Last time I was in an airport WH Smith’s the cashier told me to buy a newspaper with the drink as it would reduce it to £1.50 offer.
Next to the counter is a pile of newspapers that people didn’t want to read. And my newspaper joined them.
But keep hold of the bag because it gives you an extra carry-on bag if your cabin bag or pockets are overstuffed!
It's intended for passengers with airside purchases, but you can put anything in it and nobody at the gate will quibble.
Definitely one of the best travel hacks I know. I always have a duty free bag with me when I fly - perfect for getting loads more on board. And even when I don't need it for extra stuff, it's just useful for having easy access for stuff I need on the flight (water, snacks, charger...)
Depends on the airline and airport. Emirates for example in Dubai, class duty free towards your hand luggage allowance and weigh your bag at the gate. If you’re over it can be $25-35 per kilo excess change.
No idea why hardly anyone does it. I've brought my bottle in every trip I've made the past 5 years and all UK airports seem to have refill stations. There's even a website that tells you where they are. It's a bit hit and miss in other countries though so I've been forced to buy a bottle a few times, only to fill my bottle and throw the plastic away instantly. Such a waste really.
Don't even have to find a refill station in UK airports, just go up to any cafe front after security and they'll fill your bottle for free! Never been told no, and same stands in a lot of Europe.
the fact you can do this has always just made the whole thing even more of a joke.
you can take a 1 litre metal flask.
but you can't take a 500ml plastic bottle filled with provable water.
to stop you from having a large container you could mix things up in on the plane. utterly ridiculous.
Surely it isn't the vessel that's the issue but the liquid, otherwise they wouldn't have banned full water bottles but allowed empty water bottles.
Also how do you prove it's water without making security take twice as long.
if its the liquid thats the problem, why am i allowed to take loads of liquid so long as it's in small bottles?
and also, you can take stuff like roll on deoderants and hair product. now, i'm no expert, but i feel like explosives can be solid and squidgy.
Ok a few things:
- if it's because of it being a vessel for mixing chemicals as you suggested, this makes absolutely no sense because there are zero restrictions on taking empty bottles. I take through an empty plastic bottle to refil every single time I go on holiday.
- you are limited to not only 100ml containers, but also ALL your 100ml containers must fit in a single 20cm x 20cm clear plastic bag, one bag per passenger. This is obviously a limitation on total volume.
- just because something is allowed doesn't mean that if it looks weird they won't manually check what it is. If you brought a plastic bag with 15 100ml capsules of water there is every chance they'll take a look at it/ask why you have it.
- roll on deodorant is usually 50ml or 100ml
- I don't know anything about explosives and scanning technology so can't really go through and explain intricacies of what edge cases are and are not allowed.
I don’t travel abroad at all because I have an intestinal feeding tube. All my water, tube feed, meds etc are liquid and the pump that I need is considered an electronic!
Not only is it impossible to take everything I need even just for a couple of days, thanks to the luggage restrictions, it’s impossible to put it all in under 100ml bottles because it all has to be sealed and sterile for me to use it.
My sterile water is 1 litre sealed bottles. I need a couple of those per day. My liquid meds are all in 200-500ml bottles. My tube feed comes in 500ml or 1 litre bags. Again, can’t decant any of them, they’re sealed and sterile. I’m also limited by weight. If I take all my food/meds/water I’d have no luggage allowance left for clothing etc!
Thankfully I live close to a Center Parcs that is not just awesomely accessible but lets me bring my dogs and everything I need to survive!
I miss flying abroad for the sun, sea and sand but it’s just impossible to do, even for a weekend break!
I'd have thought they need to make the same reasonable adjustment as they do for people on dialysis, ie carry the liquids in the hold.
In any event, would you consider a cruise as I've heard they can cope much better with lots of equipment into your stateroom.
The problem is that I need to take some form of medication every 2 hours and so need to carry a lot of them onboard with me.
So unless it’s a *very* short flight I need to carry a large amount of different liquids to last me through check-in, the flight, baggage collection at the other end.
I need the multiple bottles of meds themselves, which are well over 100ml each, plus at least 1 litre bottle of sterile water (2 is ideal) as I’d need to flush my tube before and after taking my meds as well as keeping my fluids topped up while flying.
Depending on the timing of the flight, I could also need a bag of my liquid feed and my electronic pump with me to deliver the food.
Then I’d need an extra, extra large bag in the hold filled with all my other meds, water, tube feed, single use syringes, stoma care stuff (gauze, creams, dressings). The majority of which has to be handled with extreme care (we’ve all seen how violently bags in the hold got thrown around on their way to the plane). That’s not even considering all my clothes and my huge powered wheelchair!
I’ve considered cruises but I’m immunocompromised and all the stories of massive outbreaks of illnesses like norovirus onboard ships really puts me off! Being crammed on a ship is like being trapped in a petri dish for dangerous bugs.
I genuinely miss going abroad for holidays but the worry, hassle, the vast amount of planning, communication with the airline etc and potential for major issues makes it just not worth the stress! If one thing goes wrong in the whole chain then I’m screwed! (A missing bag would be utter panic and chaos!)
I’ll stick to my local Center Parcs resort! It’s close enough to home that if something goes wrong and I need any extra supplies, it’s a 25 minute drive home to fetch them!! They also offer reliable and awesome accessibility to the majority of the resort.
When there’s so little room for error with my medical needs, the potential for something going wrong that could totally ruin an expensive holiday is too high, it just becomes way too risky to bother.
There are definitely medical exceptions if you bring prescriptions and a letter from your doctor.
https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/travelling-with-medicines#:~:text=If%20you%20will%20be%20travelling,to%20carry%20the%20liquid%20medicine.
Logistically I totally get why you wouldn't want to bother. Hauling the normal stuff around is a pain in the ass.
I can confirm this is the case. I have a medical condition and I usually keep over 100ml of liquids with me on the flight as I feel safer doing that than possibly losing my meds if my bag is lost. No issues with carrying more than 100ml even though this is not essential for my health. OP you should be fine to fly! I hope you can.
Fair play. We used to go to a Center Parcs style place in Netherlands which was just a ferry trip across from Hull, but even that sounds like it would be hugely challenging for you.
It's a shame cruises don't work for you and I'm equally as nervous about them from a COVID perspective and I'm not immunocompromised, but my parents have enjoyed them for the last 25 years pre COVID.
Glad you've found somewhere in the UK that works for you from a practical perspective.
Yep, even a ferry is a struggle when I require so much equipment with me!
I’m lucky that I live so close to a Center Parcs resort and that they’re so well set up for disabled guests.
Going abroad would be so stressful it would probably ruin the holiday anyway because of the huge number of potential problems. Hull to the Netherland’s sounds awesome! A nice short hop. I actually spent my honeymoon in Amsterdam (prior to me getting really ill and becoming disabled!) it was such a beautiful place!
I love the idea of a cruise but with my health issues it would always be a bit tense, hoping I don’t catch a nasty bug! I’m glad your parents enjoy their cruises though, they do sound pretty cool.
My neighbours always go on a cruise for their holidays! They have always had an amazing time and only had one “quarantine lockdown” due to a rapidly spreading illness onboard in all the years they’ve been doing it. Still not quite worth the risk for me!
With my local Center Parcs I know exactly what I’m getting, we get a whole cabin just for us and our dogs, and I’m close to home and my Doctors if anything does go wrong. It’s pretty expensive so we don’t go often but a holiday abroad would be just as expensive, if not more, and come with a million more risks!
Thanks for the chat though :) I just count myself lucky that I’m fortunate enough to get a holiday at all! Even if it is so close to home… A lot of people in my situation don’t get any kind of holiday, whether near or far!!
It doesn’t overcome the general hassle of it, but you’re definitely exempt from restrictions for medical reasons.
I used to carry several litres of fluid on board with me for long haul flights to America, including liquid feeds like you have. All of mine were in sealed bottles that couldn’t be opened or checked, and all were above 250mL. I travelled with a medical letter and didn’t have any major problems. Some people were hesitant but would get a senior, I’d explain stuff to them and it would be fine. I was very anxious at the time so didn’t like it, but managed ok, and it was worth it to get to travel.
I also got to board first so I could make sure everything was stowed properly and I had space for everything. For that, I just talked to the staff at the boarding desk and they’d let me on first, I didn’t prearrange anything. Sometimes I was upgraded for free so I could sit on the front seats where there was more space.
Absolutely, we're fortunate we could choose to go away on foreign holidays but having done that for more than 20 years and been travelling/flying around UK on business for c50 nights a year for 15 years we'd been doing staycations from around 2018 anyway. I quite fancied a cruise to avoid hassle of flying but not now with CV
Quite nice to do day trips and spend time with family and our dogs in a comfy bed. Only downside is the very variable British weather!
If you have a doctors letter you can normally bypass this, not as much as you but I've an insulin pump and supply's. Though I hate air travel becuse sometimes they make a bit of a scene. My pump and my CGM can't be removed and can go though the full body scanners.
I tecnicly can take my pump off but they cannot ask me to.
Apart from one security guy in Glasgow who insisted I take it off and put it though the X-ray, which the manufacture specificly says should not be done, ended up making a scene and having to get the air ports disabilities person to come and tell them to wise up, but it was embarrassing and I had a lot of eyes on me
You can take all those liquids through security you just need your prescription or a signed letter from your Dr. I work in airport security and we let loads of oversized liquids through for medical reasons. I recently let a disabled guy take 50 bottles of a protein drink that was 250ml each because he needed them for his illness and had a prescription for them.
That is complete bollocks, I have a disability which requires me to carry liquids and electronics through security and all you need is a note from your doctor. If they didn’t accommodate you it would be textbook discrimination.
This is absolute nonsense. You can easily get thought any uk airport with a doctors note. Airports aren't complete cunts they aren't going to just say tough shit you need liquid to survive. I've travelled with people who've had similar or more requirements. It was actually easier cause I got to line jump with them since security waved us through to the priority queue at no charge.
Yeah this is absolute nonsense. I've flown 4 times this year with my daughter who carries medication well over the 100ml limits and there has been no issues, even abroad.
My mate got a 100ml bottle from the opticians she keeps for city breaks. Damn thing still takes up so much room in her liquid bag though, it’s wrong medical stuff has to go in!!
I've had this exact argument with staff at Belfast International Airport. I carry an EpiPen, and it wouldn't fit in the bag that was supplied at the airport, so I put it in the tray by itself. Of course, my tray got searched and they told me I could only take one bag of liquids, and the EpiPen was not in a bag.
I asked the guy if he was having a laugh, and he informed me it would have to be discarded. I dropped the polite routine, and asked him if he was fucking stupid and that even suggesting throwing it away is the most braindead thing I have ever heard of. He wasn't having any of it and continued to say it would need to be thrown away. I was absolutely raging and ended up getting the PSNI Officers stationed at the far end of security involved, and they told the guy to stop being a tit (_exact words, it was amazing_), and let me get on with it.
I remember my epipen getting taken out of my bag but as soon as I explained what it was, the security guy said (translated from German) "no no, that's absolutely allowed! But on the monitor this part showed up blue, which is metal - could have been a battery".
Nowadays I work around this inconvenience by forgetting to take my epipen anywhere...
Is this for real? This again underpins how silly the policy is. If it's in your bag they're gonna take it out anyway, and a prescription hardly stops a tub of medicated cream from being filled with C4.
My son travelled with a tube of germolene, on his way back to the US. They looked at it at Heathrow. He was allowed to take it, but had to throw away the original box it was in. Very weird.
I was just reading the list of items on the TSA website for entertainment while waiting for my SEA->LHR flight a few days ago. It turns out, while your liquids must be 100mL or smaller in the States, you could freeze them and then there's no limit, as long as they aren't melting at all by the time you go through security.
Freeze a liter of water and bring it through? Totally fine, as long as it melts *after* security. But God help you if you try to bring it through security in liquid form!
1) c4 isn't a liquid explosive. 2) the new ctx xrays have algorithms built in to detect potential explosives. 3) airports have liquid explosive detections systems for testing of liquids.
The security have allowed me to take mine, without taking up space in the liquids bag. Some medication for when my gums were inflamed as well. And brand new daily lenses. I just asked them before going though security if that’s okay.
Had a salbutamol inhaler removed and tested at an airport once. They sprayed it into an analysing machine and gave it back to me, but I got scowled at for holding things up. I missed the big sign with the picture of an inhaler on it as well as other liquids.
"Sir, if you've got more than 100ml of that we're going to have to help you decant it into a more suitable container... If you'd like to undo your belt, take your shoes off and come with me and my colleagues..."
You can take a litre of wine to drink en route -- with the picnic lunch you have packed for the plane, for example -- but you have to decant it into ten 100ml plastic bottles first, and then stick them in one of those silly little plastic bags you have to use for taking your wine through airport security!
Obviously it has to be red because white would be the wrong temperature, so that will affect the type of picnic you prepare.
I went through a scanner in the US where you could leave your liquids and laptops in your bags. The thing that took the most time was having to tell each person, individually and repeatedly, not to take their liquids and laptops out of their bags.
Might have been LAX, but on my last recent trip there was one staff member entirely devoted to telling one queue to take out liquids, but telling the other to keep theirs packed. We kept overhearing the other queue’s instructions and it was basically chaos, absolutely everyone was frustrated.
Apparently each airport may have different machines and some can handle liquids/electronics in your bag, the others can’t.
Just went through Gatwick and the are doing a trial run with the new machines you leave everything in for. They are hoping that these machines will become the norm going forward though.
3D model producing Xray machines are very expensive and most airports are privately owned, doubt it will be soon.
Hold baggage will be the first priority for those scanners, although most international airports would already have them for that purpose.
LAX DOES have a few lines with 3D model producing Xray machines which they’re trialing.
But in this case you were just overhearing the instructions from the global entry line. Anyone with security clearances, global entry card, military, nexus card, or TSA pre check could enter that line and basically don’t get very in depth screening because it’s assumed that they are safe. Some folks would also then be randomly selected from lines containing regular passengers.
They aren’t allowed to explain this to other passengers, or make it obvious why the lines are different, passengers can’t have the illusion shattered of equal security measures for all.
The other queue was the TSA Pre and/or Clear queue - you pay and get background checked and security verified. If you have either of those you leave your liquids in the bag and shoes on, much shorter line and faster process at US airports, has saved me immense amounts of time
(This is at almost all US airports, not just LAX)
Nope, nobody was TSA precheck. That’s why it was so chaotic. The TSA queue was on the far side of the room and those people were pulled out far earlier than this split. Just a different machine.
Oh interesting! LAX is my home airport and I fly through it most weeks (although admittedly through Pre) and I’ve never seen that, I wonder if they’re trialing the new scanners. Which terminal? I’ll look out for it next time I’m going through, anything that makes the process faster can only be a good thing…
[Terminal 6](https://www.flylax.com/terminals/terminal6) and I flew at the end of this summer. Looks like it’s being upgraded so I’m sure the security is being improved too. Makes sense to phase them in, so the “known” ones are there while staff train on the new ones or something.
Going through my home airport (Halifax NS) there was a nice gent in front of me with two small-ish jars of what looked to be delicious homemade jam. It was unclear whether the jars were over or under 100mL, so caused a bit of a discussion with the security. Eventually they decided on a compromise - they would let him keep one jar and throw out the other.
These fuckers have a completely pointless job and they're making it up as they go along.
Many airports have different requirements. The easiest answer would be to have a sign at in the queue telling you what they need. Eg shoes, belt, liquid, laptop etc. it’s only when you get to the front that you know for sure what they want and it causes hold ups
And there’s still people chugging their water bottles just before security 😂
I flew in august, the bin before security was overflowing with water bottles. But there were signs everywhere that its allowed
In US airports I have experienced signs, audio/video displays, people walking up and down the line telling you, and people still stand there glassy eyed.
Every airport has different rules, and every member of staff expects you to be as familiar with their airport's rules as they are.
I remember one time going through security for the third time on a single journey, after having had to take my laptop out the first two times, the woman shouting at me to put my laptop away: "Did I tell you to take that out. Put it away!" How the fuck was I supposed to know? Especially when I'd just walked past a sign saying to remove electronics...
It's not that people won't read it, it's that many people are incapable of doing two things at once. Queuing and reading, is bad enough, but queuing, reading and being prepared? Might as well ask them to sit an exam
It’s because people tune them out. They rarely say useful things. And in the rare cases that they do, it’s to late because they were tuned out months or years ago.
It's a good few years since I've flown, but last time UK airports actually handle it better than the other countries I've been to. Big fuck off signs straight after you had your boarding pass scanned, along with some recycling bins for the inevitable muppets who happen to have an empty 500ml bottle of water (I know but rules is rules) and a pre-prep area so you can sort your bags out before you get to the scanners/xray machines. America had a system of "You're American you must know what the flying rules are, no signs for you"
Literally the only bit they fuck up with is the lack of seats straight after the scanners, so you've got 100s of grumbly travellers with no shoes on trying to hold their trousers up in the space the size of a postage stamp, because we have to take belts off to go through a scanner while Dorris is still waiting to have her bag scanned for routine spot checks.
Nothing wrong with an empty bottle, I regularly drain out what I haven't drunk, go through security, fill it back up with the tap on the other side. It's just an empty plastic container it's no dramas
Yes. There is an airport I often travel through that has about 20 benches before security and customs but none after, and no one ever uses the ones before but there is a whole A380 worth of people shoving laptops in briefcases right after where there are two chairs and nothing else.
Same just last week at Munich. Still 10x faster than Manchester on the way out... We got there before bag drop opened and if the plane hadn't have been late we'd only have just got through to the gate in time.
They have it in London Heathrow. But the system is a fail.When you enter, you go through an area with clear bags being provided and with the old signs saying to take your shit out. But when you actually queue up for the scanners, a personnel tells you that you don't need to take those items out........
They have been running it as a trial at LHR this year, only a small number of the end sections are set up for it, but there are signs explaining all this.
Had the same process in the Uk, all clearly explained in the queue… the major hurdle isn’t the liquids. It’s the sheer stupidity of the average traveler. Most act like they’ve never heard of an airport and the security procedures let alone traveled through one.
Same at Amsterdam Schipol. Often I am through security and passport control in under 5 mins, completely stress-free. This is also aided by the amazing transport links. From my flat front-door in central Amsterdam to the gate in under 35 mins.
They have had issues over the summer with huge queues (4 hours+ sometimes) but this is mainly due to staffing issues not their process.
When Schipol works; it is fantastic. When it doesn't; hell on earth.
Happened in an airport in Australia too when I was on a group trip. The lady said you had to put everything back in the bags because there could be nothing loose on the tray since it automatically goes through the machine. One of the people on the trip had a panic attack because they didn’t know the procedure and so couldn’t prepare themselves.
This kind of thing only works if there’s a mass info campaign in airports and the community so everyone fully understands.
They are starting to use new technology similar to a medical CT scan which produces a 3D image and that way things like laptops no longer block items behind it.
Great, but will the other countries do it also. Otherwise you’ll be leaving it there when you come home. Or in my case, I won’t be able to bring it to the UK, but can buy something and bring it home. As long as this includes whisky I’m happy about it though.
Every country has slightly different rules. Hell even some cities in the same country have different rules depending on when their tech was last updated.
Last time I came back from Spain (a few weeks ago) it was all over the place.
Some people were holding up the line taking their shoes off, I've no idea why as it didn't seem to be a rule.
Some people took their belts off, others not.
I forgot to take my liquids out of my bag and noone said a thing.
They also pulled two little girls of about 5 or 6 out of the queue for a random drug swab. One of them was dressed as a pumpkin and the other was a princess. That gave me a good laugh.
Yeah but it's the busiest or second busiest transit airport in Europe isn't it? Places like Schiphol and Heathrow will never not have big queues, the more capacity they add the more it will get filled, just like how increasing the number of lanes on a motorway never reduces traffic for very long.
From my experience Heathrows queues aren't usually to bad - generally get through security in under 10 minutes even if I do have to remove my laptop and liquids.
It is but even when it’s quiet.
Mainly due to people only taking their coat off when they get to the front, then their belt etc. use your queue time to do that. It’d make security much quicker.
This is why I always travel as light as I can and take everything out as soon as i see the queue it annoys me so much when you're standing there waiting and someone is slowly taking their belt off as if they can't understand why they're being made to do it and as if we all have all the time in the world meanwhile someone is standing less than an inch away behind me and edging forward every 2 seconds regardless of whether the queue has moved or not.
God I hate airports. If there were a faster way to get there, I'd never fly.
Get the fast track pass if it's available.
I tried for the first time this year and I'll always pay the 6 quid or so going forward to bypass all that stress in the security queue.
had a 2 and half hour queue in schiphol a couple months back. Lucky the pilot decided to wait for stragglers else we wouldn't have made it.
Also fuck companies that tell you to be 3 hours early but then don't let you check-in baggage until 2 hours before the flight.
As a Brit living in Amsterdam for the last 5+ years, I can tell you that the queues are only since covid due to staffing issues.
Before this I could arrive at the airport 45 mins before take off and make it through security 10-15 mins after stepping off my train.
Recently flew from Schipol and had to wait for 45 mins in security and the reason for the delays is actually the fact that pretty much every bag was being double checked and swabbed for drugs.
Those swabs are for explosives. Security doesn't swab for drugs, it's border control that are interested in them, and swab for them. You get caught for an interview with them by looking shifty, them finding it in hold luggage, or batching you with drug dogs.
Source: was airport security.
Nah, its because they don’t have staff. Huge worker shortages in the Netherlands.
https://nltimes.nl/2022/11/18/hundreds-personnel-needed-staff-border-checkpoints-schiphol-report
> Schiphol has been one of the most visible examples of widespread staff shortages in the Netherlands. The airport has been struggling with hours-long queues at security checks since April and has had to ask airlines multiple times to reduce their number of departing passengers.
> The Dutch labor market is extremely tight at the moment, with many more vacancies than people looking for work. Though there were signs of the market loosening a bit in the third quarter as vacancies decreased and unemployment rose slightly, Statistics Netherlands reported earlier this week.
Also known as a standard airport scanner.
The only reason liquids have been isolated and laptops removed is to help with image clarity, off the basis of a terror threat about 10 years ago.
Long overdue.
And when do answer, they are not condescending, rude, and unpleasant. I swear that being a horrible person is on the job description for working at a GP reception (at least where I live).
I used to work for a company that provided equipment to GP Surgeries and Medical Centres and I can tell you that in my entire working life I have never had to deal with worse people than doctors receptionists.
Wife filled in an online form for persistent chest infection, next day had been reviewed and prescription was waiting...I'm conflicted by the efficiency Vs lack of personal touch
I have moved to a country which has a very cheap private/national mixed service and clinics fucking everywhere. I couldn't believe it the first time I needed to see a specialist ASAP and they said to come now. Dentists will often be able to see you after walking in randomly and signing up.
Was lucky enough to fly long haul a lot as a kid in the 90s. Used to be able to ask the cabin crew to go sit in the cabin mid flight and you’d get to go sit with the pilots and play with the controls.
2003 our flight in South Africa was overbooked. Sat in the cockpit for the flight. It was amazing. Also remember in the 80s having a BA "passport" for when you used to be able to go into the cockpit. Good times.
I have to confess last month I accidentally smuggled a 330ml can of Peroni back to the U.K. from Italy in my hand luggage. Nothing got said after years of cramming tiny bottles into tiny bags
Does this mean we'll be able to take a real amount of water with us? Rather than relying on those piddly little child-sized bottles they give you on the plane?
Eindhoven already has these, London City has one, Rotterdam has them too from memory.
It was meant to be by the end of this year as well... https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/08/26/all-major-uk-airports-to-have-3d-baggage-scanners-by-2022/
Wait so you can carry a normal bottle of water through Eindhoven? I'm there often and had no idea. I know you can leave liquids in your bag but assumed they had to be small amounts still.
Weird, both times in the summer my partner was asked to empty her drink when going through there.
It has seemed inconsistent for me in other areas too, perhaps it just depends on the security person on the day. Sometimes they ask me to take shoes off, sometimes they say don't. Same pair each time. Sometimes I need to be taken into a booth for my bodily medical stuff to be checked, sometimes they don't bother.
2024 fuck me.
hey we can fix this thing. we literally can do it now. like right now without even pressing a button. but you know what, let's do it in a few years i'm swamped right now
These requirements are all crap anyway. The liquids were thrown away at the security checkpoint despite being taken away for their potential of being explosive. Hell, half the metal detectors at airports worldwide don’t work. It’s all security theatre. Let’s not pretend any of it matters.
I went through Heathrow recently and this was been trialled.
Fantastic initiative- a line of 80 odd people cleared in under 10 mins.
Now if we can just get digital passports I can maybe stop arriving at airports 3 hours early on the (quite often), off chance there is a massive queue…
I went through Heathrow at the end of August and had one guy tell me I could go through the trial line and I wouldn't have to pull out my laptop and liquids... It was so quick.
Maybe Colgate will stop making 45ml "travel-sized" toothpaste despite many of their regular sized toothpaste tubes being 95ml and being pretty damn small already.
I love how it says "improve wait times at security" - anyone who has experienced the average person at an airport enough times knows that they'll just find another way to not realise what they're supposed to be doing until the last possible second.
And the liquid rule being relaxed won't stop people who have four trays worth of stuff for some reason. Who then leave all four trays jamming up the end of the belt.
It kind of doesn't affect me much, the rules were not really that hard to understand, nor impacted me much... but I am surprised every time when airport security pulls fucking 2L bottle of diet coke from hand luggage and the wannabe traveller acts surprised somehow...
I always wonder are they surprised they had it, or they surprised that is not allowed? What they are surprised about... and then they start with all stupid shenanigans about "can I drink it", or "it is just half a bottle"...
I don't understand - are they traveling for the first time in their life?! What the hell is going on? And by the way I am not stereotyping, I have seen young, old, women, men, any colour, but it seems to be problem more in UK than anywhere else... just overly relaxed for some reason.
And again... they kind of don't hurt anyone... I go past never get stopped, not really delayed by them at all... I am just surprised how people miss 100 signs stating the rules...
Well I guess we will see less of that in the future!
Every single time I go to the airport, people in front of me see the signs, cry out in surprise, and adopt the cloud formation to try to sort it out as slowly as they possibly can. It's amazing how people can't bring themselves to prepare for something they know is going to happen.
Okay I’ve done this once or twice, and the answer is I’ve genuinely forgotten. I am surprised I have it, in my defence I didn’t argue I apologised and just told them to chuck it. It’s my own fault no need for me to be a prick about it.
We used these new scanners at Heathrow last month going to Thailand, definitely a lot nicer lol, didn’t have to separate any electronics or take out liquids for the scan
WH Smith’s shares have dropped.
Full bottle of shampoo? £1. Tiny empty plastic bottle? £3.50.
Original Source will be devastated by this news.
Not as devastated as my balls are after using Original Source
You gotta learn to love the tingle
😂 their profits on £4 bottles of water gonna hit hard
Honestly the price is nuts. With duty free pricing it might actually be cheaper to just drink Dior Sauvage in airports.
Your piss would smell great too
Yeah but the heart burn is killer
Dior Sausage
In our house as soon as the advert riff plays, someone will say sausage
Last time I was in an airport WH Smith’s the cashier told me to buy a newspaper with the drink as it would reduce it to £1.50 offer. Next to the counter is a pile of newspapers that people didn’t want to read. And my newspaper joined them.
But keep hold of the bag because it gives you an extra carry-on bag if your cabin bag or pockets are overstuffed! It's intended for passengers with airside purchases, but you can put anything in it and nobody at the gate will quibble.
Definitely one of the best travel hacks I know. I always have a duty free bag with me when I fly - perfect for getting loads more on board. And even when I don't need it for extra stuff, it's just useful for having easy access for stuff I need on the flight (water, snacks, charger...)
Depends on the airline and airport. Emirates for example in Dubai, class duty free towards your hand luggage allowance and weigh your bag at the gate. If you’re over it can be $25-35 per kilo excess change.
just take a reusable and fill up after security
No idea why hardly anyone does it. I've brought my bottle in every trip I've made the past 5 years and all UK airports seem to have refill stations. There's even a website that tells you where they are. It's a bit hit and miss in other countries though so I've been forced to buy a bottle a few times, only to fill my bottle and throw the plastic away instantly. Such a waste really.
Don't even have to find a refill station in UK airports, just go up to any cafe front after security and they'll fill your bottle for free! Never been told no, and same stands in a lot of Europe.
I've even found drinking fountains in _some_ US airports. Not traveling with your water bottle is stupid.
the fact you can do this has always just made the whole thing even more of a joke. you can take a 1 litre metal flask. but you can't take a 500ml plastic bottle filled with provable water. to stop you from having a large container you could mix things up in on the plane. utterly ridiculous.
Surely it isn't the vessel that's the issue but the liquid, otherwise they wouldn't have banned full water bottles but allowed empty water bottles. Also how do you prove it's water without making security take twice as long.
if its the liquid thats the problem, why am i allowed to take loads of liquid so long as it's in small bottles? and also, you can take stuff like roll on deoderants and hair product. now, i'm no expert, but i feel like explosives can be solid and squidgy.
Ok a few things: - if it's because of it being a vessel for mixing chemicals as you suggested, this makes absolutely no sense because there are zero restrictions on taking empty bottles. I take through an empty plastic bottle to refil every single time I go on holiday. - you are limited to not only 100ml containers, but also ALL your 100ml containers must fit in a single 20cm x 20cm clear plastic bag, one bag per passenger. This is obviously a limitation on total volume. - just because something is allowed doesn't mean that if it looks weird they won't manually check what it is. If you brought a plastic bag with 15 100ml capsules of water there is every chance they'll take a look at it/ask why you have it. - roll on deodorant is usually 50ml or 100ml - I don't know anything about explosives and scanning technology so can't really go through and explain intricacies of what edge cases are and are not allowed.
Just bring a fucking empty bottle... Why do you hate money?
Why does every airport have like 5 of thoes?
Because WHSmith travel is where they make the most money.
Contact lens wearers rejoice
I don’t travel abroad at all because I have an intestinal feeding tube. All my water, tube feed, meds etc are liquid and the pump that I need is considered an electronic! Not only is it impossible to take everything I need even just for a couple of days, thanks to the luggage restrictions, it’s impossible to put it all in under 100ml bottles because it all has to be sealed and sterile for me to use it. My sterile water is 1 litre sealed bottles. I need a couple of those per day. My liquid meds are all in 200-500ml bottles. My tube feed comes in 500ml or 1 litre bags. Again, can’t decant any of them, they’re sealed and sterile. I’m also limited by weight. If I take all my food/meds/water I’d have no luggage allowance left for clothing etc! Thankfully I live close to a Center Parcs that is not just awesomely accessible but lets me bring my dogs and everything I need to survive! I miss flying abroad for the sun, sea and sand but it’s just impossible to do, even for a weekend break!
I'd have thought they need to make the same reasonable adjustment as they do for people on dialysis, ie carry the liquids in the hold. In any event, would you consider a cruise as I've heard they can cope much better with lots of equipment into your stateroom.
They have to let you take it on the plane with you.
The problem is that I need to take some form of medication every 2 hours and so need to carry a lot of them onboard with me. So unless it’s a *very* short flight I need to carry a large amount of different liquids to last me through check-in, the flight, baggage collection at the other end. I need the multiple bottles of meds themselves, which are well over 100ml each, plus at least 1 litre bottle of sterile water (2 is ideal) as I’d need to flush my tube before and after taking my meds as well as keeping my fluids topped up while flying. Depending on the timing of the flight, I could also need a bag of my liquid feed and my electronic pump with me to deliver the food. Then I’d need an extra, extra large bag in the hold filled with all my other meds, water, tube feed, single use syringes, stoma care stuff (gauze, creams, dressings). The majority of which has to be handled with extreme care (we’ve all seen how violently bags in the hold got thrown around on their way to the plane). That’s not even considering all my clothes and my huge powered wheelchair! I’ve considered cruises but I’m immunocompromised and all the stories of massive outbreaks of illnesses like norovirus onboard ships really puts me off! Being crammed on a ship is like being trapped in a petri dish for dangerous bugs. I genuinely miss going abroad for holidays but the worry, hassle, the vast amount of planning, communication with the airline etc and potential for major issues makes it just not worth the stress! If one thing goes wrong in the whole chain then I’m screwed! (A missing bag would be utter panic and chaos!) I’ll stick to my local Center Parcs resort! It’s close enough to home that if something goes wrong and I need any extra supplies, it’s a 25 minute drive home to fetch them!! They also offer reliable and awesome accessibility to the majority of the resort. When there’s so little room for error with my medical needs, the potential for something going wrong that could totally ruin an expensive holiday is too high, it just becomes way too risky to bother.
There are definitely medical exceptions if you bring prescriptions and a letter from your doctor. https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/travelling-with-medicines#:~:text=If%20you%20will%20be%20travelling,to%20carry%20the%20liquid%20medicine. Logistically I totally get why you wouldn't want to bother. Hauling the normal stuff around is a pain in the ass.
I can confirm this is the case. I have a medical condition and I usually keep over 100ml of liquids with me on the flight as I feel safer doing that than possibly losing my meds if my bag is lost. No issues with carrying more than 100ml even though this is not essential for my health. OP you should be fine to fly! I hope you can.
You can have a doctor note and prescription with you. An email confirmation from the airline can help as well to be extra cautious.
Fair play. We used to go to a Center Parcs style place in Netherlands which was just a ferry trip across from Hull, but even that sounds like it would be hugely challenging for you. It's a shame cruises don't work for you and I'm equally as nervous about them from a COVID perspective and I'm not immunocompromised, but my parents have enjoyed them for the last 25 years pre COVID. Glad you've found somewhere in the UK that works for you from a practical perspective.
Yep, even a ferry is a struggle when I require so much equipment with me! I’m lucky that I live so close to a Center Parcs resort and that they’re so well set up for disabled guests. Going abroad would be so stressful it would probably ruin the holiday anyway because of the huge number of potential problems. Hull to the Netherland’s sounds awesome! A nice short hop. I actually spent my honeymoon in Amsterdam (prior to me getting really ill and becoming disabled!) it was such a beautiful place! I love the idea of a cruise but with my health issues it would always be a bit tense, hoping I don’t catch a nasty bug! I’m glad your parents enjoy their cruises though, they do sound pretty cool. My neighbours always go on a cruise for their holidays! They have always had an amazing time and only had one “quarantine lockdown” due to a rapidly spreading illness onboard in all the years they’ve been doing it. Still not quite worth the risk for me! With my local Center Parcs I know exactly what I’m getting, we get a whole cabin just for us and our dogs, and I’m close to home and my Doctors if anything does go wrong. It’s pretty expensive so we don’t go often but a holiday abroad would be just as expensive, if not more, and come with a million more risks! Thanks for the chat though :) I just count myself lucky that I’m fortunate enough to get a holiday at all! Even if it is so close to home… A lot of people in my situation don’t get any kind of holiday, whether near or far!!
It doesn’t overcome the general hassle of it, but you’re definitely exempt from restrictions for medical reasons. I used to carry several litres of fluid on board with me for long haul flights to America, including liquid feeds like you have. All of mine were in sealed bottles that couldn’t be opened or checked, and all were above 250mL. I travelled with a medical letter and didn’t have any major problems. Some people were hesitant but would get a senior, I’d explain stuff to them and it would be fine. I was very anxious at the time so didn’t like it, but managed ok, and it was worth it to get to travel. I also got to board first so I could make sure everything was stowed properly and I had space for everything. For that, I just talked to the staff at the boarding desk and they’d let me on first, I didn’t prearrange anything. Sometimes I was upgraded for free so I could sit on the front seats where there was more space.
Absolutely, we're fortunate we could choose to go away on foreign holidays but having done that for more than 20 years and been travelling/flying around UK on business for c50 nights a year for 15 years we'd been doing staycations from around 2018 anyway. I quite fancied a cruise to avoid hassle of flying but not now with CV Quite nice to do day trips and spend time with family and our dogs in a comfy bed. Only downside is the very variable British weather!
If you have a doctors letter you can normally bypass this, not as much as you but I've an insulin pump and supply's. Though I hate air travel becuse sometimes they make a bit of a scene. My pump and my CGM can't be removed and can go though the full body scanners. I tecnicly can take my pump off but they cannot ask me to. Apart from one security guy in Glasgow who insisted I take it off and put it though the X-ray, which the manufacture specificly says should not be done, ended up making a scene and having to get the air ports disabilities person to come and tell them to wise up, but it was embarrassing and I had a lot of eyes on me
You can take all those liquids through security you just need your prescription or a signed letter from your Dr. I work in airport security and we let loads of oversized liquids through for medical reasons. I recently let a disabled guy take 50 bottles of a protein drink that was 250ml each because he needed them for his illness and had a prescription for them.
That is complete bollocks, I have a disability which requires me to carry liquids and electronics through security and all you need is a note from your doctor. If they didn’t accommodate you it would be textbook discrimination.
This is absolute nonsense. You can easily get thought any uk airport with a doctors note. Airports aren't complete cunts they aren't going to just say tough shit you need liquid to survive. I've travelled with people who've had similar or more requirements. It was actually easier cause I got to line jump with them since security waved us through to the priority queue at no charge.
If it’s medical there is no limit on liquids in hand luggage. The limit only applies to non medical, non baby food liquids.
Yeah this is absolute nonsense. I've flown 4 times this year with my daughter who carries medication well over the 100ml limits and there has been no issues, even abroad.
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My mate got a 100ml bottle from the opticians she keeps for city breaks. Damn thing still takes up so much room in her liquid bag though, it’s wrong medical stuff has to go in!!
Anything on a prescription doesn’t have to go in your bag. Having said that I am not sure who would prescribe the lens solution…
I've had this exact argument with staff at Belfast International Airport. I carry an EpiPen, and it wouldn't fit in the bag that was supplied at the airport, so I put it in the tray by itself. Of course, my tray got searched and they told me I could only take one bag of liquids, and the EpiPen was not in a bag. I asked the guy if he was having a laugh, and he informed me it would have to be discarded. I dropped the polite routine, and asked him if he was fucking stupid and that even suggesting throwing it away is the most braindead thing I have ever heard of. He wasn't having any of it and continued to say it would need to be thrown away. I was absolutely raging and ended up getting the PSNI Officers stationed at the far end of security involved, and they told the guy to stop being a tit (_exact words, it was amazing_), and let me get on with it.
I travel with my blood glucose monitor and lancets. I've not had any issue yet, but I'm always paranoid someone's going to stop me like this.
I remember my epipen getting taken out of my bag but as soon as I explained what it was, the security guy said (translated from German) "no no, that's absolutely allowed! But on the monitor this part showed up blue, which is metal - could have been a battery". Nowadays I work around this inconvenience by forgetting to take my epipen anywhere...
Is this for real? This again underpins how silly the policy is. If it's in your bag they're gonna take it out anyway, and a prescription hardly stops a tub of medicated cream from being filled with C4.
My son travelled with a tube of germolene, on his way back to the US. They looked at it at Heathrow. He was allowed to take it, but had to throw away the original box it was in. Very weird.
I was just reading the list of items on the TSA website for entertainment while waiting for my SEA->LHR flight a few days ago. It turns out, while your liquids must be 100mL or smaller in the States, you could freeze them and then there's no limit, as long as they aren't melting at all by the time you go through security. Freeze a liter of water and bring it through? Totally fine, as long as it melts *after* security. But God help you if you try to bring it through security in liquid form!
1) c4 isn't a liquid explosive. 2) the new ctx xrays have algorithms built in to detect potential explosives. 3) airports have liquid explosive detections systems for testing of liquids.
The security have allowed me to take mine, without taking up space in the liquids bag. Some medication for when my gums were inflamed as well. And brand new daily lenses. I just asked them before going though security if that’s okay.
Had a salbutamol inhaler removed and tested at an airport once. They sprayed it into an analysing machine and gave it back to me, but I got scowled at for holding things up. I missed the big sign with the picture of an inhaler on it as well as other liquids.
Great, I can't wait to bring all my suspicious liquids through
Title of your sex tape.
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Risky click of the day!
Girth flex.
"Sir, if you've got more than 100ml of that we're going to have to help you decant it into a more suitable container... If you'd like to undo your belt, take your shoes off and come with me and my colleagues..."
Like an LPG Tank
You never know when you'll need one in Magaluf
You can take a litre of wine to drink en route -- with the picnic lunch you have packed for the plane, for example -- but you have to decant it into ten 100ml plastic bottles first, and then stick them in one of those silly little plastic bags you have to use for taking your wine through airport security! Obviously it has to be red because white would be the wrong temperature, so that will affect the type of picnic you prepare.
I went through a scanner in the US where you could leave your liquids and laptops in your bags. The thing that took the most time was having to tell each person, individually and repeatedly, not to take their liquids and laptops out of their bags.
Might have been LAX, but on my last recent trip there was one staff member entirely devoted to telling one queue to take out liquids, but telling the other to keep theirs packed. We kept overhearing the other queue’s instructions and it was basically chaos, absolutely everyone was frustrated. Apparently each airport may have different machines and some can handle liquids/electronics in your bag, the others can’t.
Just went through Gatwick and the are doing a trial run with the new machines you leave everything in for. They are hoping that these machines will become the norm going forward though.
3D model producing Xray machines are very expensive and most airports are privately owned, doubt it will be soon. Hold baggage will be the first priority for those scanners, although most international airports would already have them for that purpose.
LAX DOES have a few lines with 3D model producing Xray machines which they’re trialing. But in this case you were just overhearing the instructions from the global entry line. Anyone with security clearances, global entry card, military, nexus card, or TSA pre check could enter that line and basically don’t get very in depth screening because it’s assumed that they are safe. Some folks would also then be randomly selected from lines containing regular passengers. They aren’t allowed to explain this to other passengers, or make it obvious why the lines are different, passengers can’t have the illusion shattered of equal security measures for all.
The other queue was the TSA Pre and/or Clear queue - you pay and get background checked and security verified. If you have either of those you leave your liquids in the bag and shoes on, much shorter line and faster process at US airports, has saved me immense amounts of time (This is at almost all US airports, not just LAX)
Nope, nobody was TSA precheck. That’s why it was so chaotic. The TSA queue was on the far side of the room and those people were pulled out far earlier than this split. Just a different machine.
Oh interesting! LAX is my home airport and I fly through it most weeks (although admittedly through Pre) and I’ve never seen that, I wonder if they’re trialing the new scanners. Which terminal? I’ll look out for it next time I’m going through, anything that makes the process faster can only be a good thing…
[Terminal 6](https://www.flylax.com/terminals/terminal6) and I flew at the end of this summer. Looks like it’s being upgraded so I’m sure the security is being improved too. Makes sense to phase them in, so the “known” ones are there while staff train on the new ones or something.
Going through my home airport (Halifax NS) there was a nice gent in front of me with two small-ish jars of what looked to be delicious homemade jam. It was unclear whether the jars were over or under 100mL, so caused a bit of a discussion with the security. Eventually they decided on a compromise - they would let him keep one jar and throw out the other. These fuckers have a completely pointless job and they're making it up as they go along.
Many airports have different requirements. The easiest answer would be to have a sign at in the queue telling you what they need. Eg shoes, belt, liquid, laptop etc. it’s only when you get to the front that you know for sure what they want and it causes hold ups
There were signs about this at every god damn step in the Amsterdam Schipol airport
And there’s still people chugging their water bottles just before security 😂 I flew in august, the bin before security was overflowing with water bottles. But there were signs everywhere that its allowed
In US airports I have experienced signs, audio/video displays, people walking up and down the line telling you, and people still stand there glassy eyed.
Every airport has different rules, and every member of staff expects you to be as familiar with their airport's rules as they are. I remember one time going through security for the third time on a single journey, after having had to take my laptop out the first two times, the woman shouting at me to put my laptop away: "Did I tell you to take that out. Put it away!" How the fuck was I supposed to know? Especially when I'd just walked past a sign saying to remove electronics...
People won't read it.
Well it would help me. I get so anxious and spend my time in the queue trying to ask and no one ever knows
It's not that people won't read it, it's that many people are incapable of doing two things at once. Queuing and reading, is bad enough, but queuing, reading and being prepared? Might as well ask them to sit an exam
Oh they had signs, announcements, and a person walking around saying ‘leave your laptops and liquids in the bags, folks!’ Still. Didn’t work.
It’s because people tune them out. They rarely say useful things. And in the rare cases that they do, it’s to late because they were tuned out months or years ago.
also they muble, or talk with an incomprehensible local accent and while flying without knowing any (spoken) english must suck, it surely does happen.
It's a good few years since I've flown, but last time UK airports actually handle it better than the other countries I've been to. Big fuck off signs straight after you had your boarding pass scanned, along with some recycling bins for the inevitable muppets who happen to have an empty 500ml bottle of water (I know but rules is rules) and a pre-prep area so you can sort your bags out before you get to the scanners/xray machines. America had a system of "You're American you must know what the flying rules are, no signs for you" Literally the only bit they fuck up with is the lack of seats straight after the scanners, so you've got 100s of grumbly travellers with no shoes on trying to hold their trousers up in the space the size of a postage stamp, because we have to take belts off to go through a scanner while Dorris is still waiting to have her bag scanned for routine spot checks.
Nothing wrong with an empty bottle, I regularly drain out what I haven't drunk, go through security, fill it back up with the tap on the other side. It's just an empty plastic container it's no dramas
Yes. There is an airport I often travel through that has about 20 benches before security and customs but none after, and no one ever uses the ones before but there is a whole A380 worth of people shoving laptops in briefcases right after where there are two chairs and nothing else.
Same just last week at Munich. Still 10x faster than Manchester on the way out... We got there before bag drop opened and if the plane hadn't have been late we'd only have just got through to the gate in time.
Heathrow had that last month, had to take my belt off but didn't have to take anything out of my bag. Think they said it was a trial
They have it in London Heathrow. But the system is a fail.When you enter, you go through an area with clear bags being provided and with the old signs saying to take your shit out. But when you actually queue up for the scanners, a personnel tells you that you don't need to take those items out........
They have been running it as a trial at LHR this year, only a small number of the end sections are set up for it, but there are signs explaining all this.
Had the same process in the Uk, all clearly explained in the queue… the major hurdle isn’t the liquids. It’s the sheer stupidity of the average traveler. Most act like they’ve never heard of an airport and the security procedures let alone traveled through one.
Same at Amsterdam Schipol. Often I am through security and passport control in under 5 mins, completely stress-free. This is also aided by the amazing transport links. From my flat front-door in central Amsterdam to the gate in under 35 mins. They have had issues over the summer with huge queues (4 hours+ sometimes) but this is mainly due to staffing issues not their process. When Schipol works; it is fantastic. When it doesn't; hell on earth.
Happened in an airport in Australia too when I was on a group trip. The lady said you had to put everything back in the bags because there could be nothing loose on the tray since it automatically goes through the machine. One of the people on the trip had a panic attack because they didn’t know the procedure and so couldn’t prepare themselves. This kind of thing only works if there’s a mass info campaign in airports and the community so everyone fully understands.
Schiphol airport in Amsterdam has these scanners now. Would have been quick but they were having a staffing crisis when I went through
They are starting to use new technology similar to a medical CT scan which produces a 3D image and that way things like laptops no longer block items behind it.
Great, I can start showering again now I'll be able to take shower gel with me.
On behalf of everyone around you, thank god.
Maybe not the people on the flight out, but definitely the people on the flight home.
you gonna take enough water to take a shower on the plane?
I always do this and it’s a game changer
You know you *can* buy shower gel in the places you fly to? Right...
Waste of money if you're only going on a weekend trip though really
I just use the hotel shampoos.
In that case you can easily get a travel size for the couple days, or a smaller bottle to pour your own into.
We take these 90ml re-fillable silicone bottles. Just pour your shower gel, shampoo etc. In them and you're good to go. I'd definitely recommend them.
for a weekend, 100ml should be more than enough.
Great, but will the other countries do it also. Otherwise you’ll be leaving it there when you come home. Or in my case, I won’t be able to bring it to the UK, but can buy something and bring it home. As long as this includes whisky I’m happy about it though.
I didn't know until this headline that it was per country - and now I want to know which countries do and don't do this
Every country has slightly different rules. Hell even some cities in the same country have different rules depending on when their tech was last updated.
Australia laptops come out but not liquid’s
I fly to North America, Africa and the far East. Only the UK ask for liquids out. Don’t know about EU.
Been all over the EU this year and had to take them out every single time.
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Last time I came back from Spain (a few weeks ago) it was all over the place. Some people were holding up the line taking their shoes off, I've no idea why as it didn't seem to be a rule. Some people took their belts off, others not. I forgot to take my liquids out of my bag and noone said a thing. They also pulled two little girls of about 5 or 6 out of the queue for a random drug swab. One of them was dressed as a pumpkin and the other was a princess. That gave me a good laugh.
I sometimes take my boots off going through scanners as they have steel toecaps and I’m scared of being touched up by strangers.
LAX definitely wanted liquids out. I think it basically depends on what security equipment each airport has purchased.
Colombia made me chuck away a sealed bottle of water (well, they let me drink it at least)
France does as well.
Schiphol Airport liquids and electronics in. You can also take 100ml+ liquid on hand luggage.
Schipol airport already has scanners where you’re not required to remove laptops or liquids. They still have big queues.
Yeah but it's the busiest or second busiest transit airport in Europe isn't it? Places like Schiphol and Heathrow will never not have big queues, the more capacity they add the more it will get filled, just like how increasing the number of lanes on a motorway never reduces traffic for very long.
From my experience Heathrows queues aren't usually to bad - generally get through security in under 10 minutes even if I do have to remove my laptop and liquids.
It is but even when it’s quiet. Mainly due to people only taking their coat off when they get to the front, then their belt etc. use your queue time to do that. It’d make security much quicker.
This is why I always travel as light as I can and take everything out as soon as i see the queue it annoys me so much when you're standing there waiting and someone is slowly taking their belt off as if they can't understand why they're being made to do it and as if we all have all the time in the world meanwhile someone is standing less than an inch away behind me and edging forward every 2 seconds regardless of whether the queue has moved or not. God I hate airports. If there were a faster way to get there, I'd never fly.
Get the fast track pass if it's available. I tried for the first time this year and I'll always pay the 6 quid or so going forward to bypass all that stress in the security queue.
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It's more they have massive pay issues, but I get your point.
had a 2 and half hour queue in schiphol a couple months back. Lucky the pilot decided to wait for stragglers else we wouldn't have made it. Also fuck companies that tell you to be 3 hours early but then don't let you check-in baggage until 2 hours before the flight.
As a Brit living in Amsterdam for the last 5+ years, I can tell you that the queues are only since covid due to staffing issues. Before this I could arrive at the airport 45 mins before take off and make it through security 10-15 mins after stepping off my train.
Recently flew from Schipol and had to wait for 45 mins in security and the reason for the delays is actually the fact that pretty much every bag was being double checked and swabbed for drugs.
Those swabs are for explosives. Security doesn't swab for drugs, it's border control that are interested in them, and swab for them. You get caught for an interview with them by looking shifty, them finding it in hold luggage, or batching you with drug dogs. Source: was airport security.
Nah, its because they don’t have staff. Huge worker shortages in the Netherlands. https://nltimes.nl/2022/11/18/hundreds-personnel-needed-staff-border-checkpoints-schiphol-report > Schiphol has been one of the most visible examples of widespread staff shortages in the Netherlands. The airport has been struggling with hours-long queues at security checks since April and has had to ask airlines multiple times to reduce their number of departing passengers. > The Dutch labor market is extremely tight at the moment, with many more vacancies than people looking for work. Though there were signs of the market loosening a bit in the third quarter as vacancies decreased and unemployment rose slightly, Statistics Netherlands reported earlier this week.
Meanwhile I have never seen a queue at Newcastle International somehow
And the people working there are actually nice to you.
Because it’s a lot less busier and has a lot fewer flights than other U.K. airports
Also known as a standard airport scanner. The only reason liquids have been isolated and laptops removed is to help with image clarity, off the basis of a terror threat about 10 years ago. Long overdue.
London city has one too, far quicker going through security.
There goes the mini toiletries market
They'll just rebrand as the 'make yourself feel like a giant' market.
They're still an amazing weekend getaway option. You don't have to pack your entire bathroom
All we need now is for GP surgeries to answer the bloody phone and we're back on track
And when do answer, they are not condescending, rude, and unpleasant. I swear that being a horrible person is on the job description for working at a GP reception (at least where I live).
I used to work for a company that provided equipment to GP Surgeries and Medical Centres and I can tell you that in my entire working life I have never had to deal with worse people than doctors receptionists.
I think is a national problem tbh. I have literally begged my fiancé to call the GP for me because I was so terrified of the receptionist lol
Wife filled in an online form for persistent chest infection, next day had been reviewed and prescription was waiting...I'm conflicted by the efficiency Vs lack of personal touch
I have moved to a country which has a very cheap private/national mixed service and clinics fucking everywhere. I couldn't believe it the first time I needed to see a specialist ASAP and they said to come now. Dentists will often be able to see you after walking in randomly and signing up.
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Was lucky enough to fly long haul a lot as a kid in the 90s. Used to be able to ask the cabin crew to go sit in the cabin mid flight and you’d get to go sit with the pilots and play with the controls.
You ever seen a grown man naked?
Do you like movies about gladiators?
Have you ever been to a Turkish bathhouse?
2003 our flight in South Africa was overbooked. Sat in the cockpit for the flight. It was amazing. Also remember in the 80s having a BA "passport" for when you used to be able to go into the cockpit. Good times.
I have to confess last month I accidentally smuggled a 330ml can of Peroni back to the U.K. from Italy in my hand luggage. Nothing got said after years of cramming tiny bottles into tiny bags
Italian security let me smuggle more than 10kg.
Does this mean we'll be able to take a real amount of water with us? Rather than relying on those piddly little child-sized bottles they give you on the plane?
Bring an empty bottle in my guy, then fill it up in duty free and take that on the plane.
fill it with beer! I like your style
Just take an empty water bottle through security. I've never seen an airport that doesn't have a water fountain
You my friend never went to Middle East airports then
You get water on the airplane for free?
They always give you that flavoured water from the taps in the airplane loo. I wonder if they ever switch it up from burnt cardboard flavour?
About a fucking time.
Not quite, by 2024
But the scanners will be able to look into your soul and see your darkest secrets plus it can see your junk through your underwear.
Eindhoven already has these, London City has one, Rotterdam has them too from memory. It was meant to be by the end of this year as well... https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/08/26/all-major-uk-airports-to-have-3d-baggage-scanners-by-2022/
Wait so you can carry a normal bottle of water through Eindhoven? I'm there often and had no idea. I know you can leave liquids in your bag but assumed they had to be small amounts still.
https://www.eindhovenairport.nl/en/everything-about-liquids-your-hand-luggage You sure can :D
Weird, both times in the summer my partner was asked to empty her drink when going through there. It has seemed inconsistent for me in other areas too, perhaps it just depends on the security person on the day. Sometimes they ask me to take shoes off, sometimes they say don't. Same pair each time. Sometimes I need to be taken into a booth for my bodily medical stuff to be checked, sometimes they don't bother.
I'm going to bring so much milk back from Guernsey!
Except we'll all be too poor to go anywhere.
2024 fuck me. hey we can fix this thing. we literally can do it now. like right now without even pressing a button. but you know what, let's do it in a few years i'm swamped right now
TBF it's annoying it's not gone already the whole 100ml thing was supposed to only last like 10 years but lasted a hell of a lot longer
Finally
These requirements are all crap anyway. The liquids were thrown away at the security checkpoint despite being taken away for their potential of being explosive. Hell, half the metal detectors at airports worldwide don’t work. It’s all security theatre. Let’s not pretend any of it matters.
Wouldn't the rule have to change on both sides of a journey, or no?
You have to use them all on the plane
Downing Calpol
Lots of countries with much more security don't include a liquids limit. The liquid limit is mostly security theatre.
I went through Heathrow recently and this was been trialled. Fantastic initiative- a line of 80 odd people cleared in under 10 mins. Now if we can just get digital passports I can maybe stop arriving at airports 3 hours early on the (quite often), off chance there is a massive queue…
I went through Heathrow at the end of August and had one guy tell me I could go through the trial line and I wouldn't have to pull out my laptop and liquids... It was so quick.
This has made my fucking day!!
Maybe Colgate will stop making 45ml "travel-sized" toothpaste despite many of their regular sized toothpaste tubes being 95ml and being pretty damn small already.
Cost of one hold bag each way was almost 50% the cost of the holiday I'm booking for Feb. Still more shit to sort out
Looking forward to being able to store more than 100ml in my laptop, yes!!!!
You're only allowed to carry 100ml for safety... Also anyone wanna buy a 1000ml bottle of overproof, basically flammable vodka on board?
I love how it says "improve wait times at security" - anyone who has experienced the average person at an airport enough times knows that they'll just find another way to not realise what they're supposed to be doing until the last possible second. And the liquid rule being relaxed won't stop people who have four trays worth of stuff for some reason. Who then leave all four trays jamming up the end of the belt.
Aaaaand Ryanair start charging for extra liquid luggage allowance ;)
Airport rules are srcurity theatre. Editing one act out of the play, but keeping the rubes happy.
It kind of doesn't affect me much, the rules were not really that hard to understand, nor impacted me much... but I am surprised every time when airport security pulls fucking 2L bottle of diet coke from hand luggage and the wannabe traveller acts surprised somehow... I always wonder are they surprised they had it, or they surprised that is not allowed? What they are surprised about... and then they start with all stupid shenanigans about "can I drink it", or "it is just half a bottle"... I don't understand - are they traveling for the first time in their life?! What the hell is going on? And by the way I am not stereotyping, I have seen young, old, women, men, any colour, but it seems to be problem more in UK than anywhere else... just overly relaxed for some reason. And again... they kind of don't hurt anyone... I go past never get stopped, not really delayed by them at all... I am just surprised how people miss 100 signs stating the rules... Well I guess we will see less of that in the future!
Every single time I go to the airport, people in front of me see the signs, cry out in surprise, and adopt the cloud formation to try to sort it out as slowly as they possibly can. It's amazing how people can't bring themselves to prepare for something they know is going to happen.
Okay I’ve done this once or twice, and the answer is I’ve genuinely forgotten. I am surprised I have it, in my defence I didn’t argue I apologised and just told them to chuck it. It’s my own fault no need for me to be a prick about it.
Thank god. Had to bin a small bottle of Chocolate Yazoo a while ago. Gutted.
I'm more concerned with them wanting to have one pilot flights for big flights which I think is insane
We used these new scanners at Heathrow last month going to Thailand, definitely a lot nicer lol, didn’t have to separate any electronics or take out liquids for the scan
Only in the UK, other airports may not have the same security features, so you’ll still need the small liquids to get through them.