packing cubes & US Customs
 

Does anyone know if packing cubes, like Eagle Creek makes, frustrate US Customs? Seems like they still might need to open them. I don't need organization, I justs want to get thru Customs. Are plastic bags best?

Should not be a problem at all.

If a dog sniffs contraband, the human agents will look at everything. Neither baggies nor packing cubes pose any obstacle for them.
And how many passengers are stopped by US Customs anyway? Very very few that I've seen -- mostly those who are carrying food off the plane.

It would be rare for customs to actually look thru every item in a suitcase. Unless something alerts them that there may be a problem, they just read your paperwork and send you on your way. I am almost always waved right thru. So packing cubes, ziplocks, or nothing are all OK.

The last through customs (JFK, Dec 31st) the custom agent just collected the form without looking at it. I have not had a discussion with a custom agent in the last four or five years. Immigrations checks your passport and stamps the custom form and that is about it.

True, at US airports most US citizens are waived through the customs checkpoint BUT nowhere did OP say he/she was a US citizen. And while many non-US citizens are also waived through there's never any guarantee you won't be singled out for a more thorough search - while rare, it can and does happen.

Be that as it may, US Customs agent don't really care how you pack your bags - they've seen it all. If you are single out for a search it can take the form of any or all of the following: just additional questioning, x-raying your bags, quick spot check your bag or contents, full removal and inspections of all your bags. In short, if they want to look closely at yoiur belongings plastic bags or packing cubes won't stop them.

What everyone here seems to have forgottenis that entrr into the country is not the ONLY place a bag is subject to search. I recently had my bag thoroughly searched when i checked IN at the Amsterdam airport. yes, I use packing cubes; yes they opened some of them.

The cubes are wonderful for organizing things and although i realize plastic bags are a lot cheaper, the advantage of the packing cube is the way in which it opens...zipped around three of the four sides.

I'm not against the plastic bags but once you start using the cubes you'll find them handy for everything.

I have not had any packing cube issues with customs in Australia, the US, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Germany. I love those Eagle Creek packing cubes. While plastic bags are helpful too, they do slip around and sometimes slip right out my small carry-on.

The few instances when my luggage has been searched, the packing cubes make it easier, not harder. Small items stay organized, even if they need to open the cubes. I also use one for various cords and chargers that are more likely to cause concern at security.

There is simply no down side to packing cubes. Keep enjoying them as you normally would.

Actually, when the subject of packing cubes came up HERE sometime ago and a couple of us had the absolute nerve to say we used them we were shouted down by a bunch of Heloise types who sneered about how plastic bags are better, cheaper, etc.

OK, I'll restate that: there is simply no down side to packing cubes if you already own them and use them.

You're right Dukey. The class warfare (my packing units are more proletariat than yours) is stultifying.

Long live packing cubes! Even Rick Steves uses them, how posh can they be?

I don't think the OP is asking about Customs at all. Everyone is taking 'customs' literally but reading between the lines -- I <i>think</i> she means security. I don't see how packing cubes could be an issue flying into the States and clearing Customs.

I think she is asking about getting her carry on through security -- and they're still not a problem.

But since she's never come back --who knows????

<<<The class warfare (my packing units are more proletariat than yours) is stultifying.>>>

I got mine on sale -- does that make me proletariat, bourgeois or what?