RandyK is right about the new sensors and the thickness of your shoes. I flew yesterday and was told that as of 2 weeks ago anyone with soles thicker than 1" will be asked to take off their shoes.

Mom, I don't think you want to use sprays in an airport. Just get a pair of cheap knee-highs and wear them, when you are allowed to put your shoes back on take the knee-highs off and toss them. This way you don't have to think of getting germs on your feet.

LOL! I think I'll risk it. Of course if you hear on CNN that a plane has been grounded due to a passenger's foot itch.....

Add pedicure to your pre-travel to do lists!!!

I'm sure you realize that the advantage of knee highs would only be psychological.

(AHEM) I can see it now:

The Germ Leader leads his pack of marauding germ bandits toward the unsuspecting pair of tourist feet. Suddenly, he gasps and then curses out loud as his advanced patrols encounter that extremely porous, unsanitized, yet somehow insurmountable barrier known as KNEE HIGHS. He shakes his head in frustration, then gestures to all his germ cohorts and yells, "Well,Boys....we gotta turn around and head back. We can't get to this chick's feet. We'll just have to wait for someone else to come along, who isn't smart enough to wear knee highs. Alright......let's move 'em out!!!"

Flew out of LAX last week and SYR this week. I wore leather sandals and my husband wore Tevas both times. Neither of us were asked to remove our shoes. The person in line in front of us at LAX wore tennis shoes and wasn't asked to remove hers either. So it's definitely not a new 'regulation'. Probably just varies from airport to airport. I did notice at SYR that everyone except us voluntarily removed their shoes without being asked to do so.

The Louisville airport has started requiring all passengers to remove their shoes all the time. In line in front of me recently was a little girl who looked about four. She was wearing sandals and pulling her own little pink wheeled suitcase and took her shoes off and carried them through while continuing to pull the luggage with complete aplomb. All of us should be so professional.

In Fort Lauderdale they had everyone remove their shoes--was so thankful that everyone had to do this for their safety. I was shocked they did not have us do this in Houston. People were complainig about doing this but hey it's for our own good---so i'm thankful.

Not "for our own good." It is window dressing. The serious stuff, like the inspection of cargo carried by most commercial planes, is largely being ignored. I think our government is unwilling to pay the cost of taking serious measures based on risk analysis.

Topping for BrimHamRocks.

Aw shuckie darn, ya make me blush....

Yeah, this is the post I was trying to find earlier, lol. Thanks, JohnD.

Maybe the alternative to the time consuming searches is to have everyone disrobe for the flights. We could have all-women, all-male and co-ed sections for all flights.

... i have often wondered just when i would have to take off my under-wire bra and put it in one of the little baskets...

i know, it doesn't paint a very pretty picture!

For anyone still interested in this post, I saw a headline today that the TSA will no longer require shoe removal at airports.

There goes a darn good excuse for a pedicure!

In case you missed it, here is link:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/07/17...ear/index.html

Looks like stuffed animals are also going to be checked more thoroughly.

I guess we should all be thankful, in a perverse kind of way, that Richard Reid put the stuff in his shoe and not in his underwear...

(Reminds me of the Seinfeld bit, picturing Reid walking through the Paris airport. VERY gingerly.)

LOL

MSN Link with discussion of airport shoe removal hazards:http://content.health.msn.com/conten...e/73/81927.htm

Have I missed it somewhere? Why not just wear shoes with socks?