legs. I don't think I set off any sort of warnings unless us middle aged, married blonde women in wheelchairs are in a special category(smile). I just plan for it now, since it just is the way that it has been for me since 9/11.

 

[SueM in MN]

That is interesting since we are flying out of Minneapolis too.
Maybe they can tell by looking at my DD that she is not the that she appears to be.
Maybe they are afraid she will pinch them if they make her get out of her wheelchair.

 

[JDY]

TSA Shoe Screening Policy

 

[Figaro]

Thanks for the link, JDY! Since I can't walk past the metal detector and rolling the wheelchair through it would just set it off while giving no useful information (too many metal parts on it), I think I don't get to skip the remove the shoes part of the screening. As long as I don't have to take my socks off, I will be fine(smile).

 

[Jeanny]

Boy, JMO, but reading this thread makes me realize how easy they make if for Terrorists/criminals to "still" get things through security and how hard they make it for a person (who is just trying to follow the rules) in a wheelchair, be it permanently/temporarily disabled.

 

[seashoreCM]

Ask the screeners to do some of the labor, for example:

"Could you reach down and unfasten the shoes?"

Make a half hearted effort to get out of the wheelchair, then,
"Could you help me out onto that armchair?"

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm