Airline Thieves!

[Nomaster]

DandyDon is right and I learned my lesson but. Who would have thought they could steal such a big bag. I get the insurance now and usually the agent puts an extra tag regarding the insurance on the bag and it gets through.

RE TSA our mis-adventures with them, and us not knowing BS when its in a tsa uniform.. Who needs the talliban when we tsa to disrupt flights!

So the insurance ticket serves as code to the baggage handlers and the government protectors that protection has been paid?

Tom

 

[Nomaster]

Kind of OT, but pisses me off.

What airports are making you take your shoes off or get a cavity search? And why doesn't every airport do it. I asked a TSA flunky and he said that it was mandatory and the airports not doing it were wrong.

Rick

I've been forced to remove my shoes every flight I've taken in the past two years. Guess the shoebomber guy was more problem than the box cutter guys.

Tom

How do I delete a redundant response? I would like to reduce the number of boxes I've generated by cutting and pasting.
Is it the "mystery" 'close current tag' button?
Is each box a tag?

 

[Nomaster]

I'm the last one to be an apologist for those yo-yos, but there are new policies, as of September 20th, that give them wider discretion. The two key elements are that all jackets (including sportcoats and suitcoats) come off and go through the X-ray, and that they can refer you to secondary pretty much on a whim, with thick shoes (whether they alarm or not) being the most likely indicator.

WONDERFUL!!
I will get me a full length coat-type garment and without question when told to remove it happily stip down to my speedo-like underwear, which I'll have to purchase too. But I have wanted to strip publicly for this farce for some time, just couldn't find a way to do it without ending up in the pokey.
Seems, we have to do what the gestapo tells us. Right?

Tom

 

[Nomaster]

I had on a piar of boat shoes. He was just on a trip, but the worst part is they had everyone in the place taking off shoes, no matter what they had on. I refuse to walk through the airport in my socks, or bare feet in this case since I was wearing boat shoes. The pat down and hand scan was truely a waste of time. I will continue to wear my shoes and they can do the secondary search.

All the airports I've been in, except SeaTac I think, provided slip on sandles, no floor to bare feet contact.
But those were "third world" countries they can afford such things I guess.

Tom

 

[Fly N Dive]

not as much airline thieves but the issue of the metal detectors, when ever i fly alone (i'm 17) and bring my laptop in its black pelican case, i ALLWAYS get booted out of line to the place where they inspect your carry ons by hand. AHHHHH it makes me so mad!!!

 

[oceancrest67]

When flying to and from destinations...my philosophy is keeping things simple, less is more, streamlined, take only essentials...my dive computer, my regs, and my mask go with me on carry on luggage. Fins, suit, bc, booties and extra clothes go with my check in luggage...zip tie it all together.

I have heard countless stories of laptops, cd players, cameras etc etc etc...getting lost and stolen...or even stolen out of hotel rooms...keep it all at home unless absolutely needed...not worth the time and trouble.

Just my 02

 

[wacdiver]

Here in NY every time I got on a plane since 9/11 I've had to take off my shoes even when I walk in with my cane . Sometimes if the screener is actually a human being they wil ask me if I can walk without the cane or will wait till it goes through the x-ray then hand it to me to go through with it for support. Others have just taken it put it through and I swear wait to see if I'm gonna walk through OK or fall on my @$$.
On one of our last flights back from Fla. My GF and I had taken many rolls of film. KNOWING of all the airport securtity I put ALL the undeveloped film in a clear ziplock bag inside my carry-on. At the screen counter I removed the clear bag with nothing but rolls and rolls of undeveloped film in it (remember it is a clear ziplock bag so you can see everything in it) and asked the woman to please NOT pas it through the x-ray because it will ruin the photos. The lovley woman behind the counter said "No we have to screen everybag that comes in" my response was "Ms it is just film that I do not want to get damaged you can see it is just film" as I held up the clear bag and shook it. "Sir we must screen every bag that comes in." "BUT it will erase the film. You can open up each case if you like but it is just film." "No sir we must screen each bag." "Please screen it visually so it will not get erased." "NO it must be screened" At this point I'm getting a bit pissed. " I want you to screen it! But you can do it visually, you do not have to erase all my film to inspect it." "Sir it will not erase most film it will be safe in the machine." I then tried to no avail to explain it was not regular fim it was APS fim but she would here NONE of it. "it MUST GO THROUGH THE X-RAY" was her cackle. WELL the "safe" x-ray machine proceded to totally erase 10 rolls of film from our 1st vacation together. Needless to say my GF was a bit upset and well the airline claimed it was not there fault.
BUT one would thik that was it for this particular trip. NO NO NO. After the battle at the x-ray machine another Lovely employee stopped my GF to do a body search. She did a body search alright. SHE procedeed to feel up my GF. I know it may look that way when someone does a pat down but how many times do you need to pat down someonens Breasts. Yes my GF is very well endowed (yes I am a luck man) but grabbing em once or twice I can understand but when she spent a good 10 seconds rubbing her then going back and doing it again, I felt it to be a bit too much. BUt the airline swears they would handle it. They took care of it alright the same way they handled my film.
As far as my gear I always carry on my reg/octo and comp. I trust NO-ONE with that gear. I have had to explain to 3 different people during one instance that it was DIVE gear and it was NOT under pressure (ya know how it says contents under pressure on the side of some hoses) unless it is connected to a tank. Well they didn't believe me until another employee happend to walk by and notice the comotion stopped and said yeah its SCUBA gear and no it is not under pressure unless there is a tank connected to it.
Now I know we can't expect everyone to know what gear is what but I DO think it is NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK that the screeners and TSA employees to get SOME KIND OF TRAINING!! I mean they were f'n clueless! Mo Larry and Curly could have gotten us through faster and with more competence!

 

[wacdiver]

To answer the post before that said the people at TSA and the baggage handlers do not steal ..... Well could you explain the 400 lbs of live rock and coral that is in a neighbors fish tank that kinda fell off the Planes at LGA? OR the watches?? I know for a fact that it didn't walk to his house... And he doesn't work for the airport or an airline but his nephew does. HMMMM how did that stuff get there??? I wonder???
(I know how. I just don't know who, I don't know his nephew or the airline he works for, just the airport. So I can't do anything to report him) (AND NO I DO NOT CONDONE IT I just know it to be true)
And you also said that they go through the same security checks as the passengers??
NOT at the airports the people I know work for.. The go in and out the back doors, they NEVER go through security.
SO YES WE NEED tighter security in ALL airports especailly for the workers!! And they ALL need to get the SAME rule book and training so we get some type of consistency.
And whatever screening they are doing of the workers they are hiring the procedures really need to be revamped. Cuz some of the workers are worse than the damn terrorists!
Just my rant

 

[RonDawg]

. BUt the airline swears they would handle it. They took care of it alright the same way they handled my film.

I am extremely surprised that the airline would even offer to "handle" a problem that is clearly a TSA issue. In this country, airlines (with the exception of El Al) are not the ones doing the searching of persons and luggage, the TSA is.

Perhaps the reason your claims have been ignored is because you are complaining to the wrong people.

 

[orangeBloke]

My condolonces on your lost gear, theft is never pleasant.

For what it's worth it might help to post the stolen items at http://www.stolenscubagear.com/. You've got nothing to lose by doing it anyway