Patdowns through US customs
 

Will be going to Florida & cruise soon and wondering about the patdowns through security. I will not go through the scanners to minimize radiation exposure so I have to have a patdown. I am a VERY ticklish person, even my doctor can't examine my abdomen or inner thighs easily, so I am wondering if wearing skin tight gym clothes ( Lulu Lemons for those in Canada) is the solution. It's that or wear a bikini under a beach dress coverup which can be pulled up or down.

They haven't started doing pat-downs for cruises, have they? If it's the flight to Florida you're worried about, can you drive or take the train instead? Not everyone gets selected for the scanner/pat-down aka grope choice, you might be lucky. You could also write your Senators and Representative about getting your right to travel without invasive searches restored (see Fourth Amendment).

It's the flight I'm asking about and we always fly from Toronto to Ft Lauderdale. I thought EVERYONE has to be scanned or groped. Cruises haven't started this yet.

I don't think it's everyone (yet), and procedures vary some by airport. If you're flying out of Toronto you could check to see whether they have installed the new scanners yet. According to this site - http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/ait/faqs.shtm - Ft. Lauderdale has installed them (ignore the rest of the page, most of what is says is wrong and self-serving).

Was through FLL 4 weeks ago it was 100%

I elected the scanner radiation risks are neglible.

The TSA says you will be exposed to as much radiation undergoing a backscatter body scan as you would during two minutes of your flight.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/...#ixzz1BUmprqNa.

Got the pat down in Colombia on the way up not a big deal.

Just wore my regular undergarment had no problem.

I figured FLL would be 100 %, but at least there I can do the bathing suit thing with beach dress coverup. I have an annual dental and medical x-ray so rather not expose to anymore unnecessarily, plus do you really trust what the TSA says?

"radiation risks are neglible [sic]" - that is not yet confirmed. Also, there's no guarantee the TSA people will set the machines up correctly - remember the hospital scandal a few years back?

Maybe you didn't have a problem with the grope pat-downs, but many people do. I certainly would.

Some airports still use regular metal detectors instead of the bigger scanners, and you sometimes have a choice of lines (even at FLL it may depend on the terminal and how busy things are). However, I can confirm that when I flew through TUL during Christmas, the metal detector was only offered to pregenant women, younger kids, and people (like me) who were traveling with pets and couldn't go through the scanner. So perhaps the solution is to bring a small dog on the plane with you.

But if you choose not to be scanned, then you are frisked regardless of the skin-tightness of your clothing. To be honest, it might be a little harder on you if you wear more sheer clothing. I think heavier jeans or something might actually help if you are really ticklish.

<at least there I can do the bathing suit thing with beach dress coverup.>

I don't understand. Why don't you just wear regular clothes? What's the advantage of wearing a beathing suit and a beach dress to the airport?

I wish foggydoggy would come back. I'm dying to hear more about why you'd wear a bathing suit.

As I had said in my original post, I am VERY ticklish and would be squirming very uncomfortably. I had my husband do a patdown through clothes, especially my legs and abdomen and I no way could I stay still. I saw some women on Youtube who went through wearing bikinis under a coat. Just whipped off the coat showing there's nothing to hide, and no patdown. Skin tight gym clothes is what I'm more likely to wear.

Do the screeners change gloves after touching each person?

Yes.

I hope you're right. Think about the screener's gloves down the inside top of someone's underwear then into another person's. I am a nurse and so aware of cross contamination. Don't get me started about taking off shoes and walking in socks across that dirty floor.

That's why I will let them scan me.

I've been thru pat-downs before at airports without scanners (most recently taken into a private room at Sangster Internation leaving Jamaica by a matron for her 'special inspection'). No thanks and nothing I'd volunteer for.

Was everyone taken aside to be groped? What triggered the screener or just luck of the draw. At this stage of my life I am beyond embarressment. If you want me to strip me down, then hell do it in front of all.

Luck of the draw. They take away your passport and you have to go off into a room with a closed door with the lady inspector.

Luck of the draw plus whether they see something they don't like plus setting off the metal detector. Apparently underwire bras are becoming a problem.