Did anyone fly yesterday? What is the real story on the carry on bag issue?
 

Two days ago people were seen on the news with only see-through plastic bags for carry ons. Has that relaxed? I checked the TSA site and know the 'restricted' items list, but just wondered what flights that took place yesterday, either domestically or internationally, were like? I am flying Delta from Atlanta to Boston, then on to Rome, in September.

If anyone flew yesterday or the day before, I would love your comments!

Thanks!

The prohibitions change from hour to hour, so what happened yesterday on one route is unlikely to apply in September on yours.

Furthermore, the TSA requirements can be further limited by the carriers. The best thing to do is check with http://www.tsa.gov and your airline.

I've already done that and I know it will be different by September, I was just curious as to anyone's personal experiences from the last day or two, that is all. I wasn't going to apply those experiences to my own life. Thanks for the reply.

I flew to Brussels on Friday and came back from London on Sunday. LHR was a bit of a zoo, but, to my surprise, I only arrived an hour later than scheduled.

I had my pen in my hands before I got in the security check. They made me trash it.

They patted me down.

I got to the gate, and the procedure was repeated.

Obviously the procedure gets implemented differently depending on the person involved. At the gate, the guy standing next to me had his wallet examined very carefully. My wallet wasn't even looked at at all. It was in my plastic bag.

I was worried that 2.5 hours wasn't enough for Heathrow, but I made it with plenty of time to spare.

Heathrow is about to change (or has changed) the carryon policy. Now you're allowed laptops and one briefcase size (?) carryon.

Thank you so much for the info. I really appreciate it!

Your curiosity has piqued my curiosity. What are you going to do with this information?

geez. I'm guessing she's just keeping abrest of what is going on in the world. I know I'm interested in these changes.

I was just curious, that's all. Is that so bad?

There have been literally thousands of posts regarding this topic and related topics on this forum and countless other travel forums. Why do we need another post asking the same question? It will invariably get the same response - that is - the TSA website has a list of banned articles, it is different for US Domestic flights, flights from the US to the UK, flights from the UK to the US, flights to/from the US and other overseas destinations and on flights in between European countries. Even though the list is published it has changed several times and will continue to evolve. In addition just because an item is not on the banned list it doesn't mean an individual screener won't take it upon him or herself to banned "approved" items. For instance there have been stories of chapstick being allowed at one airport and being banned at others. Like all TSA regulations the local screener has descretion to restrict items not on the banned list and there's nothing you can do about it.

I agree with the others who say what has happened over the past few days and what will happen in the next week or so will probably change considerably by the time wanderlust5 travels in September. The best thing for w5 to do is to check the TSA website and with the airline website a day or so prior to scheduled departure for the most up to date info rather then rely on anecdotal information from someone who travelled this week - there are so many conflicting reports.

Wow. This person just asked a simple question.

My understanding of the question was that s/he was interested in hearing from people who'd actually flown in the last couple of days - instead of those who keep posting links to different airlines and bemoaning whether they should go on their holiday.

If you don't like someone's question, don't answer it. You don't get any life points for verbally abusing curious participants on a travel website. Geesh.

I'd love to hear answers to Wander's questions too, as I'm flying in less then a month.

Wow, some folks are still cranky today. I agree. If you don't intend to answer the question or add in a postive way, just don't post.

You mean one person's wondering about a question regarding yesterday's news is less valid than the question itself? Perhaps someone can explain why this might be so.

Isn't "just don't post" more than a little controlling?

Hi, we flew in from Gatwick to San diego via Houston yesterday on Continental Airlines. We were told to get there 3 hours before hand and that was not enough time. We got there at 9 a.m. for a noon flight and it took us untill 11:35 a.m. to check in for our flight. One reason for the delay may be the additional baggage. With no carryons, airports are having to deal with twice the number of bags and at Gatwick the baggage conveyor broke so it is really slow going.

We were no allowed to do on-line check-in and we ran to the first security point. It felt very strange just to have a ziploc bag for the 3 of us. I had two pieces of gum for my child since it helps with her ears for flying. They made me throw them out and they made her spit out her gum when I gave her the piece. We were patted down, even the kids and then ran to our gate. You could buy cards or a book at the airport but no one had time to do so since everything was taking so long. At our gate we were again searched and patted down.

Once on the plane the captain came on and explained what would be happening. Our luggage in the hold would be searched and while that was being done, our passport info would be sent to Homeland Security where it would take between 1 to 4 hours for them to review the info. We would be sitting on the plane while that was happening and would not be allowed off. The captain since so far one hour was the shortest time period for the review. At the 54 minute mark the captain came back on and said we set a new record because Homeland had cleared us to fly. We then quickly took off and received no extra drinks from the flight attendants other than the usual.

Many people on our flight were from cancelled BA flights. They had been told it would be over a week until they could be resheduled. They also heard a rumour that BA was going to be shut down for a day or two to rework their schedules. Many and I do mean many flights from the UK to the continent have been cancelled by BA causing a lot of fellow travlers to scramble.

We did seeing people sleeping all over the airport and of course a lot of security.

Upon arrival at Houston we were met with a rather large group of border patrol/custom officers (more so than in the past). If you left something on the plane you could not got back to get it. They had an officer every 10 feet and we had to move in a group. People did miss they flights due it taking an hour to clear US customs as well as the delays so leave yourself plenty of time for connections.

Hope this answers your questions, Itsv

Just check the TSA site the day before you fly. Someone's personal experience yesterday may be invalid today.

Oh, I'm interested in hearing people's personal stories (especially since I will leave for England in four weeks). I'm sorry you had such a rough time, itsv, but I'm glad you're home safe and sound. I bet you are, too. "Be prepared" is my new motto (thank you, Boy Scouts), and it helps me be more flexible if I know what difficulties may emerge from this situation.

It really doesn't much matter if you are flying tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. It will be a different answer each time.
Ask 5 days before and then check daily.

I'm also interested in hearing what people went through..call it morbid curiousity or just wanting to be informed because I have friends who flew to Barcelona yesterday, other friends who are flying to Brussels and back through London in a couple of weeks and I am flying to Venice in 1 1/2 month...I am interested in knowing the trend.... and I KNOW things are constantly changing.

Also, from this thread I just heard about pens being prohibited, never heard that before and I don't recall ever seeing in on the list before. I always carry at least a couple of pens with me... at least now I know to be aware that my pen might be taken away from me or I can choose not to carry it at all.

This is an information board and the only way to get information is to ask questions!

Holy crankiness today! Can no one ask a question out of sheer curiosity?

Thanks for your account, itsv. I didn't realize that security had gotten so strict and that all passenger passports were checked before the flight was authorized to leave.

Wow! Amazing first hand account itsv. Thanks for sharing.