Fiona, the link just takes me into the Skyscanner homepage?

SM

Skyscanner here too

Ah. Have googled it and it is a skyscanner article, I've tried copying it here but like Fiona's my link took me to their home page.

Not sure what happened but I have found another link and changed first post. Hopefully it works. but now I found something else when looking for this one

Try this link ( it's the same as Sky Scanner)

http://www.thestar.com.my/Travel/Malaysia/2013/11/29/10-things-you-should-never-do-at-the-airport/

Sanji x

" Try and be funny ". I don't even try that with my wife , so why a stranger would want to attempt it

She often says if she had a pound for every " funny " which is not so funny remark , we could afford to travel Club everywhere .
She has to ask " do you have anything sharp on you ? " You know health and safety etc etc and you've guessed it the standard remarks are " only my tongue " or " only my wit " which is not witty , it's bloody irritating when you've heard it 1500 times that morning , and if you think your tongue or wit is so dangerously funny and could cut anyone to size then yours will be , as if by magic your bags will be deemed " needed to search " and each and every piece of content will be taken out slowly and examined and then just shoved back over to you for re packing , yes it's wrong and an abuse of powers , but ha ha you're not so funny now , are you ???
Just remember everyone in the crew talks to each other , so if you're rude , obnoxious , or training to be as witty as Jimmy Carr , the message gets passed on down the line and you will delighted to be chosen as the " random " search .

God only knows what airline crew do to rude passengers , the same with restaurants etc , I never am rude or difficult to those who serve the public who are in the position to do something back to you that will annoy or upset you .

I travelled occasionally with a cousin who was quite a witty person and extremely nervous about flying and her nervousness would show through her not being able to stop talking. I have experienced her answering staff with a funny remark. I don't remember her ever having her bags searched though. Of course we were using airports in the north of the country where I suspect the staff weren't so willing to abuse their powers as those in the south of the UK and were probably much more tolerant towards passengers even if they had heard the same comment many times.

I must do something wrong or I look a suspicious character as I keep getting picked to be searched when I go through the security.

Recently I've only had my hand luggage searched a couple of times, once because I have forgotten to put a tube of something in the plastic bag and another time because the xray machine couldn't recognise something in my bag ( a metal glasses case) I'm normally pretty lucky but early on after 9/11 it seemed to be searched much more often.

Yep , here in the south we are far more intolerant , even if it means abusing powers or authority , and the bag searches are more thorough ( allegedly )

If that is a polite way of saying 'more nitpicking' then I would agree with you! On more than one occasion I've flown down from Edinburgh with the required stuff in a zipped plastic toilet bag that was perfectly acceptable to security staff there, only to have staff at Gatwick insist that it all be transferred to one of their bags because my bag did not fit the rules! I did wonder what would have happened if I had simply been able to go through the route for transit passengers rather than having gone airside to meet up with the group I was booked to travel with? Would anyone have even noticed, having been through security at Edinburgh?

On one occasion I had placed it inside their bag from a previous flight and then put that inside the more sturdy clear plastic toilet bag that was acceptable to staff at Edinburgh (and had been to Gatwick when the rules where first introduced) so that it wouldn't spill out (because I think that the Gatwick bags are really flimsy and not really re-sealable at all) and despite them being able to see this I still had to take it out of the outer bag at security.

SM

Feeling quite grateful that I have never done any of them.

But I do have the Brits love of a good queue, and have worked out endless stratagems over the years to stop us being queue jumped. Strategically placed luggage, strategically placed children, resting by putting my hand on one of the barriers effecting a blockage, or just saying in a loud voice to anyone within earshot, 'don't you just hate queue jumpers' the later is particularly effective if the people you address it to are also being queue jumped at the time

Well you might see it as nitpicking , but others might see it as conforming to the DfT regulations and keeping the inspectors happy , obviously being a very busy airport inspections are quite common .
I agree the bags are quite flimsy , but unlike other UK airports they are free , pretty much fit for purpose and ensure compliance . An argument could be made that the DfT are nitpicking or being ambiguous

Fiona wrote:

I must do something wrong or I look a suspicious character as I keep getting picked to be searched when I go through the security.

You are probably just a random " quote" I always go through with just jeans , shirt , light slip on shoes , nothing in pockets , no belt ( in bag ) mainly don't go off , but if I do it's just a quote , if you quickly glance back at the top of the gate you will see " quote " in the LED display advising the security staff .

If staff see people are nervous or overwhelmed of course they don't treat them badly , I was referring to the real idiots who not just only aggravate the security crews but passengers also queueing with their smart a$$ comments and yes they do deserve a bit of a difficult time , and I can easily give you examples of stupid things people say and the consequences .

Well you might see it as nitpicking , but others might see it as conforming to the DfT regulations and keeping the inspectors happy , obviously being a very busy airport inspections are quite common .
I agree the bags are quite flimsy , but unlike other UK airports they are free , pretty much fit for purpose and ensure compliance . An argument could be made that the DfT are nitpicking or being ambiguous

So, are you saying that security at Edinburgh don't know their job, don't know the regulations and are lax in their security? Sounds like a pretty serious allegation to me.

SM

Haven't said anything slightly like that , you're making up words that are not there , but I can tell you quite simply and plainly that the DfT have told Gatwick airport the bags for liquids need to fully compliant , the airport has decided that to fully comply with the DfT wishes that security staff should make sure liquid bags are DfT compliant and if in any doubt re bag passengers liquids , these inspectors have strong powers and are able to serve deficiency notices immediately , the airport wishes to comply fully with the DfT on ALL security procedures and so no risks are taken and the security staff are actually doing what their employer wishes .

Call it fussy , nitpicking , jobsworths all the other bandied around generalisations you want , but it is people doing their job correctly on what they are told to do .

Gatwick interprets the DfT rules and instructs its staff to comply , the DfT are happy with their interpretation

I am sure that Edinburgh security is very good , they were all once part of the same company ( BAA) I'm not the one here who is naming airports and making sweeping generalisations , I've made no allegations about security levels at any UK airport , my only mention of Edinburgh is in the above sentence , hardly a " pretty serious allegation "

. I am sure that Edinburgh security is very good , they were all once part of the same company ( BAA) I'm not the one here who is naming airports and making sweeping generalisations , I've made no allegations about security levels at any UK airport , my only mention of Edinburgh is in the above sentence , hardly a " pretty serious allegation "

So why comment on my post which was specifically comparing my experience of procedures at Gatwick with Edinburgh?

SM

I was explaining to you that you might see it as nitpicking but it actually isn't, the procedures at Gatwick are what the DfT have instructed them to do , if your perfectly acceptable zip up toiletries bag was to be put through at Gatwick security and a DfT inspector was viewing , he/she might ( depends which way the wind is blowing ) say that it's not compliant and that it should be re bagged in the flimsy useless bags they give away for free , they will find any excuses to try and find something wrong , seriously some of them are awkward so and so's ,

So the airport management takes no risks, all liquid bags are to be in standard issue if in doubt , my comment above was that an argument could be made that the DfT are nitpicking and ambiguous , as they possibly trot off to any other UK airport and don't always see the same problem in the same way . They do obviously concentrate on the bigger airports with high staff turnover .

So , in the end LGW are doing as the DfT says and so are EDI , you see a slightly different procedure but both are doing as instructed , you see it as nitpicking and I'm explaining why I disagree with that comment .

Another thing you shouldn't do is wear trousers with a bigger waist size than it should be. When they ask you to take your belt off before you walk through the scanner, your trousers will fall down. It does save them the trouble of having to pat you down though.

Frank

I try not to wear a belt, & wear slip on shoes.