TSA and Candy

[cmph]

I'm not saying MCO is fun (IT'S NOT haha!), but I don't think they are the only airport to have their own arbitrary set of rules. Lately it seems like every time we fly anywhere, whatever they're fussy about on the outbound flight will suddenly become a complete non-issue on the return flight. We flew in/out of 3 cities over a week and a half in the summer. One was super intense about books, another about tablets, the third cared zero about either. I don't think the TSAs anywhere communicate with each other!! We just flew out to OKC for a wedding and were held up on the return b/c of a sandwich, so I guess food is just going to be big fun. Although we all brought food on the outbound flight as well, and no one cared. Which was fine b/c we still got held up anyway, for a noise machine (that OKC cared zero about). After a while, we just keep laughing to ourselves about the "security theater" (after a hilarious episode about it on that show Adam Ruins Everything).

 

[Stratus22]

We just came back from our trip on the Dream and Brought back with us almost 10 pounds of candy...yes I know. We had an awesome Candy Exchange group as well. They selected our carry on bag for inspection, wiped it down with bomb detection and said Bye. Just so Friendly.....Not.

 

[wanderlust7]

Was just at MCO this afternoon. We had to take out all food and they looked closely at DS's bag of candy. Not sure if they swiped it or not. Security lines were long. Posted time was about 35 minutes when we got in and then went up to 45. They didn't even let people in the line unless they had a flight within 2 hours. That's a new one I haven't seen before, but it's been a few years since we've been through MCO.

We ran into the take out all food at Kona airport in Hawaii too back in April. Thought it was a trial thing only at certain airports and kind of forgot about it. Note to self - remember to consolidate all food for flights!

 

[owensjro]

From an article earlier in the year. Sounds like they are rolling out more screening....

Passengers at these 10 airports will be affected by the stricter screening procedures currently being tested:

• Boise Airport (BOI)
• Colorado Springs Airport (COS)
• Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB)
• Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
• McCarran International Airport (LAS)
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Well, I don't know about that. Just returned from a trip to China, with 3 flights inside China, and one flight in & out of US/China. The security on the US side was easy, and no issues.

In China, each security location (I think each security guard) pretty much decided what he/she required. Using the metal detector wand on the soles of your feet (with shoes OFF) seems a bit odd.

And a quick swipe of the "explosives detection" wand as you enter each airport (quick swipe at top of suitcase & carry on) doesn't really seen adequate.

When we were in China, almost 8 years ago, screening there was intense. Baby bottles & formula were tossed at most airports, though one screener allowed a bottle of formula after making baby drink from it. In Hong Kong we went through screening, got to the gate, bought bottles of water, then watched as screening was set up at the gate where all the drinks we just bought were tossed as we were searched before boarding

 

[Snyders22000]

We flew home from MCO 2 weeks ago. Everyone in our party (half went through a different line), had to tak out all food and candy and they had to all be swabbed. They didn’t seem to be picking and choosing- everyone was told to do it. Luckily we had packed most of our candy from the Halloween Party at MK in our checked bags.

 

[SonyaShay]

From an article earlier in the year. Sounds like they are rolling out more screening....

Passengers at these 10 airports will be affected by the stricter screening procedures currently being tested:

• Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)

Funny thing about this- I took a trip from Birmingham (BHM) to DTW in August and BHM was much worse than DTW. I do not fly often (only 3 round trips in my life). I had to remove all food in BHM and when I didn't hear them mention it in TSA line at DTW I asked as I was loading my bag on the conveyor. TSA Agent said it was fine to stay in my bag but then pointed to the guy running the other lane and said he would have been a jerk and made me remove it.

 

[KashasMom]

Well, I don't know about that. Just returned from a trip to China, with 3 flights inside China, and one flight in & out of US/China. The security on the US side was easy, and no issues.

In China, each security location (I think each security guard) pretty much decided what he/she required. Using the metal detector wand on the soles of your feet (with shoes OFF) seems a bit odd.

And a quick swipe of the "explosives detection" wand as you enter each airport (quick swipe at top of suitcase & carry on) doesn't really seen adequate.

We did the same in China in April. There was barely any security on our internal flights or flight back to the U.S. The problem with the security in the U.S is that there is no standard. Each airport decides how they do screenings. I don't mind following rules but I DO mind that there don't seem to be any! We have had very tight security in India and Dubai though and a hell of a time in Heathrow!

 

[TestingH2O]

From an article earlier in the year. Sounds like they are rolling out more screening....

Passengers at these 10 airports will be affected by the stricter screening procedures currently being tested:

• Boise Airport (BOI)
• Colorado Springs Airport (COS)
• Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB)
• Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
• McCarran International Airport (LAS)
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Lubbock?!?

And yet, Orlando isn’t listed.

 

[cyclenut]

I travel a fair amount. Next trip in a couple of weeks to NYC. LAX used to be my home airport so I have quite a lot of experience with it. I'm flying back there in December. TSA Precheck is the only way to go if you fly more than a couple times a year.

Security screening procedures are being enhanced across the US. There are various versions of the program being piloted at different airports from what I understand. These will eventually be rolled out in a more uniform way. I expect screening of candy and other items will be hit and miss for awhile as the new procedures are put in place and they learn what works and what doesn't.

Airport security in other countries can be very different. I've been to India a few times and you can't even get into the airport if you don't have a ticket for later that same day. Arrive too early for your flight and you have to wait outside. The people checking are armed with assault rifles. Once you get into the airport and through check in and bag check, you go through security. They check passport and boarding pass just like in the US. Carry on bags must have a paper bag tag and goes through a standard airport xray. After walking through an xray machine you stand on a box to be wanded. The wand is so sensitive that even a small piece of foil wrapper (centimeter square) was detected in my pocket. You set your boarding pass down and they check it and stamp it that you've passed screening. The tag on your bag is also stamped once it clears. All electronics must be removed, not just laptops. When it is time to board the plane there is another armed guard that checks your boarding pass and carry on for the stamps. Missing the stamp on your carry on and you have to go back through security screening. One of the ladies traveling in our party had her purse inside her carry on when she went through security but took it out in the terminal. When boarding the plane she had a purse with no tag. Bad News. So, she had to go back into the terminal where she promptly put the purse back in the bag and went through without a problem.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Just wanted to offer my experience as we just flew home yesterday through MCO and I had been watching this subject for a few weeks now. I'm also a type 1 diabetic (wear an insulin pump) so perhaps this can help or pre-warn others as well. I'm get tested for explosives every time, simply for wearing my pump but honestly I'm just used to it and most of the time the employees are friendly about it so I just "deal with it". Since I do travel with snacks due to being type 1, I couldn't pack everything but we did pack ALL of our MNSSHP candy in our checked suitcases.

I took out my MacBook and that was a piece of cake. I was not asked to take out the snacks so I didn't however it was scanned in my backpack and she said it needed additional testing. Again I thought, no problem. They indeed did touch each snack piece so every granola bar, juice box, Larabar, etc.. I also watched the people that were in front of us and her entire carry-on which didn't have snacks in it, was tested and every item was swabbed.

I didn't mind the swabbing, however where I had my issue (and still do), I was told that my small Juicy Juice boxes had to be OPENED and tested if I wanted to keep them even though they clearly acknowledged they were allowed for medical reasons. I explained that if they were opened, I couldn't travel with an open box of juice as that wouldn't do me any good later if I needed it and juice does go bad. She completely understood but said to travel with them, they'd have open and test the inside. I told her to just throw them away as I had my other snacks to get to if needed and we were headed home.

The crazy thing, my husband and son, each had a small Juicy Juice box in their backpacks and not one word was said. This is not the first time this has happened and we do this in case my husband and son need to access something quickly to give to me. The same thing happened at Heathrow which to this day was the worst experience for me as the person actually could not understand that juice could save my life but that's another story, sadly.

Luckily I'm a well controlled type 1 and I'm prepared when I travel however taking my Juicy Juice boxes away from me, even after you already tested them from explosives, and ME, and my other things seems extreme since again they acknowledged it's allowed for medical reasons. I plan to write a letter and provide the feedback and not sure finding a screw top bottle would suffice in this situation but I'll see what they suggest. For the record, juice is my choice as the little boxes are easy to transport, it's a quick "fix" of 15 grams of carbs to raise a blood sugar and it's just what I'm used to using in an emergency.

Hope this helps!
Heather

 

[FigmentSpark]

Huh. I guess the only thing would be to travel with a small sealable bottle, so if they tell you to open it, at least you can save it. That is stupid, especially since your other family members get through with them. Don't mention that in your letter of complaint, or they might start cracking down.

 

[aura_of_foreboding]

Not at MCO, but returning from Disneyland through John Wayne (SNA) mid-October we got "in trouble" for not putting our candy/snacks in a seperate bin. They pulled our luggage aside, swabbed almost everything and ran it through the ion scanner - took about 10 minutes (We had half a suitcase full of candy from t the Halloween party the night before).

The TSA agent said that it was new procedure, but we didn't have to deal with it at any other airport.