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.

If you have a 'genuine' hand luggage, by which I guess you mean a handbag, then put it under your seat and don't take up valuable bin space.

No, it means you get a percentage of bin space in line with how many seats are in those rows, and if you go outside that, then check your luggage. I think they're going to need to divide the bins up and put numbers on them. There are too many people taking the piss out of the space. That would make it fair for everyone.

Violins may be expensive, but if it takes up more than your allocated allowance, then you need to pay the additional costs for it, even if that means buying an extra seat for it (as I have seen someone with a cello do). I travel for my hobby all of the time, and pay a fortune in shipping, it's just what you have to do when you have more than your allocation.

@MidniteScribbler Some airlines (mine included) recognise that violins/violas are a special case and allow cases that fit in the overhead lockers. They are essential business equipment - just like laptops, but far more fragile and valuable. Most Conservatoire students are generally too poor to book 2 seats!!

Oops - posted too soon! Meant to add that orchestral musicians haven't got the luxury of time in which to ship their instrument. It has to go on board with them so they can do the (usually) same-day gig that they are travelling to play in. It's not a hobby, it's their livelihood.

Something else the airlines do probably need to make clearer is that it's the airline operating the flight that sets the luggage allowance not the brand you book with. See my comment earlier in this thread about multiple flights and keeping within the smallest luggage allowance.

When I flew earlier this week there were several people who had booked with a national carrier but one particular sector was on a budget airline with its associated smaller allowed cabin bag. A few people got into heated arguments and were relieved of £50 each at the gate because their carry on bags that were OK on the national carrier were too big for the budget airline.

The liquid rule is decided by airport / country you fly from and not by the airlines.
It must earn Boots at the airports here a fortune.

I have always found immigration officials to b e fine, but I have come across a few very rude people at security.
I know the rules and follow them. But I can never understand what the person shouting out about the rules is actually saying.
I hate going through security, getting pulled aside for a search, and knowing that my valuables are sitting unattended in a tray for anyone to steal.
I too have witnessed a panicked man who had been given back a different passport to the one he handed over to be checked.

Oh I’m interested in the instrument side of things now. If the hold damages violins what do people with double basses or cellos do? I saw a pp say you could buy a seat for a cello but presumably a double bass would be too big?

I also hate that male security officials watch the screen as you are going through those scanners that show you naked.

We need an AMA thread about flying, airports, security. OP and others with this knowledge, can you answer a couple of questions:

• does the liquid thing actually make anyone safer, given that I could bring 5x 99mL of liquid in little bottles, along with an empty 500mL bottle? (x 2 for a litre of whatever dangerous liquids people are so worried about) Or is it all just theatre to make us imagine that we are safer?

• with the hold bag / cabin bag / constant rule changing thing: is it that what airlines really want is for people to check cabin-sized bags into the hold? Seems they never get it right, and it's so predictable -- people will do what is cheaper and/or faster.

Charge for hold bags: of course people take bigger cabin bags and don't check bags, which takes time at security with the little bottles etc. If you limit to one single cabin bag: people have to spend time getting their shoulder bag or backpack in and out of their bigger bag to show that it fits (get cardigan out of bigger bag, put backpack in bigger bag, go through to plane whilst awkwardly holding passport and b pass in hand, wait 3 minutes, reverse entire procedure); bigger bags then sit 1/4 empty in the overhead bin while the shoulder bags sit at passengers' feet. If you don't charge for hold bags: people who have time for the extra queuing and waiting on arrival take more hold bags and probably less cabin baggage. Others just want to go through quickly whether hold bags are free or not. The proportions probably are quite predictable, based on whether it's a holiday vs business destination and on the time of year.

Why is this so hard to get right? Just price the hold bags correctly, or say a cabin-sized bag in the hold is free. Or whatever the airline wants people to do, make a pricing scheme and incentive that makes that a good option for passengers.

The worst thing is not the airport staff but the stares you get when you empty medical needles out of your bag as people stare and gossip

I'm still slightly resentful about what the guy at the check-in desk said about us back in 2003 when we turned up 5 minutes after check-in closed for our flight. "I've got a couple of have-a-goes at check-in here, any chance?" Fair comment, only they'd emailed 4 hours before to say our original flight (the next day) had been cancelled and if we wanted to travel with them this week they could rebook us on that day's flight. I was in my work, on the other side of London, had to drive home half an hour to pick the bags and DH, then halfway round the M25. Ran all the way to the departures hall. I'd have appreciated at least a sorry. Took us about three months to get refunded as well.

On the different sized bags with different connecting airlines thing - can I also point out some airlines operating short haul legs often have different sizes depending on the plane

I’ve had this twice - ones with Aegean and once with Malaysian. Both used ATR-72 prop planes for 40 minute flights, and the cabin bag size was much smaller then their normal sizes. I knew beforehand (because I’d planned the Malaysia trip for over a year involving 10 separate flights so knew it inside out, and therefore expected similar when I saw my internal Greek flight was the same plane. However multiple people had issues including a photographer from National Geographic who’s camerabag wouldn’t fit in the overhead bin and couldn’t go in the hold.

My request as a frequent flier - please have your documents ready at passport control. You’ve queued for half an hour - there’s no need for your passports to be in th me bottom of your handbag still when you get to the desk. And you know you need to present your visa at passport control (otherwise, why would you have applied for one?), so saying it’s in your hold luggage isn’t helping anyone.

There aren't any scanners that 'show you naked'.

As said also above, luggage rules depend on the airline (plus class and destination). I must have read a millon threads where someone is asking about bag size for their upcoming trip on Ryanair, and someone confidently advising that they flew Lufthansa intercontinentally in Business class 10 years ago, and it was totally fine to take 2 bags and laptop.

There aren't any scanners that 'show you naked'.

The pp was referring to these:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204707/X-ray-technology-Full-body-scanners-banned-Europe-allowed-United-States.html

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Cellos travel on their own seat in the cabin. They are usually booked in under the name Mr. Cello!

Double basses travel in the hold in a special flight case...
Basses can suffer damage in the hold. (The dreaded neck-snap :( ) Many bass players rent/borrow instruments if they fly out for a specific engagements. They take their own bow in a bow case (looks like a snooker cue case)

Well on my last flight to.Italy( so just Europe and I have been too many times to count ) I kept a watch for when the boarding gate came up on the board. I actually saw it change so could not have seen it sooner. DH, DS and I started to walk to the gate within 20 secs of the gate coming up on the the board. We walked directly there and did not stop. It was quite a long walk though. . When we arrived at the gate there was no queue at all and very few people by the gate so I assumed we needed to sit down and wait a.few minutes as boarding had not started yet. Just as we took a seat , they made a final boarding call. I could.not believe it . We were the last to board and were ' told off' by the gate person for almost missing the plane. I have absolutely no idea how that was possible, given what we had done but it almost happened.

I've only lost it with airport staff twice. Both involved knitting.

Gatwick - despite me having printed out the rules that said scissors are allowed with a rounded blade under 5cm and my craft scissors being 4cm, with the cm printed on the actual blade, some jobsworth decided they were not going to allow them. It was because of this I had the website on my phone and the printout already armed. Took over half an hour to get a supervisor to intervene before I was willing to move. It was the principle rather than the 50p pair of scissors.

Paris - they objected to my circular knitting needles (made of bamboo) because they might have been used as a garrot. (sp?). But happily let a guy go through with a guitar whose strings were much more suitable as a garrot if removed. I didnt try arguing with that as my French wasn't up to it.

Surely it would have said boarding on the gate too. Why would anyone sit and wait instead of approaching the staff at the gate desk?

“Trained killers will be able to cause mayhem with all manner of household objects that are not banned from flights anyway”

Yes the ridiculous knives in airport restaurants that could barely cut playdoh. And yet I could gouge someone’s eye out with a fork they happily provide.

For clarity: I’m not antrained killer. Or even a killer.

Me neither paint which is probably why they let me on with my diving regulators, which they recommend you don't put in the hold as they may be damaged by the low pressure or temperature or something.

Diving regulators for those not familiar are a great tennis ball sized lump of metal on the end of a set of metre long hoses, which make a rudimentary marshall arts style weapon, with a name I cannot remember.

Surely it would have said boarding on the gate too. Why would anyone sit and wait instead of approaching the staff at the gate desk?

It absolutely did not say it on the gate as they had removed the flight details from the board. I said I we were about to take a seat and I had just started to ask DH what was going . I thought maybe the flight had been delayed and we had somehow missed this as it seemed so quiet. I imagine that within a minute or two at most I would have gone to ask. There was also no member of staff at the gate as we arrived which further confused me, though she came back within a minute or so of us arriving to make the last call announcement at the gate.

The point I was trying to make was that I could not understand how we had arrived as the last at the gate as they were calling last boarding, given how quickly we had walked there, leaving as soon as the gate number was advertised. I still don't understand how it can have happened

All those who don't fly often and seem unaware of the security rules... how???

When it came in, it was everywhere. Every airline website has it plastered everywhere. As you stand in the queue there are signs and even at some airports, 'virtual' talking people telling you what to do. There are bins to put your water, plastic bags, information etc.

And if you've missed all that, why don't you google what you need to do before you fly? Or even failing all of this, pay close attention to the people in the queue in front of you, with their little plastic bag of liquids, the removal of belts and shoes, them taking out iPads and putting it in the container. I just don't understand it.

We had a similar situation a few years ago bumbling we'd checked in early and were totally unaware that the electronic systems had gone down. The boards were still showing information but we didnt realise that they were not being updated so we were sitting watching for it to say go to gate or whatever, which didn't happen. People who had checked in later were verbally told to make their way to the gate straight away. We did realise in time that something was wrong - we weren't last on board but pretty near it. Then the flight was delayed as they couldn't tally the luggage and eventually it had to be offloaded and passengers with hold luggage had to get off to identify what was theirs. Amazingly we still landed early!!