NEW food TSA rules coming soon. Sometimes already in effect in Orlando.

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

More security theater.

 

[mab2012]

Next time I fly, I will be taking 10,000 pieces of small, individually wrapped candy in my carryon. Have fun, TSA!

I was sorely tempted after our recent MNSSHP party. This has been mentioned off and on in the MNSSHP thread for the past month or so, so I was forewarned. DME insists on picking us up 4+ hours in advance for our flight to Canada (never understood that, we really don't require any more time than a domestic flight), so it's no difference to me if I have to spend half an hour or more at security while they go through my tiny candy packets one at a time.

In the end though, I decided that the only people that was really going to hurt were my fellow travelers. The TSA doesn't care. They're there anyway, and it makes no difference to them how long people wait. So I packed most of our candy into our carefully weighed checked bag (50lbs exactly). The few bits we carried had to be put in a separate bin, but did not receive any special treatment.

I am stunned by the absurdity of these new rules, but I guess I shouldn't be. As long as people remain afraid of their own shadows and willing to do basically anything for the illusion of "safety", this sort of insanity will continue.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Ok, why books? And what does swabbing mean? Each piece of little candy? Candy in closed wrappers? And what are they swabbing them with? This sounds so crazy. I guess you might as well dump all bag stuff in the bins. Bad enough you have to pay for extra bags, and now this.

 

[dreiwhit]

There's a part of me that wonders if TSA isn't intentionally making this as onerous as possible to push more people to do Precheck.

I've wondered the same thing. Its a revenue boost to them.

Or, they are trying to discourage everyone from bringing carryon bags.

 

[a4matte]

I've wondered the same thing. Its a revenue boost to them.

Or, they are trying to discourage everyone from bringing carryon bags.

We were actually talking about how long it's going to be until you're not allowed carryon bags.

 

[adelaster]

We were actually talking about how long it's going to be until you're not allowed carryon bags.

Nooooooo!

 

[dreiwhit]

We were actually talking about how long it's going to be until you're not allowed carryon bags.

Its going to be a big fight because the airlines don't want the liability of broken or stolen laptops and other electronics. I read a while back that airlines' bread & butter is the business traveler. The same ones that pop open their laptop and do work on the flight and take laptops with them. The airlines don't want to lose those customers.

 

[mab2012]

And what does swabbing mean? Each piece of little candy? Candy in closed wrappers? And what are they swabbing them with? This sounds so crazy.

Yes, some on the MNNSHP thread have reported that every individual piece of candy was swiped for chemicals. These would be individually wrapped portions, similar to what people typically distribute at Halloween. Normally, this means that they wipe the item with a small cloth and then run the cloth through a machine that does the chemical test. I assume this is the same procedure used at MCO. It only takes a few seconds, but when you're doing it on a couple hundred pieces of candy... yeah, crazy is really the only way to describe it.

I don't think this is happening often, and it didn't happen to me (we were just told to put it in a separate bin), but it has been done.

 

[jennamfeo]

We were terrified that they were going to try to confiscate the doll because it had way more water in it than is allowed. However, the agent, seeing the distressed look on my daughter's face, just had us empty the water out of it and let us go through. I have zero doubt in my mind that had we not been in the Precheck line, they absolutely would have confiscated her doll.

Ehhhh, it's like forgetting to empty a Hydroflask you are traveling with. As long as you are okay with dumping it they wouldn't take the container. I am glad they didn't take your daughter's doll, though!

 

[TwoMisfits]

Its going to be a big fight because the airlines don't want the liability of broken or stolen laptops and other electronics. I read a while back that airlines' bread & butter is the business traveler. The same ones that pop open their laptop and do work on the flight and take laptops with them. The airlines don't want to lose those customers.

Maybe not no carryons, but I could see limits to a single 15.6 inch laptop bag or backpack/person...purses must fit in the bag to come on, so no "extra" bag allowance...

 

[cassie58]

Thanks to OP for posting and everyone's comments to help us be prepared for Nov. since I hadn't heard anything about these crazy food rules. I usually pull out my iPad just in case, but I always have a Ziploc filled with snacks, and Twizzlers to chew for landing and take off(don't do gum anymore thanks to previous TMJ), and DD has her own baggie. And on the way back we also have Disney goodies to bring home. DH and DS flew to CA in June for college visits, and apparently did not encounter this at any of the 4 airports they flew through - maybe not tested there yet - and our friends and our cousins went through MCO in Aug., and didn't hear anything (cousins did have precheck).

Hopefully carry-ons are not going anywhere, especially until they can guarantee none of my checked luggage will be lost on the way, since that is the main purpose of mine, to have an extra outfit and my mini toiletries in case my main bag doesn't get there right away.

 

[Frances Carter]

Anyone know if this also applies to people going through the TSA pre-check line? I always bring a bag of saltines and sometimes a few protein bars with me when we travel. Using pre-check, I don't have to pull out my liquids or electronics, so I'm hoping the same is true for food...but would be nice to know ahead of time so I can pack appropriately.

They have been doing this in Birmingham for months, and yes, TSA pre check also has to take their food out. We just put all our snacks in a ziplock bag so we can easily pull it out for screening.

 

[donsullivan]

Ok, why books? And what does swabbing mean? Each piece of little candy? Candy in closed wrappers? And what are they swabbing them with? This sounds so crazy. I guess you might as well dump all bag stuff in the bins. Bad enough you have to pay for extra bags, and now this.

Books is driven by the fact that it can look like a large block of black if the book is dense enough. I had to deal with this on a flight back from Munich this summer. I had 2 large coffee table style photo books in one of my carryons that was really messing with the scanner and they took them out to confirm and re-ran the rest of the contents separately. When combining that large dense mass with all the random cables I always travel with they just wanted to be sure, which was fine with me.

Swabbing is literally as the term suggests, swabbing with a single-use swab (usually a white disc around 2" diameter) and then putting that swab into a scanning device to measure for potential explosive residue. That has been happening for decades now and is nothing new. I have randomly had backpacks 'swabbed' over the years in probably half the major airports in the country. It doesn't happen a lot but there is typically something they see (they will never tell you what it is) that prompts it. Sometimes it just appears to be a random check.

 

[StarGirl11]

We were actually talking about how long it's going to be until you're not allowed carryon bags.

There was talk about not letting electronics in carry on bags earlier this year. Someone either threw a fit to the administration or pointed out how that would never work since they quickly decided not to do that.

 

[donsullivan]

There was talk about not letting electronics in carry on bags earlier this year. Someone either threw a fit to the administration or pointed out how that would never work since they quickly decided not to do that.

That one got shut down by the EU who refused to allow the risk of all those lithium batteries in the cargo hold of the planes. There are all kinds of regulations and insurance issues for the airlines around putting the batteries in cargo areas since nobody can react if one should short and catch fire. At least in the passenger compartments while their may be passenger anxiety, the impact can be mitigated.

I got really close to this one as I was traveling to Europe for 2 week right when it looked like this was going to be put into effect in May and had to start developing contingency plans for safely transporting my camera gear vs in a backpack in the passenger compartment

Here's a link to a good article from Consumer Reports from May when this was all happening that explains all the risks and issues of those batteries in cargo.

https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/problem-with-stowing-lithium-ion-batteries-on-planes/

 

[Steather]

We had all of our candy scanned in the Providence airport heading down to Orlando. I wouldn't have packed so much. I told them to just throw it in the trash but they said it was no problem and continued scanning. In Florida coming home, complete opposite. Had to keep shoes on and left everything in bags. There was a dog we had to walk by. You never know what the process is.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Books is driven by the fact that it can look like a large block of black if the book is dense enough. I had to deal with this on a flight back from Munich this summer. I had 2 large coffee table style photo books in one of my carryons that was really messing with the scanner and they took them out to confirm and re-ran the rest of the contents separately. When combining that large dense mass with all the random cables I always travel with they just wanted to be sure, which was fine with me.

Swabbing is literally as the term suggests, swabbing with a single-use swab (usually a white disc around 2" diameter) and then putting that swab into a scanning device to measure for potential explosive residue. That has been happening for decades now and is nothing new. I have randomly had backpacks 'swabbed' over the years in probably half the major airports in the country. It doesn't happen a lot but there is typically something they see (they will never tell you what it is) that prompts it. Sometimes it just appears to be a random check.

I was thinking along those lines, but wasn't sure. Thank you for answering.

 

[focusondisney]

We had all of our candy scanned in the Providence airport heading down to Orlando. I wouldn't have packed so much. I told them to just throw it in the trash but they said it was no problem and continued scanning. In Florida coming home, complete opposite. Had to keep shoes on and left everything in bags. There was a dog we had to walk by. You never know what the process is.

I think that is a big part of it. They don't want to be too predictable.

 

[mab2012]

We had all of our candy scanned in the Providence airport heading down to Orlando. I wouldn't have packed so much. I told them to just throw it in the trash but they said it was no problem and continued scanning. In Florida coming home, complete opposite. Had to keep shoes on and left everything in bags. There was a dog we had to walk by. You never know what the process is.

The dogs make all the difference. I posted this in another thread awhile back: about a year ago we were in MCO stuck in the security line with what seemed like a million other people, and it was moving at a snail's pace. We had been in line well over half an hour, and were barely past the point where they check boarding passes and ID. There was still a huge line ahead of us. Then all of a sudden it was like they'd opened a floodgate; the line started moving quickly and the security agents were telling everyone to put everything in bags, keep shoes on, etc. They had brought in a dog, and the whole backlog was cleared in about 10 minutes. Wish they had the dogs there all the time!

 

[a4matte]

We had all of our candy scanned in the Providence airport heading down to Orlando. I wouldn't have packed so much. I told them to just throw it in the trash but they said it was no problem and continued scanning. In Florida coming home, complete opposite. Had to keep shoes on and left everything in bags. There was a dog we had to walk by. You never know what the process is.

That was another problem that went on when we were waiting. When we first entered the line there was a guy telling everyone to put everything in their bags to speed things up. Then they stopped all the lines for 10-15 mins. Then someone came around telling us we had to separate everything in our bags (foods, liquids, electronics). Just caused more of a backup.