I just spent a week in Canada, flying Air Canada RDU-YYZ-YQB and YUL-YYZ-RDU. At Montreal airport there was an initial hand and wand check of carry-on bags before the scanners, and there were free quart bags available for people who had forgotten about the liquids rule. The person in front of me filled hers with make-up items, and I had a small bottle of Purell and a tube of Cortisone I had forgotten about. In the US we'd have lost the items.

I travel with a water bottle, and in Toronto I forgot to empty it before going through security. Instead of confiscating it, the agent took it away to empty it, put it through the scanner, and gave it back to me. With a smile.

It seems that airport screeners can see the liquids in carry-on bags. I've noticed that if you have a 8 ounce bottle with only 1 ounce of fluids in the bottle, they will let it go.

I once had a plastic bottle with about three ounces of wine in it and they let it go. It wasn't in a baggie, just in the carry-on bag. I had a little drink at the gate.

However, it isn't a perfect system and if a screener is in a bad mood, expect to loose your bottle.

I just purchased a stainless steel water bottle and didn't want to take any chances in loosing it so I put it in the checked bag.

I'm sorry, but this kind of catering to the idiots among us needlessly slows down what can be a torturously slow process for the rest of us.

I'd be fine with it if there was one special line where folks can stop and search their carryons for liquids and place them in a bag like they should have before they got to the airport, but I'd rather TSA toss their items as punishment for holding everyone else up in all the other lines.

Gee, Brian_in_Charlotte; sometimes even the most organized person forgets <u>some</u>thing... Thursdaysd is very well-travelled, and from what I've read in her amazing trip reports and blog, she's very organized!

I agree, thursdaysd - that is a kind way for them to help when we have a moment of forgetfulness.

Thanks cynstalker (where have you been traveling lately?)

The water bottle problem was due to having to go back through security to connect to a US flight, after claiming and rechecking my bag and without a restroom stop. The Purell was just carelessness - I'd taken the train from Quebec to Montreal and hadn't fully switched back to airplane mode.

I was just struck by how different the attitude of the security people was, and how much better it made the whole experience - although perhaps not for people who don't bother to arrive in plenty of time.

Also in the US (or elsewhere) you would not have lost your tube of Cortisone as medication does not go into the plastic bag. You simply take it out of your carry-on.

Does "medication" include over the counter stuff? My Cortisone wasn't from a prescription.