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Every security check in Europe and SE Asia I passed in the last few years (~60 flights) mandated to take every device out of the bag, iPads and smartphones incl
by camillomiller 10y ago
Every security check in Europe and SE Asia I passed in the last few years (~60 flights) mandated to take every device out of the bag, iPads and smartphones included
- alistairSH 10y agoWeird. I've been to Italy, Scotland (via Dublin), and Iceland and never have to scan small devices separately. The laptop gets pulled out and placed in a bucket. The tablet and phone stay in luggage. It's all so inconsistent, it makes you wonder if any of the security agencies half any clue at all.
- phicoh 10y agoI tend to bring an insane amount of electronics in my hand luggage. The reason that need big objects like laptops separately is that they block too much when they are scanning the rest of your luggage. So if on average the scanner can see through an ipad then there is no need to take it out. I my case, all they see is a huge collection of wires and small devices, so all of that needs to be put on separate shelves and scanned again.
- alistairSH 10y agoStill weird. My carry-on for all of trips I listed above was MacBook Air, iPad, iPhone, Olympus mirrorless camera, 2-3 lenses, Canon P&S camera, 2 USB charging bricks, chargers for the camera batteries, charger for the MBA, a bunch of USB cables. Some snack food, a light jacket, and toiletries. Of course, the really maddening part is the inconsistency. I use TSA Pre-check when possible, so I'm accustomed to not taking off my shoes, unpacking my bags, etc. It's a giant hassle when I'm flying abroad and the rules change. Especially since the rules change arbitrarily - I've passed through Edinburgh a few times over the past 2 years and sometimes the laptop comes out, sometimes it stays in the bag.
- phicoh 10y agoThe ultimate reference point is whether the person watching the screen at the scanner can see everything or not. If most of the time laptops are transparent enough then why bother asking people to remove them. On the other hand, if routinely they can't properly scan it and have to deal with delay, they will instruct people to take it out of the bag. In the end it still is security theatre so it doesn't have to make sense as long as it looks convincing enough.
- dkersten 10y agoI've always been asked to remove all electronics (usually my laptop, ipad, phone and kindle) including phone power packs in the past few years. Most recently, this included Dublin and Berlin.
- CoolGuySteve 10y agoNow that I think about it, China is very concerned about external batteries too, they must be below 100Wh and manually inspected.
- jawngee 10y agoHmm. I live in Vietnam and fly out of country once or twice a month and I've never been asked to take an iPad out of my bag. I fly SGP, SGN, BKK, TPE. SGN did have me remove my shoes last time I flew though, which was a first.
- camillomiller 10y agoI flew Hanoi to Da Nang and then da nang to Bangkok. IPad and phones out both times
- jsight 10y agoI have been through a security gate in Amsterdam that required taking out all wires as well (microusb cables, earbuds, etc). It was just really bizarre to me.
- camillomiller 10y agoWeird again... schiphol was the only one where I didn't take everything out, even the laptop could stay in. They had newer scanners, probably more powerful