to feel that airport security is now so excessive -they act like they're doing you a favour letting you travel at all?

[dolally]

I'm only talking about shorthaul, in Europe. It's all becoming so much of a chore nowadays, what with having to drink our bottle of water before security, put my cosmetics in a see-thru plastic bag, put my handbag in my carrier bag of magazines I've just bought, take my shoes off, my belt off, and THEN... the other day, having the ENTIRE contents of my hand luggage emptied at Stansted Airport. They even took my crumpets away to be Xrayed!

I know (in theory) this is to protect us all but...god is there no alternative to this?

Ok guys, jump down my throat.

Another reason why I don't fly anymore.

It is a nightmare, I travel a lot with dd and she's in a wheelchair. The last time we flew the guard at security said to me 'well can't she just get out and walk through so we can scan the chair' FFS if she could f***g walk why the hell would she be in the chair!?
I absolutely hate it.

Dolally - totally agree!! When flew a few weeks ago, I had a bottle of cooled boiled water for DS, containing about 3 feeds worth of water. They told me it was too much so I said it was for his feeds but they made me throw some of it away. Luckily I had packed cartons with me just in case but still made me really annoyed!!!

i agree dolally. it is so demeaning. i think the alternative is to be so rich you have your own private jet.
going through gatwick last week, as i was about to walk through the big scanner thing, a security person barked at me "did you eat any crispy creme donuts? DID YOU?" i was stunned; didn't know what she was talking about; nearly wet myself. then i realised that dd was carrying a balloon advertising said product, having been fed some by dh.
i think they must ask questions every now and then to see if people seeem genuine. either that or she had an unhealthy interest in my eating habits

I had my shampoo confiscated in March (there was about a tablespoon of dollop in the bottle but it was over 250ml) and then to add insult to injury they x-rayed my shoes. I actually cried once we'd cleared security.

Mind the time before that I kept setting off the security alarms in Madrid airport until my dp twigged it was my metal hairclip that was doing it and they eventually passed me as clean. Funnily enough, I'd also worn this hairclip flying OUT from Stansted just a few days previously so I've not too much faith in the detection systems at Stansted... and it's potentially a lethal weapon so why it wasn't confiscated I still have no idea .

this water thing seems just ridiculous! Why isn't it sufficient that we just sip it in front of them. I so resent having to drink it and then have to pay WAY OVER THE TOP for my water on the SO CALLED low-cost airlines.

really getting into full blown rant mode here.

And do you know what... not something I like to admit, but in my European travels I reckon that the British security staff are the bolshiest of the lot!!!

There, I've said it.

I accidentally flew with a tub of bubble liquid (y'know, for blowing bubbles) when there were restrictions on fluid. They just asked if I was carrying any liquids and I said no.

Also, you could drink the liquid components for bomb making and not be harmed - they just taste minging.So, soooo very pointless imo.

We have just been to Spain. We flew from East Mids to Malaga and there and back had to do the full-blown Euro security thing. Not a problem cos a book and my purse, passport and tickets are all I have to carry for a 2.5 hour flight and 10yo DD is similarly trained.

However... we took a day trip to Morocco using a ferry. As we left Spain we showed passports at security. Our tour guide gave us landing and exit cards for Morocco which we completed on the coach to the ferry and he checked the details. We showed no ID on entry or exit from Morocco.

We had our bags x-rayed (but none of that liquids business) as we entered Morocco and as we re-entered Spain. We may have been x-rayed on leaving Spain but I can't remember tbh. Certainly it wasn't a big deal.

Some recent news reports on Morocco.

"The American government has leaked a series of investigations into the origins of suicide bombers who have blown themselves up in Iraq and a clutch appear to have come from [Tetouan]" (Observer, 22 April 2007)

"Two brothers strapped with explosives blew themselves up near the U.S. consulate Saturday and Moroccan officials said they had discovered a broader suicide bombing conspiracy, stoking new fears of increased terrorism in this American- allied kingdom." (Denverpost.com, 14 April 2007)

suew, we also normally travel light last weekend just with one dd10 were trying to travel with ONLY handluggage...knowing the rules I didn't even take toothpaste with us because I couldn't get any in a 100ml tube.

It is frightening to see how other countries do not take the terrorist threat seriously (especially at the moment North Africa) but just had to have a rant!

We had to take our shoes off to be x-rayed in Heathrow last week. I was wearing flip flops, fgs!

I was travelling through Gatwick last autumn and got taken aside by a female security person to ask if I had any formula on me for my DD. I replied no as she was bfed and got eyed very suspiciously. Then she saw from DD's passport that she was in fact over a year old (she's on the small size) and at that point decided to search my bag, possibly because she thought I was a weirdo for bfeeding so long? Could that be a sufficient reason for being considered a terrorist? Bah, the mind boggles....

On the whole, though, I've always found British security very polite, unlike some in mainland Europe. It is a pain but then I for one would rather be safe than sorry (although I'm not that sure how effective these checks really are after they managed to miss a huge bottle of contact lens solution I'd forgotten to take out the last time I travelled ).

the other day leaving portugal, an elderly man had to take his belt off, his trousers were LITERALLY falling down without the belt, the waistband was so gigantic. I felt sorry for him.

DD's passport is getting close to expiry - she had it when 6yo - and she got asked a question at almost every border crossing "What is your name?" "When is your birthday?".

ceolas... flip flops are very easy to cut into and hide things in (like money or forged passports/id cards).

Yes Sue - we flew in from America on Tuesday morning. DD, also 6, was asked directly several times how old she was. We also had the most surly, miserable person ever at passport control. Can only imagine what a first impression she gave those who have never been here before!

We've been flying a lot lately and I'm now resigned to it, I have no choice in the matter. I must try to remember to wear socks, though, as I loathe taking my shoes off then walking on their skanky floors in my bare tootsies.

I don't think I've ever been questioned about dd, even though at the moment she's flying with two passports, one being her new one and the other her recently expired one but with her Nigerian residency visa in.

When we booked to go to the UK months ago NZ was not participating in this water bottle madness - but because Australia has...

Ds needs a prescription cream that only comes in 500ml containers. So what do we do - transfer the cream into a tiny pot and risk it being taken off us because it won't have a label?

He can't be without it for 2 days.

It makes things difficult doesn't it?

We flew from Heathrow to Australia via Singapre at the start of April, just after Oz's new fluid restrictions came in (March 31). we bought some water at a shop at Changi airport, and we couldn't even take that on the plane!

At least when we flew out DS was EBF, but now he is on some formula, and will need some formula to keep him going on the way back.

I am finding it really hard to find definitive information as to how much of what I can take on the plane out of Australia...I've been told that some people have done the exact flight and were able to take unrestricted amounts of baby milk, but I am pretty sure they must have flown before March 31.

At the moment I am working on the premise that I can't take any container that can hold more than 100ml. That will be hard given that we'll be travelling for more than 24 hours!

aah the joys of plane travel, went to OZ a month ago and was stopped for a complete anti-terrorist check having gone through customs, scanned hands, waist band, shoes everything for expolsives. always thought I looked pretty innocent personally. so much for profiling. this was i have to add much to the amusement of friends I was travelling with who took photos of the whole thing. Had been at a conference and everybody kept texting from around the airport to see what I had done.

twentypence I have a link to the govt website of what you can and can't take on the plane from my recent work trip. I'll see if I can find it. Not sure if you are flying out of Auckland, but they were as strict as you'd expect them to be, I had to put my makeup in my suitcase because the foundation etc was liquid!!! Yet I flew out of Heathrow a week after the scare last year with baby milk, an epipen and heaps more in my handluggage and wasn't even stopped let alone checked.

I've found a link for Christchurch airport, and the Govt. regs. I might just print out the whole thing (as paper is not liquid) and highlight the bits that refer to ds. Then I can point to the bit.

Our special food seems to be okay as it is all dry (being gluten free it is very very dry!)

It does say you can decant into other containers, so I think we will do that rather than pay a pharmacist a years salary to split the next prescription into smaller amounts for travel.

when are you off to the UK twentypence?

the thought of flying back home with our two is just vile but I think we will be doing it soonish, while DS will still fit in a bassinet. grim

BOred, that is just mad about the wheelchair.

Well I travel a lot and would really rather they were seen to be very strict to deter anyone who may try anything. I do wonder why any terrorist would blow up a flight from Budapest to Dublin but you never know - there are enough madmen out there.

For those of you travelling with babies who will need formula - you can take enough - it depends on the length of your flight. And you CAN buy bottles of water ONCE YOU ARE THROUGH SECURITY. Apparently Evian is best for making up feeds. Failing that there is always bottled water ON flights.

Different scanning machines do seem to be set to different levels of sensitivity - sometimes my underwire bra will set them off and sometimes not.

I know I would rather be inconvenienced slightly than have anything happen.

(Mind you I don't recommend watching the film United 93 the night before you fly out of New York like we did last week - gave me the heebie-jeebies!)

I hate the shoe thing - by the time dh and I have taken 3 children's shoes & coats and our own off, led them through security and put everybody's shoes and coats on again, we're ready to go home.
To top it off, they only seem to do it at some airports and not at others, which indicates that it might in fact not really serve much of a purpose.

I am sure (but hey, I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist) that all this is just done to increase the population's fear of terrorist attacks and thus more compliant with government measures infringing civil liberties and not argue so much about Tony's & Dubya's adventures in the Middle East.

They don't have the same restrictions on ferry travel from Morocco to Spain because ferries are a lot harder to blow up than planes.

(And you're allowed lots of liquid, whatever you like, in your checked luggage, anyway, even on a plane. You just can't have it in carry on.)

We flew from the UK to Canada on the day they started allowing electronic devices again. On our way to the airport we expected to be allowed to take nothing on. Thank god we were able to get laptops and so on out.

(On the way home, with restrictions still very firm, I noticed I accidentally took a full tube of toothpaste on the plane. The scans didn't notice. Whoops.)

Oh, re: making up formula etc. I would take measured powder and buy appropriate water in the post-security shops. You can still buy big bottles of water there, and I know some brands of bottled water are fine for formula, right?

Alternatively, there is an exemption from the current rules for formula, but I'd worry they'd be difficult about it.

that's the thing NQC, if anyone wanted to take more liquid on board they could just smuggle it through so easily (on their body for instance - it's not like you get patted down if you don't beep).

I have also accidentally taken a bottle of water through, which obviously didn't come up on the scanner.