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Original poster

To think airports are so stressful lately?

167 replies

Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 18:16

Jesus , I used to like travelling. I just find the airport so stressful now, that I'm utterly exhausted by the time I get anywhere. I have british and irish paaaports. I fly on my irish passport which is supposedly slightly easier to fly to the eu is. In my experience, it is not. I still experience standing around in queues for ages.

I feel like they make it as stressful as possible for everyone.

I recently flew from Dublin to Spain.

I didn't have a bag to check in as that would have taken me even longer. So my first queue was the security queue. I was standing in the long security queue for about 30 mins. Put my carry-on bag through. It set off some alarm. Or maybe they were testing bags randomly. I had to wait for a guy to come over empty my bag , put everything back in. Then I went on.

I sat in the departure lounge for about an hour. Then I went to get on the flight. They let everyone go through the desk, then for some reason they made us all stand on the stairs before rhe flight for another 40 mins. Plane was slightly delayed taking off.

I get to spain. We wete made to stand in another queue to show passports here at the spanish airport. This was an extremely long queue, as there were only about four men dealing with hundreds of people from different flights. I stood in this queue for about an hour. Finally got out. And i was just so tired.

Another thing. The last time that I flew from Spain back to Ireland, a Spanish female security officer asked to pat me down.

I said yes, as I'm sure most people do, as we afraid something worse will happen if we say no.

She then patted me all over. Up and down. She patted me In between my thighs.
She then patted both of my breasts. Which I wasn't expecting. She didnt pay between them or under them. She specifically patted each breast. I would say she slightly cupped them.
I really felt violated. I looked online to see if security officers are allowed to pat you there. And it says airport security officers are allowed to touch you anywhere for security reasons. So you are leaving yourself open to be groped just by taking a flight. I just think some security officers take advantage of their ability to touch others though. There are a lot of stories online of women who say they were molested by female security officers.

All in all, its a very stressful experience.

OP posts:
HellersK · 07/03/2024 22:19

I fly long haul twice a year and that's enough for me. Colleague recently got a job in Germany and commutes from Dublin. It's only a 2 hour flight he says but the drive to the airport and the hour or two doing security, waiting to board, etc is never factored in. I wouldn't be able for it.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 22:16

I've looked online. There is a ferry from Rosslare ireland to bilbao spain. I'm going to try that next time.

OP posts:
Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 22:14

BiddyPop · 07/03/2024 22:06

Slight problem flying Dublin to Spain - they are in Schengen while Ireland had always accepted the UK decision not to join and felt the free travel area between the UK and Ireland was more important.

So you will always have to show a passport going between Ireland and mainland Europe. So much so that going between Brussels and Ireland you are in terminal B with the flights to the rest of the world, but all the flights to the rest of the EU go from terminal A which is much nicer.

Any flight involves security queues and they have only been slow and annoying since 9/11 changed the face of flying.

At least you are lucky enough to still have an EU passport to move easily between Spain and your home.

I don't think I move that much more easily to the EU for holidays, than UK people do.

We arw talking about holidays.

I would only ever go for spain for two weeks at a time .

. People in the UK can do that no problem
.
The only thing UK people can't do is stay over 90 days. I wouldn't ever be staying in spain over 90 days Either. So UK people are not really inconvenienced in any way for holidays

So for coming on holidays to spain ,it is about the same for UK and irish people.

I know it's different if you want to live in spain.

But I can't say I really feel grateful that it's easier for me to live in spain
AS none of it was any of my doing. Brexit.

And I can't feel grateful for what I've always had , the ability to live in spain .

Someone said to me the other day in ireland

" oh my god you're so lucky you can live in the UK if you want'. He was from South Africa and wasn't allowed to live in the UK. He was pretty angry about it. Like how dare you have that freedom and I don't.

I can only live in one country at a time . So even though I technically have the freedom to live in the UK or Spain or France. I can't live in all of these places. I have to have a job and stay and work from one place. And be near my sick elderly parents.

Anyway

OP posts:
BiddyPop · 07/03/2024 22:06

Slight problem flying Dublin to Spain - they are in Schengen while Ireland had always accepted the UK decision not to join and felt the free travel area between the UK and Ireland was more important.

So you will always have to show a passport going between Ireland and mainland Europe. So much so that going between Brussels and Ireland you are in terminal B with the flights to the rest of the world, but all the flights to the rest of the EU go from terminal A which is much nicer.

Any flight involves security queues and they have only been slow and annoying since 9/11 changed the face of flying.

At least you are lucky enough to still have an EU passport to move easily between Spain and your home.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 22:04

I think I'll definitely get the ferry next time. I haven't been on one in ages. There are no security guards / patdowns on ferry's these days are there?

OP posts:
Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:58

Station11 · 07/03/2024 21:52

Same thing happened to him too (he has both)

Take one passport and chill

Show quote history

What?
I had took one passport. I took the passport card.

That was the only one I had on me. I only wanted to use that one as it fits in my wallet, it's small and convenient

What annoyed me is that I was told it was for ease of use to travel around the EU, but you can't use it at any of the self scanning passport gates. So if you bring it it makes your journey much longer.

So I won't use it again. I'll be using the book passport next time.

OP posts:
ExPostFacto · 07/03/2024 21:54

Patting down aside (which was wrong), airports are more crowded and chaotic post-pandemic. But surely the reason is obvious?

People are travelling more than ever - witness the amount on MN who 'need' their holidays. They all want cheap, cheap, dirt cheap flights. At the same time the airline industry took a massive hit from 2 years of reduced travel, it's only within the last year or so that things have returned to normal.

I travel a lot from Manchester for work and haven't found the queues particularly chaotic compared to other European countries. Middle Eastern airports (Dubai and Doha) are extremely well organised, although even those have taken somewhat of a hit.

Air travel is a privilege. Of course the disabled etc should be treated with dignity but if people don't want to pay more for tickets, where does the money to pay airline staff come from? There's a shortage because they, like other service industries pay too little to recruit. Plus staff need to travel to the airport!

If people were willing to pay more, they would, to make their experience more pleasant (e.g. fast track security), this would also mean less people travelling so your packed queue problem would be solved as well.

It's like people moaning about traffic, not realising they themselves are part of it...

Station11 · 07/03/2024 21:52

Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:51

I'm 40. And I've travelled a lot. I don't think it's my age. I just think airports are getting worse and worse.

Another thing that drove me mad. I was encouraged by someone in ireland to get the passport card aswell as the passport. As the passport card can be carried in your wallet and it can be used to travel around the whole of the EU. It was advertised as "for ease of use to travel around the EU". I travelled to spain with my passport card.

I went to Spain, and I found out that the self scanning passport gates don't take passport cards, they only take the older book passports.
This led to me having to leave that queue and get into another longer queue. Ah i hate queues

Show quote history

Same thing happened to him too (he has both)

Take one passport and chill

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:51

Station11 · 07/03/2024 21:46

How old are you? My DH is so suddenly finding it stressful.
To me it’s the same as usual.

I'm 40. And I've travelled a lot. I don't think it's my age. I just think airports are getting worse and worse.

Another thing that drove me mad. I was encouraged by someone in ireland to get the passport card aswell as the passport. As the passport card can be carried in your wallet and it can be used to travel around the whole of the EU. It was advertised as "for ease of use to travel around the EU". I travelled to spain with my passport card.

I went to Spain, and I found out that the self scanning passport gates don't take passport cards, they only take the older book passports.
This led to me having to leave that queue and get into another longer queue. Ah i hate queues

OP posts:
Station11 · 07/03/2024 21:46

How old are you? My DH is so suddenly finding it stressful.
To me it’s the same as usual.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:43

JustFrustrated · 07/03/2024 21:33

I fly a lot.

I get patted down every time. It's a running joke.

I have never been touched like you describe.

You've taken "hundreds" of accounts of it happening and ignored the probable millions of times it hadn't.

Additionally, these staff members are VERY VERY well checked, more so than teachers etc.

Also, I've found flying back into the UK, from the EU easier now than ever before 🤷🏼‍♀️ seperate queue for none EU passengers.

I'm sorry you feel violated, and no one should, but your dramatic thoughts elsewhere, e.g. thrown in a cell, are bizarre and excessive.

I'm happy you've never been touched inappropriately. I have, as have other women on this thread . Read this posts.

If someone told me they felt they were sexually assaulted by a security guard ,

My first thought would probably be like yours, I would probably think "oh they were probably just doing their job" and i moght think that the woman was being dramatic.

. As we have all been conditioned to follow authority figures. And to believe authority figures over hysterical females. I also think that some women don't believe other women, as they don't want to think that it could happen to them. So they become nasty and call the women "dramatic" or "overreacting"

I was reading about the larry nassar case recentlt. He was a doctor who sexually abused hundreds of teenage girls. Many of the girls were not believed at first because the adults said "it's larry he is such a respected doctor, hw wouldn't do that"

OP posts:
PictureFrameWindow · 07/03/2024 21:42

Oh God I hate flying, I avoid it as much as possible! It's dire these days, crammed with upmarket handbag shops. Hardly any seats.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:36

JustFrustrated · 07/03/2024 21:33

I fly a lot.

I get patted down every time. It's a running joke.

I have never been touched like you describe.

You've taken "hundreds" of accounts of it happening and ignored the probable millions of times it hadn't.

Additionally, these staff members are VERY VERY well checked, more so than teachers etc.

Also, I've found flying back into the UK, from the EU easier now than ever before 🤷🏼‍♀️ seperate queue for none EU passengers.

I'm sorry you feel violated, and no one should, but your dramatic thoughts elsewhere, e.g. thrown in a cell, are bizarre and excessive.

What do you think happens when you refuse a patdown.

Do you think they say "jolly good on you go have a nice flight".

People do get put into cells. Holding cells they call them.

My friend in the USA refused a patdown and she wasn't allowed to go on her flight. Her colleague refused a patdown and he was put in a holding cell for hours, and interrogated.

You're a bit naive if you think nothing will happen to you if you refuse a patdown.
Have you ever refused one?

OP posts:
AutumnLeaves5 · 07/03/2024 21:36

I go into an airport with the expectation for things not to run smoothly (long queues, my bag needs extra security, the gate is the furthest away, flights delayed etc) and leave plenty of time. Majority of time things are absolutely fine and I’ve got time to grab a coffee or a glass of wine before going to the plane. Yes there’s waiting around and queuing but it’s a small price to pay for going on holiday somewhere amazing.

Some pat downs are more thorough than others and I see this as reassurance they take security seriously. Airports are full of cameras so there would be plenty of evidence if you complained of anyone actually groping or sexually harassing you.

Airport assistance has worked well whenever I’ve travelled with people needing it - it’s still a good idea to be aware of your flight boarding time and if they haven’t come to collect you then check they haven’t missed or forgotten you.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:34

I remember some female celebrity said publicly that she was molested by airport security guards and everyone laughed at her and no one took her seriously. She was called crazy and batshit.

We used to think that police were respectable and couldn't possibly abuse anyone...oh wait police have been in the news recently for raping and killing people.

Now it seems like people have moved onto thinking that airport security guards couldn't possibly sexually abuse people, because they "are just doing their job"

They are getting away with a lot of shit. If you google it, there are hundreds of stories online of women feeling that they were sexually abused by airport staff, and they felt they weren't taken seriously at all when they complained.

OP posts:
ChannelyourinnerElsa · 07/03/2024 21:34

I’ll apologise. In the 4 + times you said the word I got confused and thought you were discussing your own experience.

my point stands though- I don’t see how all of these women whose reports you have found had their vaginas touched when fully clothed in public.

JustFrustrated · 07/03/2024 21:33

I fly a lot.

I get patted down every time. It's a running joke.

I have never been touched like you describe.

You've taken "hundreds" of accounts of it happening and ignored the probable millions of times it hadn't.

Additionally, these staff members are VERY VERY well checked, more so than teachers etc.

Also, I've found flying back into the UK, from the EU easier now than ever before 🤷🏼‍♀️ seperate queue for none EU passengers.

I'm sorry you feel violated, and no one should, but your dramatic thoughts elsewhere, e.g. thrown in a cell, are bizarre and excessive.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:30

ChannelyourinnerElsa · 07/03/2024 21:23

Would you please stop saying she touched your vagina? Unless you took your pants off, I doubt she touched your vagina.

Another poster on this thread said it happened to her.

She wrote "I was patted down at Schipol once and the woman put her hands down the back of my trousers and knickers and felt my fanny! ".

I think it's important to highlight what is going on, as women shouldn't be subjected to this when travelling

OP posts:
Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:27

ChannelyourinnerElsa · 07/03/2024 21:23

Would you please stop saying she touched your vagina? Unless you took your pants off, I doubt she touched your vagina.

Read back. I didn't say she touched my vagina. Not once.

I talked about other women's accounts online who said they were sexually assaulted by security guards at airport.

These women reported being touched in the vagina. I posted one woman's account with detail here.

Also I believe another poster came on here and said that a female airport security guard touched her vagina

OP posts:
Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:25

MartinsSpareCalculator · 07/03/2024 21:18

I also get patted down every time I fly and think its just them doing their jobs. They'll be checking for anything put into your bra cups.

Yeah but there's a fine line between them saying they arw allowed to check your bra/vagina for things and them sexually assaulting you.

That is why if you look onlne, youll see that there are alot of women in the USA who are sueing airport security for sexual assault.

Is there not a better less invasive way to do it. Would a body scanner not pick up if there was a weapon in your bra?

OP posts:
ChannelyourinnerElsa · 07/03/2024 21:23

Would you please stop saying she touched your vagina? Unless you took your pants off, I doubt she touched your vagina.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:22

MartinsSpareCalculator · 07/03/2024 21:18

I also get patted down every time I fly and think its just them doing their jobs. They'll be checking for anything put into your bra cups.

Would the body scanner not show if something was in your bra?

I walked through the body scanner first, then she patted me down.

OP posts:
LaCasaBuenita · 07/03/2024 21:21

Airports are awful and they just seem to get worse and worse. It used to be that I had a mix of bad experiences and good experiences. Now every time it’s terrible. Queues, delays, lack of seating, stressful security. Everything.

Original poster
Kjones27 · 07/03/2024 21:21

MartinsSpareCalculator · 07/03/2024 21:16

I fly every couple of weeks and wouldn't say I have your experience at all. I fast track security and make sure my bag is packed as per requirements. I never rush to board so I don't get held up in queues.

You can't control everything.

My bag was packed to requirements. I checked the mls of my small make up bottles. I put those bottles in a see through plastic bag before I went to airport

When I got to security. I took put that bag put it in a tray. Took out my electronics. These were visible in the tray. There were no liquids or electronics in my bag.

My bag still didn't pass through security.

The security guy made me wait around for quite a while till he came over with my bag.

Then he took ages going through my small backpack. Them he decided to get something to swab and test it for drugs.
He held me up for quite a while.
He didn't find anything. And then told me to go on.

OP posts:
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