Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
> >>>> Everything from pots of jam to my girlfriend's tube of
> >>>> aloe vera gel went in the bin.
> >>> Maybe you didn't read what I wrote above- you were certainly able to buy
> >>> liquids at the shops in the airport and take them on flights. They were
> >>> heat-sealed by people in the shops.
> >> Maybe you didn't read the word "anything" in what I wrote above.
> >> Nothing like that was accepted.
> > Unless you saw someone having such a bag (i.e. sealed Schipol shopping
> > bag) rejected, how on earth do you know?
>
> I had about an hour to watch a queue getting processed, close up, and
> watching that bin get filled. There were no exceptions.
I'm sure the bin was getting filled, but you haven't said if you
actually saw a heat sealed Schipol shopping bag getting binned, because
they _were_ allowed. The person in the line in front of me on my flight
complained because they confiscated his duty free, but he'd stupidly
ripped open the bag- and I don't have a clue why. Other people had no
problems with their bags from the shops, or with small toiletries that
they'd put in the appropriate bags, as stated on the airport's website
(and repeated ad naseam on other websites for travel, airlines etc.)
> >>> I don't quite understand how your girlfriend got to the _gate_ with the
> >>> aloe vera gel- it should have been taken at the first security check.
> >> There *was* no prior security check, we went straight from an arrival
> >> gate to a departure one.
> > I'm talking about the security check when you first entered an airport-
> > presumably not at AMS. They were being lax if they didn't notice it.
>
> There was nowhere they *could* have noticed it.
I assumed your entry point was an EEA airport. If it wasn't, then their
rules might be different.
>
> >> Medications for use in-flight were supposed to be exempt. And the rules
> >> don't say they have to be prescription (OTC aloe vera was more effective
> >> for her skin condition than anything else).
> > You could have taken a 100ml container or less of aloe vera (not hard to
> > find) in a sealed bag, and it would have gone through fine.
>
> There was about 50ml in a tube.
It doesn't matter. The tube would have to be 100ml or less.
> It could hardly be sealed as she'd
> been using it on the flight from Istanbul and we didn't transit any
> place that had a sealing machine.
For crying out loud, you didn't need a sealing machine. It would help if
you read the actual rules on this. By sealed, they mean one that you can
close and open- like a ziploc bag. The ones from the shop at AMS
containing duty free and the like are heat sealed and can't be opened
and re-sealed, which is why they allow more than 100ml per container. To
quote the URL that I posted, and this has come up plenty before:
"These are the rules for liquids in your hand baggage:
* you are only permitted to take liquids and gels with you in
individual containers with a maximum capacity of 100 millilitres each
* these containers must be packed in a transparent plastic bag
* the maximum allowance is one transparent plastic bag per person
* the capacity of the transparent plastic bag may not exceed 1 litre
* the transparent plastic bag has to be re-sealable
* you can bring a suitable plastic bag with you from home"
> The stuff *would* have been hard to find. She has violent contact
> allergies to some common chemicals used as preservatives in skin
> medications - Savlon makes her look like she's been burned with a
> blowtorch. It's very unlikely that anywhere at Schiphol would have
> sold a preparation free of them.
The rules couldn't have been made clearer. If it had been in a container
less than 100 ml in such a plastic bag (you can get one at any
supermarket in the UK- I can't believe they'd be hard to find in
Turkey.) Personally, I find the new rules all a bit frustrating, but
there's no point accusing the security of being arseholes for following
procedure if you don't adhere to the rules that they made quite clear.
I've not seen anyone in any line having stuff in the correct bags, and
of the correct size, confiscated on the 20 odd or so flights from
European airports since the rules were put in place in early November.
And back to your initial claim that you can't take liquids onto flights
from Schipol, well that's factually incorrect. Reading the rules is a
good idea though.
--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk |