Taking shoes off at airport security?

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Most of my travel is on business, so I'm used to taking off dress shoes -- and having to find a place to sit down to lace them back up. It was SO nice to go to Disney last summer and just be able to step right back into my Crocs at the conveyor belt.

For such an ugly shoe, they certainly are handy -- and comfortable.

 

[CPT Tripss]

I will gladly suffer through the inconvenience of taking my shoes off, if it's necessary to assure my flight is a little more secure.

The shoe carnival is just a bad joke. Isn't it fun to watch the older folks struggle to get their shoes off and on in a line that has no place for you to sit? And then there are the parents of small kids who get to fuss with a child who doe not want to put their shoes back on.

I would feel much safer if I learned that the screeners correctly identify 90 some percent of the "test" bombs that go through their lines. They are just too worried about finding the tube of toothpaste or small bottle of shampoo not in a baggie.

 

[aquaticmom]

Let me know how this "assures" your flight is a little more secure.

(And most airports do not have booties. I have been doing this for years every week with no adverse issues. You will live!)

Quote from Bambi: Thumper answers his father with - If ya can't say nothin nice, don't say anything at all!!
Not willing to get into a TSA argument with you, I do not believe that is what the OP was looking for.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Shoes are sent through x-ray because many (not all) shoes have a metal strip wedged between the sole and the upper. Rather than have people walking through the metal detectors 8 times before being cleared, it's a general rule to remove the shoes. If you don't want to remove them, you can always elect a hand-wanding.

Obviously, crocs and flip flops wouldn't have this metal strip, but it's probably best not to leave discretion to individual screeners...

Some airports provide booties and quart size baggies. Note that TSA does not provide these, even though your airline ticket taxes fund their agency.

Carry on.

 

[DebbieB]

And you want my FAVORITE..... In those few airports were the TSA has put in the "puffer" machines that detect explosive residue on you, do you know where your shoes go?? Yep, thru the scanner that does not have that technology. Experts say that the biggest place where they might find residue... on your shoes which aren't going thru the machine to look for them..



(And most airports do not have booties. I have been doing this for years every week with no adverse issues. You will live!)

The few times I've used the "puffer" machine, I was instructed to leave my shoes on and then take them off after exiting to put on the scanner belt.

If I'm on vacation travel, I usually wear tennis shoes and have socks on. If I'm not wearing tennis shoes, I wear a pair of knee highs for when I go through security. I've never seen disposible slippers offered (and I fly almost every week).

 

[disneyholic family]

Shoes are sent through x-ray because many (not all) shoes have a metal strip wedged between the sole and the upper. Rather than have people walking through the metal detectors 8 times before being cleared, it's a general rule to remove the shoes. If you don't want to remove them, you can always elect a hand-wanding.

Obviously, crocs and flip flops wouldn't have this metal strip, but it's probably best not to leave discretion to individual screeners...

Some airports provide booties and quart size baggies. Note that TSA does not provide these, even though your airline ticket taxes fund their agency.

Carry on.

what you say is logical except for one thing..
i live overseas and i NEVER have had to take off my shoes to go through security except in the US....(nor does anyone else have to take them off)
so why don't the scanners used overseas beep when people wearing their metal bearing shoes go through them?

 

[npmommie]

LOL I know I will live after putting my feet where a million other dirty feet have been.
<------------- Nurse Practitioner.....works in cardiology part time.........but also will occasionally help a Podiatrist friend out in her clinic...........oh the disgusting foot stories I can tell...........then you all will want the disposable booties.......

 

[CPT Tripss]

Shoes are sent through x-ray because many (not all) shoes have a metal strip wedged between the sole and the upper. Rather than have people walking through the metal detectors 8 times before being cleared, it's a general rule to remove the shoes. If you don't want to remove them, you can always elect a hand-wanding.

Obviously, crocs and flip flops wouldn't have this metal strip, but it's probably best not to leave discretion to individual screeners...

Some airports provide booties and quart size baggies. Note that TSA does not provide these, even though your airline ticket taxes fund their agency.

Carry on.

I wish the part about opting to leave shoes on were correct. But the only way to keep shoes on is to have orthopedic shoes. As far as metal in the shoes, I had several pairs that never alarmed back in the day of clean feet.

 

[suzimar57]

i either wear socks with sneakers, or those "peds" socks with sandals (then stuff them into the carryon after i'm thru security for the return trip home)

don't want my bare tootsies making contact with that yucky floor....

 

[CarolA]

The few times I've used the "puffer" machine, I was instructed to leave my shoes on and then take them off after exiting to put on the scanner belt.

If I'm on vacation travel, I usually wear tennis shoes and have socks on. If I'm not wearing tennis shoes, I wear a pair of knee highs for when I go through security. I've never seen disposible slippers offered (and I fly almost every week).

That's unusual. I just went thru the puffer at Washington National. Shoes went thru the scanner! Same thing at Jacksonville Fl (That was even better you get to CHOOSE which machine you want. Let's see I am a terrorist who has been playing with explosives... which do I pick??? )

(I did have this happen in London. Apparently the Brits figured this out!)

Also, I have shoes with NO Metal bought back during the time you were allowed to wear them... Now, I can't. WHY? They have never had metal in them. If I wore them thur the machine wouldn't the "metal" set off the detector? (It used to.. Hmmm....)

 

[safetymom]

I have been through the puffers and had to take my shoes off.

 

[klmall]

FYI - I've worn tie shoes through security several times (hiking boots, tennis shoes etc.) with socks and never experience more than the briefest delay. I simply loosen them slightly and untie them just before ripping 'em off at the conveyor belt!

And now for the first time ever I will be travelling by air with very, very expensive orthotics in my shoes. You can bet that I won't be ruining my recent foot surgery, recovery, and therapy by wearing my beloved, old Crocs so it will definitely be sturdy tennis shoes for me!

Good luck to those travelling with multiple little feet!

 

[Safari Queen]

We both do Crocs with socks. I find airplanes chilly so the socks feel good and I don't have to be barefoot on the airport floor, which is a little icky. Wearing two pairs of socks and throwing one away seems extreme, but if that makes you happy...

 

[CPT Tripss]

FYI - I've worn tie shoes through security several times (hiking boots, tennis shoes etc.) with socks and never experience more than the briefest delay. I simply loosen them slightly and untie them just before ripping 'em off at the conveyor belt!

And now for the first time ever I will be travelling by air with very, very expensive orthotics in my shoes. You can bet that I won't be ruining my recent foot surgery, recovery, and therapy by wearing my beloved, old Crocs so it will definitely be sturdy tennis shoes for me!

Good luck to those travelling with multiple little feet!

Do acquaint yourself with the TSA rules. You now qualify to keep your shoes on! Of course in exchange for that you have to subject yourself to secondary screening.
Previously, you were fortunate that you were physically able to balance on one foot to deshoe. Some folks can't.

 

[npmommie]

Wearing two pairs of socks and throwing one away seems extreme, but if that makes you happy...

Yes it will make me happy, I will probably get some kind of cheap disposable booty type thing.

think about the icky floor, the ick gets on your sock, you put that socked foot into your shoe, you transfer the ick inside your shoe.
I am a certified germ phobe, hey i work in health care, I have seen a lot of ick. and a lot of the dangerous ick you can't even see

 

[npmommie]

OH i did just order crocs for me and the kids ( hubby passed on them)............so at least we can slip on and off easily.
someone on the budget board was kind enough to post a 25% off coupon code

 

[NotUrsula]

Is mine the only family in the western world that wears loafers? You don't have to wear crocs or flip-flops to avoid shoelaces; very few of the shoes that my DH and DS own actually tie, and I only own one pair that does.

We all do one better than taking our shoes off for the scanner. We take them off and put them in our carryons for the entire security line, and a fair chunk of the walk to the gate in most airports (not MCO, though, because of the train). I go barefoot in all kinds of places -- airport linoleum is the least of what my feet are exposed to. If I was diabetic I'd be concerned, but I'm not, and so I'm not.

 

[Sleepy]

what you say is logical except for one thing..
i live overseas and i NEVER have had to take off my shoes to go through security except in the US....(nor does anyone else have to take them off)
so why don't the scanners used overseas beep when people wearing their metal bearing shoes go through them?

Don't know the answer to that, but wanted to comment that I also live overseas and this past summer I went through Naples, Munich and London and the only airport I had to remove shoes was London (Gatwick). That security process felt more like entering a prison.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I wear a pair of slipper socks (which have rubber spots on the bottom to avoid slipping) with my slip-on sneakers. After security, I swap the slippers for a clean pair of regular socks before putting my shoes back on for the rest of the trip, then wash the slipper socks and repeat for the trip home.

-- Suzanne

 

[Detailor]

You can keep your shoes on if you really want to but you'll be subjected to an added security check (usually that means that you'll be wanded by a TSA agent). For most people it's just alot easier and quicker to take off their shoes and get through security quickly.

Dick Taylor