Warning: Not all TSA people are aware of the small electronics rule

[Pinnie]

My wish would be that the rules be consistant. At DTW, they do not want shoes in bins, but right on the belt. I had to remove my netbook AND kindle both times I flew out of there this summer. BNA, MSP and MSW had me put my shoes in a bin and allowed the kindle to remain in my carry on, but I did have to put the netbook in a bin.

I am so glad I am driving to Indy next week instead of flying!

pinnie

 

[chamonix]

I flew 8 times in the past two weeks of owning my iPad and i was never asked to remove it from my bag. This was overseas as well as domestic. They can tell the difference between a laptop and an iPad, if nothing else they are vastly different in size, though I am pretty sure an experienced TSA worker can identify them easily by other means as well. In fact, the first time I went through with my new iPad (left inside my carryon) the worker got all excited and mentioned to me: "wow, how cool, i see you have an iPad!! How do you like it?" I told her I loved it, especially since i didn't have to deal with taking my laptop when i fly anymore! . This encounter was in a teeny tiny airport that only sees 3-4 flights a day, so obviously she had been trained to spot them and what the rules are. Too bad all TSA workers don't have such good training. It happens.....but will get better as smaller electronics become more common.

The main thing to worry about is keeping your cords tidy, occasionally lots of loose cords will trigger a hand search.

 

[chamonix]

Just wanted to add that anyone who is treated rudely, yelled at, etc by a TSA worker should ask for a comment card and write up the incident, or if it's bad enough in the moment, ask immediately for a supervisor. They can't get better if we don't report our experiences, or at least--hopefully--we can help them weed out the bad apples.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

I travel frequently for business and to echo an earlier post TSA is always right (even when they are completely wrong). If you choose to take a comment card do so and be professional yet direct in your response. In my experience, both having objected and having observed others, you WILL NOT ever win any discussion in person.

So make your life simple and just smile and do what they ask. (not worth picking a fight you cannot win even if you are 100% right)

 

[Julia M]

Some? I LOVE flying INTO Orlando and HATE to fly out. If I had to fly out of Orlando everyday I think I would

We flew out of Orlando a week ago and I would not be surprised at all to hear about issues there. The way the line up goes for getting ID's checked and then into the line to actually go through security-it's ridiculous for the amount of traffic that airport gets.

They definitely need Disney out there to set things up!!

Julia

 

[BlueIrish]

OK so yes some TSA workers are rude and hard to deal with. But I really take insult when you guys say every single TSA worker is the same way.

When I worked for TSA, yes I was a "stupid screener" before getting on with law enforcement I tried to always be helpful and just do my job.

the TSA rules are always changing. Management doesn't always get the message down to those on the lines. Plus screeners don't know if your really going for a flight or your management.

So yeah there are stupid screeners, just like there are stupid HR workers and stupid construction workers or whatever else you want to fill in the blank.

I'm sorry you had a run in with a screener that acted that way.

 

[dzorn]

My wish would be that the rules be consistant. At DTW, they do not want shoes in bins, but right on the belt. I had to remove my netbook AND kindle both times I flew out of there this summer. BNA, MSP and MSW had me put my shoes in a bin and allowed the kindle to remain in my carry on, but I did have to put the netbook in a bin.

I am so glad I am driving to Indy next week instead of flying!

pinnie

DTW has always had us put our shoes in bins.

Even if they are wrong they think they are right. So you might as well as act as if they are.

Denise in MI

 

[Halbleib1]

We flew with a portable dvd player one trip from bwi to mco and back and the only time we were asked to remove it was at bwi on the way down. Have never been asked to remove my camcorder or digital camera from the bag at either airport. Until now I never would have known that this was ever done. Have never travelled with our laptop for this very reason though. I know they have bags now though that laptops can be left in while going through the machine. Also have never had the battery issue come up as others have talked about here on the boards. We always pack ours in our carryon but I have never had to take them out to show anyone. Heck even our 3 oz liquids I have left in our bags and have only been asked once to take them out and put them in a bin. My parents travelled with us in 08 with a lot of prescription meds. and even those were not looked at. We did put them in ziplock bags and put them through seperate but no questions asked.

When I travelled to Europe in 98 I packed all of my rolls of film in a ziplock bag and got a lot of attitude when I asked if it was safe to go through the xray. Each time I was told it has to go through the xray and that it would be fine. Never had a problem with any of the film.

 

[DaniB]

You can make your life a little easier by buying a new laptop bag so a (singular) laptop/netbook/whatever doesn’t actually have to be removed to pass through the scanner. This was money well spent in my opinion.

Could you expand on this please? We need to purchase a laptop bag for our first laptop. Trip in Sept. I'm not sure I understand what type of bag you can get, that you do not have remove the laptop from.

 

[DaniB]

I just flew out of Manchester, NH yesterday. I checked the sign. There was nothing about netbooks being allowed to remain in bags. In fact, I sent mine through in a bin by itself, and it was swabbed after the x-ray.

As far as film bags go, the x-ray can't see through them. If you choose to use them, I'd put them in their own bin, because the bag that the film bag is in will likely be searched.

This is totally new to me. We're going on our first flight next month. So excuse me for sounding completely ignorant, but I am.

What do you mean by "swabbed"? What procedure is that done to a laptop??

 

[john1928]

Could you expand on this please? We need to purchase a laptop bag for our first laptop. Trip in Sept. I'm not sure I understand what type of bag you can get, that you do not have remove the laptop from.

There are "Checkpoint Friendly" bags that can be zipped open so the compartment with the laptop has nothing else in it that may confuse the people watching the x-ray machine. I prefer a backpack style laptop bag for traveling and it's simply an extra zipper around 3 sides that when unzipped lets the 'front' of the bag fold down flat (making it twice as long, but half as thick).

http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/simplifying_laptop_bag_procedures.shtm

All of the major laptop bag manufacturers have these bags available now.

This is totally new to me. We're going on our first flight next month. So excuse me for sounding completely ignorant, but I am.

What do you mean by "swabbed"? What procedure is that done to a laptop??

They're looking for bomb residue. Nothing to worry about though, quick and painless. Boatloads of false positives, but someday they may catch someone with random swab, puffer, or sniffer tests. Sure they let the Nigerian panty-bomber on the plane when he was identified ahead of time by name. And they also let the Times Square would-be bomber on the plane when he was identified by name, physical description, airport, and approximate departure time, but I'm sure the TSA only acts incompetent to give the real bad guys a false sense of security...

 

[littleaussie]

Could you expand on this please? We need to purchase a laptop bag for our first laptop. Trip in Sept. I'm not sure I understand what type of bag you can get, that you do not have remove the laptop from.

As a PP mentioned, they are checkpoint friendly bags. I looked on Amazon and purchased one but I have to comment that the reviews are mixed. Some people were reporting that TSAs made them remove laptops anyway, even after explaining about the bags.

For my last international flight, I had the checkpoint friendly bag but I was so scared of the TSAs and hold ups that I just removed my huge honking laptop anyway each time. Kinda defeats the purpose of the bag. . . I was just worried by the reports of people still having to remove their laptops, even with the OK'd bag.

 

[john1928]

I would estimate that I've taken between 60 and 80 flights since I purchased the new bag. I have yet to be asked to remove my laptop, but it wouldn't surprise me if I were asked to at some point since the TSA is goofy like that...

 

[RyanFernandez]

A checkpoint friendly design is very useful in getting through airport security screenings quickly. What such a design does is allow the scanner to capture a clean image of the laptop, thereby eliminating the need to take it out of the bag for scanning. It also reduces the risk of theft and damage to your laptop. Many top business luggage manufacturers make laptop bags with checkpoint friendly designs such as Briggs & Riley (http://www.briggs-riley.com/category/group.aspx?cat=checkpoint-friendly) and Tumi (http://www.tumi.com/).

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I use a simple checkpoint-friendly sleeve and place it in its own bin. If I happen to have a 3-1-1 bag I place it next to (not on top of) the laptop in the same bin. Next bin gets shoes and underseat carry-on followed by rollaboard. Because I can pass through security without a boarding pass I am never selected for additional screening, but the TSA has certainly made a point of making up for that by repeatedly swabbing the LCD display of my D-SLR...

 

[Bitsmommy]

It just occured to me that if my son's DVD player or my Laptop (which is used to watch DVDs) is ever swabbed, that is going to be one embarassing moment, because usually it is covered in chocolate and cheetos!

 

[beachbunny]

I've never seen any sign, but my iPad has gone through screening at many airports in my bag (backpack or briefcase) since the week after it started being sold - no questions asked. I also have a DSLR with a huge lens that has been all over the world. I've never been asked to take that out of my bag either. That being said, all screeners are different and I try my best to follow their directions.

 

[verticalchaos]

In February I flew down to Orlando for family vacay. Had no problem keeping my nook (the better, nicer e-reader from B&N - nah, I'm not partial AT ALL...but the touch screen is so much prettier than that silly keyboard) in my bag at LaGuardia (not my choice...I hate LaGhetto...but my parents made the flight arrangements and didn't consult me first...at least I got to see dogs from the dog show!) without a problem! They even had a TSA guy walking up and down the line to get people prepped for getting through faster and he SAID to leave it in the bag.

Silly me, I figure NYC is going to be a lot stricter with carry-on stuff than anywhere else, so if it's ok to leave it in the bag HERE, it must be ok to leave it in elsewhere.

Not Orlando! My bag was on its way out of the scanner when the TSA worker screeched "Who left their DVD player in their bag?" Well, since I didn't have a DVD player I didn't say anything. She finally grabbed my backpack and shook it and said "Whose bag is this?" I was scolded for not speaking up - never mind that there's a BIG difference between a DVD player and an ereader - and then berated for not taking the nook out of my bag. I apologized and politely said I hadn't had to remove it in New York, so I figured it was fine. I got an eye roll, but it did go through in its own little bin and I was able to go on my way. You better bet that the nook will go through with its own bin when I'm coming back from Christmas. I don't want to deal with screechy again.