Things that trigger a bag search at the airport

[Red Squirrel]

Being a ginger seems to do it. I get randomly searched like probably 75% of the time. Only flown a few times though.

I guess gingers make prime suicide bombers, it's not like we have a soul or anything.

Never been through US airport security though, and I hope I never have to go through it, it sounds like it's much worse than here from various horror stories I've heard from people I know.

 

[ultimatebob]

Carrying a bottle of pumped breast milk or formula on the plane for your baby will do it.

Man... they scanned my wife's diaper bag like she was trying to smuggle crack into the country.

 

[arcenite]

I was 'randomly selected' once -- we missed our flight and needed a last minute ticket change. I guess that raised some alarms for some reason. I've been confused as being mexican a few times (I'm white), so maybe I'm just brown enough that someone thought I was suspicious.

 

[Imp]

Carrying a bottle of pumped breast milk or formula on the plane for your baby will do it.

Man... they scanned my wife's diaper bag like she was trying to smuggle crack into the country.

Well, duh. That white colloid could have been a kilo of cocaine mixed into water!

Talcum powder? More crack cocaine!

 

[pete6032]

Was it Gunpowder tea?

Green tea. I can see where they would want to check it for drugs since it was loose leaf in a glass bottle.

 

[Eug]

-Being brown
-Having large breasts
-Employee training

Are you a brown male with large breasts?

Anyhoo, regarding females... My sister says she used to get stopped all the time as a well-dressed youngish to middle-aged female, but not by security. She'd get stopped by customs because they always thought she was smuggling clothes or handbags, etc. She'd buy knockoffs, and customs often couldn't tell them apart from the real thing.

Having my face must be a trigger, bastards search me every stinking time, I'll get home or to the hotel and find my checked luggage has been searched as well, they leave a note, "Hi we went through your bag."

The worst was when we went to Italy and came back with canned (jarred) sauces and the damn customs people confiscated them. I betcha they had a great dinner that day.

Being a ginger seems to do it. I get randomly searched like probably 75% of the time. Only flown a few times though.

I guess gingers make prime suicide bombers, it's not like we have a soul or anything.

That's two gingers in this thread that have said the same thing.

Green tea. I can see where they would want to check it for drugs since it was loose leaf in a glass bottle.

Gunpowder tea is green tea.

 

[zinfamous]

a belt buckle one time.

 

[IronWing]

The TSA is bullshit and is the single reason I don't fly anymore. Fuck the US government for hiring people to rifle through my shit like a common criminal.

Really? TSA is pretty low on my list of flying annoyances. The airlines have far surpassed anything the TSA has come up with when it comes to pissing me off.

 

[Bacstar]

My mom came to visit me a few years ago, and she had some cooked steaks for me, Los Angeles to Alaska. She knows I don't eat well, so she always likes to bring me food. Anywayz, TSA snagged about 10 lbs. I bet they all had a good lunch that day.

Edit: just a couple months ago, she came to visit again. This time she froze the steaks and got them here without incident

 

[lxskllr]

My mom came to visit me a few years ago, and she had some cooked steaks for me, Los Angeles to Alaska. She knows I don't eat well, so she always likes to bring me food. Anywayz, TSA snagged about 10 lbs. I bet they all had a good lunch that day.

Edit: just a couple months ago, she came to visit again. This time she froze the steaks and got them here without incident

What justification did they give? AFAIK, LA to AK isn't a customs issue, and I'm not seeing the security concern. Of course, it isn't about security, is it?

 

[Bacstar]

What justification did they give? AFAIK, LA to AK isn't a customs issue, and I'm not seeing the security concern. Of course, it isn't about security, is it?

They didn't. She didn't realize the steaks were gone until we got to my house and opened her suitcase. I saw it as a "I'm hungry and I want lunch" issue.

Oh and I forgot to mention this was her checked bag.

 

[Balt]

Are you a brown male with large breasts?

Anyhoo, regarding females... My sister says she used to get stopped all the time as a well-dressed youngish to middle-aged female, but not by security. She'd get stopped by customs because they always thought she was smuggling clothes or handbags, etc. She'd buy knockoffs, and customs often couldn't tell them apart from the real thing.

They may have said it was related to counterfeit goods, but to be honest I really don't think CBP has enough time for stuff like that. Most likely they were looking for drugs.

I was surprised when I came back from my recent trip to Mexico. The CBP guy actually talked to me and said "You were traveling by yourself?" I said "Yeah". He continued the dialogue, but didn't have me searched. I guess the actual drug smugglers are a bit less obvious these days and probably use women as carriers or travel in pairs.

For the record, I wasn't carrying anything other than some Tequila (which I declared). I did find it a bit odd that I was selected for a 'random' drug test at work the week after I got back from Mexico, though. :hmm:

 

[Exterous]

Corkscrew so often that I stopped bothering. If the hotel doesn't have one I'll just buy twist top.

Once my kindle, iPad and dslr confused them as a big mass of electronics

Then there was that one trip where I was 'randomly' selected 3 times in a row. Not sure what was up with that trip

 

[master_shake_]

After I had my ACL graft, I made the mistake of wearing one of these on a flight:

Fuck...you'd have thought I had a DuPont Vest and was yelling Allah Snackbar when they found it...

I got taken to a back room and strip searched...and had to sit there in my chonies while they tested the brace and EVERYTHING I was carrying for explosive residue.

fucking terrorist.

trying to support your knee in a vain attempt to walk up right.

a real american would crawl to his seat.

 

[ControlD]

They didn't. She didn't realize the steaks were gone until we got to my house and opened her suitcase. I saw it as a "I'm hungry and I want lunch" issue.

Oh and I forgot to mention this was her checked bag.

That probably wasn't TSA, was probably the baggage handlers.

I have had enough random crap come up missing from my checked bags that I now take anything valuable in my carry-on luggage.

There are some places (South Africa comes to mind) where you can pay to have your checked luggage shrink rapped to cut down on theft from baggage handlers. I imagine here in the USA it is still a free for all.

 

[Iron Woode]

I tells what triggers it - saying Hi to my friend Jack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf3bw8KEZ44

 

[John Connor]

I've been randomly selected to have all my checked bags scanned. What a pain in the ass that is.

I did have my carry on swabbed for explosives once too. But what's the purpose? I could have detonated the fucker right then and there.

Believe me. I think airport security is going to change in a BIG way in the not so distant future.

 

[amicold]

I'm curious what any of you have been stopped for when taking a carry-on through airport security. I've been stopped before for having a lot of electronics in a backpack. Had a couple of cameras and a tablet in my bag. I've also been stopped when carrying loose leaf tea and once for having a candle in my bag.

Being olive-skinned italian/sicilian and getting incorrectly profiled :'(

 

[TheSlamma]

Being olive-skinned italian/sicilian and getting incorrectly profiled :'(

As stated before, I got pulled 3 times on 3 legs in the same day, I'm your typical glow in the dark Irish complexion and I've seen plenty of olive/brown/black skinned people pass through in front and behind me before.

I think you and a few others in this thread are just trying to earn PC points.

 

[Tormac]

Candles in glass holders seem to do it. Last Chinese new year I had brought some scented candles as gifts and they triggered a search of my luggage at the Detroit airport, then the Beijing airport on my way to Chongqing.

 

[Darwin333]

The TSA doesn't do shit, but they don't target old whites either. Random searches are random, which, incidentally, is why they're called random.

If they just waved through good ol boys all anyone would have to do is recruit one normal looking old white guy and they could do whatever they wanted. It doesn't matter how statistically safe your preferred demographic is, there's always that one asshole, and he needs to be caught too. Don't let any of that get in the way of your persecution complex though, that would be an honest tragedy.

Funny, the Israelis use profiling and have absurdly great success with it. OTOH, our own TSA sucks huge donkey balls when it comes to doing the very basic aspects of their jobs like preventing guns and bombs from getting through. What did they catch when tested by the .gov, 1 out of freaking 20 or something? Granted there is a whole lot more to profiling than simply

If a person thinks that the TSA is anything other than pure theater they are either (sometimes understandably) ignorant or foolish.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Tried to bring on a half dozen hard boiled eggs. They had to smash each, and every one, cuz you know, just to be sure.

 

[zinfamous]

I've been randomly selected to have all my checked bags scanned. What a pain in the ass that is.

I did have my carry on swabbed for explosives once too. But what's the purpose? I could have detonated the fucker right then and there.

Believe me. I think airport security is going to change in a BIG way in the not so distant future.

Yeah, I don't understand that, either.

Seems far too easy to just Alah Snackbar out of the cab in the loading zone and rush into the ticketing area at the front of the airport and martyr yourself.

 

[Imported]

An iPad going through Heathrow. Should have read the signs more carefully.

 

[Bacstar]

Funny, the Israelis use profiling and have absurdly great success with it. .

The Israelis take their security much more seriously. They live right in the middle of all the countries that want to wipe them off the face of the planet.