Things that airline staff want you to know...

[FlyMayBe]

If you bring the wrong passport to the airport, you will not be allowed to fly on an international flight.

No, the captain will not hold the aircraft for you while you wait for your relative to bring the correct passport in a taxi.

Lost your passport in the airport? Nope. You still can't fly - unless it is a domestic flight and you have reliable photo ID.

My problem is remembering which airports want liquids, laptops etc out, and which frankly don't care, and just want to shove you through the scanner.
So, either I get problems because I've unpacked half my bag, and no-one else does. Or I forget, and have to have everything rescanned.
It's easier not to unpack, and get rescanned occasionally.
And yes, not all airports follow the laptops out or liquids out rules (that I thought were global)

At all the airports I've been through, there are numerous posters and videos on the walk up and queue to security instructing laptops kindles etc to be out, and liquids, so I've never got away with not unpacking a bag, which is annoying, but them's the rules. Along with several members of staff shouting 'laptops out, kindles out, liquids out' ad infinitum. You'd have to be deaf and blind to be confused about what they wanted you to do.

Last time I got rescanned at Manchester (everything was out and in three separate trays as I had a laptop and weird looking work electronic equipment) it introduced a delay of nearly an hour, and I only just made my flight - boarding was closing as I ran to the gate.

There is also the theory, which probably has a lot of truth in it, that if you delay people and make them queue, the security staff watching on CCTV have plenty of time to look at everyone and look if there is anyone looking nervous, out of place etc.

Yes, I've had that too Winterheatwave, where I've taken off my belt etc, only to find out that I didn't have to.

Does anyone know why some airports don't have the security rules that the others do?

Also, I once flew from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow with no passport after leaving it on the previous plane. That was a heart stopping moment!

Barbara you obviously go through nicer airports than me .
Our local (non UK) one is a complete dive, only worsened but the fact it is also dry, so I cant have any alcohol to get me through the trauma (and if you fly the "wrong" airline, it's also dry).

There is a thing that Heathrow does, and probably other airports do, if you have someone with special needs travelling. You tell them in advance and Heathrow provides a lanyard with a sunflower on it, which tells the staff instantly that this person needs more help than the usual traveller and is great for autism particularly. If you are flying, it is worth finding out if the airport(s) you are using have a similar scheme.

I’ll never forget the lovely security officer in Toulouse who was so kind to my distraught 6yo when he inadvertently set off the alarm on the walk through metal detector. I was already impressed that they waved us through to the dedicated family queue (no actual queue as they were very efficient!).
We’d completely forgotten that DS was holding a euro he’d found outside, and when he walked through and promptly set the alarms off he burst into tears. The security guy was lovely to him, waved the handheld scanner over him and made lots of silly noises which cheered him up no end (poor lad thought he was in trouble!).

Hollowvictory that's brilliant.
I was once shouted back to the check in desk after leaving my passport there.
I blamed it on the fact my useless ex lost the power of rational thought and left everything to me at check in, including supervising 3 young dcs.
We were also shouted back in Spain after forgetting to collect ds's bag from the trays you put them in.

I Had to have duty free cash desk dismantled once as my boarding card (old days) slipped through the tiniest gap between the desk and next counter.

There are very few airports who don’t want at a minimum laptops and liquids. You’d have to be really betting against the house to think it isn’t worth doing the absolute minimum of laptop, liquids and emptying your pockets.

Plus, you’ve got the agents shouting “laptops! Liquids! Phones out of pockets!” relentlessly whilst you’re waiting in the queue.

My NW Airport does the sunflower lanyard too.

I've got a few more traveller tips for you....

1. If you can check in online, DO SO AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. The later you leave it, there's more chance of you going on the standby list if the flight is oversold.

1. ALL airlines oversell their flights. We have a duty to make sure our aircraft are as full as possible. On flights where we know there is a high chance of pax not turning up, we oversell to make sure the seats are filled.

1. If you miss your flight, the dispatcher will not wait for you. Once the dispatcher has closed the flight, the boarding crew have NO authority to reopen the flight. They have no choice but to refuse you boarding.

1. If the airline says you are allowed one piece of cabin baggage, they mean it. It doesn't matter how many times you've travelled with 2 bags or more. Other pax with extra baggage will have paid extra for the privilege. Need extra baggage? Check your airline Ts and Cs.

1. Aircraft have limited overhead locker space. Boarding crew count trolley bags as they go through the gate. Once the count limit is reached, trolley bags need to go in the hold. Please don't shout at the boarding agent as it is not their fault. If getting on with your trolley bag is imperative, then make sure you are at the front of the gate queue prior to boarding.

1. Going through security can take longer than you think. Please allow for this time. Security will not carry out their checks any faster because your flight is about to leave.

1. Once the flight is closed at the bag drop, further hold cases cannot be checked in. This is due to the baggage weight and fuel figures having already been calculated. Please allow plenty of time before your flight to check bags in and get through security.

1. WATER IS A LIQUID!!!

1. If you are refused boarding for any reason, or choose not to fly once you are airside, you may have to wait for a member of staff to escort you back landslide. This is because you have to be taken back through immigration. Airlines don't generally have 'floating' staff for this purpose as we are all fully utilised boarding/dispatching flights. Please try to be patient. We don't like keeping you waiting, but we can't just abandon all our other duties.

10. Sometimes security staff and Border Force can sound a little brusque. Please remember that they are trying their best to keep everyone safe in the air and at the airport. I can vouch that most of them are actually lovely and want you to catch your flights. But safety is their first priority.

That's all I can think of for now. Today I've seen 2 x pax refused boarding due to spending too long shopping in Duty-Free, one man rejected because he picked up his GF's passport by mistake, and one flight going out late because 2 x pax decided not to fly so their cases had to be removed from the aircraft hold.

A friend of mine kicked off with US security staff, something small that escalated. She had a small poorly child with her, she was frazzled, and gave them abuse

She was banned from ever entering/flying into the US again. Blacklisted there and then.

As she had gone there as an expat, to live with her DH, it meant she could not come back to the UK for the 5 years they lived there, and once she left, she can never get into the US again

I am always amazed how much power US security guards have !

What does pax stand for?

What does pax stand for?

I wondered that too, but I thought that everyone else knew and I didn't want to ask!

Pax means passengers 😁

Pax = passengers.

A member of check in staff in Valencia gave me back 3 passports belonging to a different family, we only noticed when I got them out of my bag to go through security, I was in quite a panic as they tried to track down the people with our passports

If the airline says you are allowed one piece of cabin baggage, they mean it.

They don't though, do they? I mean, I keep within the rules but regularly see people with three of four bags who don't even get tutted at (except by me). It gets right up my goat!

but regularly see people with three of four bags who don't even get tutted at (except by me).

I think this answers it:

Other pax with extra baggage will have paid extra for the privilege. Need extra baggage? Check your airline Ts and Cs.

Also, they do allow smaller bags like laptop carriers. It's not considered baggage.

5. Aircraft have limited overhead locker space. Boarding crew count trolley bags as they go through the gate. Once the count limit is reached, trolley bags need to go in the hold. Please don't shout at the boarding agent as it is not their fault. If getting on with your trolley bag is imperative, then make sure you are at the front of the gate queue prior to boarding.

IME, boarding crew screen passangers waiting for larger hand luggage and try to convince people to put it in the hold. Or put in place stricter size or weight restrictions that previously advised.
I don't think they want to be sending last minute luggage to the hold.
But it's a good idea to board early as overhead lockers can get full very rapidly and you might end up with your luggage a few rows away.

@FlyMayBe My DD17 regularly travels with a violin (no problems yet) but this summer will have to carry on a second instrument - they both HAVE to go in the cabin. If she takes no ther hand luggage bar her phone would this be the most likely way to get them in ok?

I am flying with Ryanair for the 3rd time in a space of a year as part of a package holiday, so I have become accustomed to study their terms and conditions better than I have ever studied for any exam or job interview.

If they get me on anything charge wise , then I see as a personal defeat.

ShittensAndKittens and anyone else with knowledge please could you explain why Nutella in a sealed jar is considered a liquid?

Because the liquid rule is actually 'liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes'

About 10 years ago I was allowed to fly from Paris to Dublin without a passport because I was (and presumably still am!) clearly Irish to the Aer Lingus staff at CDG, and you're always allowed to fly home (???).

Strictly speaking this is true, as you can't be refused entry to your home nation, but the airline was taking a risk based on appearances and accent as had you not been entitled to live in Ireland, they would have been fined for accepting you without the right of entry.

Terrorism MO has changed since 9/11 and some of the restrictions, e.g. liquids, we now have the capability to check well enough without the limitations in many airports, but the rules haven't changed to encourage compliance.

EasyJet fiercely enforces the one piece of cabin baggage, so laptop bags and small hand bags count as an extra piece of luggage and they will charge you a hefty whack to put your bag in cargo at the gate if you can't fit one inside the other. However they don't care if you've got an enormous bag of duty free shopping so buy a magazine and stick your hand bag in the carrier bag. This approach drives me bonkers as it's so clearly revenue-based.

I fly a lot, short haul, for work. I know all the rules, pack to suit them, dress to suit them, and am polite and efficient. The way I regularly get spoken to by security and ground crew is therefore entirely gratuitous arseholery I'm afraid. There are many lovely people working for airlines and airports but also some utter tossers on power trips.

@Bunchofparsley hate to say it, but your DD is very unlikely to get 2 violins on as hand luggage. Can she borrow/buy a double case? Otherwise she may have to buy an additional seat. Check with your airline, as everyone has different rules. Also, print off the airline's own policy to help avoid arguments at the gate.

We flew to the states last year. We were only asked to remove our shoes once and that was on the flight home from the states. So we stood in this huge queue waiting with all our stuff to put into the bins to be xrayed and nothing was being said about removing shoes, they weren’t calling out about shoes. They were calling out about liquids, iPads, phones etc but nothing at all about shoes. Nobody else was removing their shoes either until we got the front of the queue about to go through the scanner where the woman barked at us that we must remove our shoes. She then asked my dd how old she was as you only had to remove your shoes if you were over 14, dd is 21 and when she told the woman she sneered “really?” At her. It was all really odd, everybody else at every airport security had been so nice and polite but that experience was just weird. If they had been calling out to us about the shoes at the same time as everything else we’d have been prepared. Oh and the rest of our family all went through different queues and didn’t have to remove their shoes, we just picked the wrong queue I guess.

Someone mention that airlines don’t fly luggage without a passenger on board since Lockerbie happened. This isn’t true, we flew to France in 2006 and our flight from Scotland was delayed so they held the connecting flight in Gatwick for the passengers who were joining it, about 20 passengers in all, we made the flight. It the luggage didn’t so they had to send it out on a flight the next day. It was 3 weeks after they had introduced the clear plastic bags and no liquids etc. We had the bare minimum in our hand luggage as it was new and they were being so strict with it all, we were flying with a 2 year old it was not a good experience.