My airline snack pack

[nick in* england]

Yes, the TSA rules seem like window dressing.  There are plenty of dangerous items which are OK to bring aboard.

 

Have you ever snapped a CD in two?  It becomes one or two pretty sharp knives...

 

But the rules of engagement have certainly changed since 9/11.  If a hijack begins, several folks are likely to take action, likely kill the guy, look around for any bad guy team mates.

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Is it OK for me to just sh*t myself and start praying?

[todd]

Hell no! Real Bills fans upgrade to first class any chance they get because there's unlimited booze! Any real Bills fan can easily drink a first class ticket's worth of booze in just a few hours.

 

 

Real Bills fans fly coach. 

 

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[jester43]

on air new zealand last week i got real silverware- and glasses and bottles for drinking wine, and the people that worked on the flight were actually nice to the passengers...

[Fezmid]

Speaking of stupid airline rules, this one's great!

 

http://tinyurl.com/7z8my

 

Specifically:

King, who in civilian life is the Doraville police chief, rolled his eyes at the FAA regulation that requires soldiers — all of whom were armed with an arsenal of assault rifles, shotguns and pistols — to surrender pocket knives, nose hair scissors and cigarette lighters.

 

CW

[aussiew]

on air new zealand last week i got real silverware- and glasses and bottles for drinking wine, and the people that worked on the flight were actually nice to the passengers...

 

Air New Zealand and Quantas - the best way to fly to the South Pacific.

 

So Jester - how is it in NZ?

[Reuben Gant]

Air New Zealand and Quantas - the best way to fly to the South Pacific.

 

 

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Singapore Airlines and Cathay aren't bad either.

[ATBNG]

Another confusing thing I encountered....

 

1. A friend of mine left out of the Pittsburgh Airport.  The rules for check-in

baggage was, take it to the Airline counter and get the baggage tag. Once

baggage tag was put then he had to walk it to a baggage security area where

a guy opened the bag(s) and inspected the contents. Once they were checked

you could LOCK the suitcase and the bag would be checked in to the destination.

 

2. Two weeks later, my wife is travelling out of the Philadelphia airport. The

rule is completely different.  The Airline puts the baggage tag and asked us

to leave all the bags unlocked and they were sent on the check-in carousel.

We were nervous as the bag was traveling a long distance...

 

You would think that there would be uniform code to how to handle security

of bags....but looks like a no no....

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There is a clear rule here, Ganesh. Congress passed a law post 9/11 that 100% of all checked baggage must be screened either by a human or by a certified machine. Airport compliance to this law is not possible overnight - for many airports, this law altered their internal infrastructure radically.

 

My guess is that Pittsburgh either is not fully automated or was having some issue with their xray/CT systems or network. In Philly, if the bag passes through the X-Ray/CT system and the system can't resolve it as being innocuous for whatever reason, they don't want to bust the lock since they then need to hand inspect it.

 

Your nervousness is not unfounded; always try to carry precious or important items with you on the plane if at all possible. Even at the best of airports those bags get bounced around pretty freely on their trip.

[Assquatch]

I was at Quiznos in McCarran (Vegas) Airport and asked that they cut my sub in half, they said they couldn't have knives past security and gave me a plastic knife to cut a toasty sub in half, I gave up after a short struggle.

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Your post just reminded me of something unrelated to this thread, but a funny story nonetheless:

 

I work on an antiterrorism mission with the Navy at the Indian Point nuke plant about an hour north of NYC. There are four Navy guys onboard at any one moment to run the boats, and two Army personnel who handle the weapons, watch the river, and try to solve differential equations by counting on their fingers and toes.

 

One day, one of the Army guys decides he wants to do some fishing, but doesn't have much to choose from in the way of bait. He does some rummaging and finds a solitary piece of sausage that seems to have fallen off someone's plate during breakfast. By "piece", I mean bite-size piece, not an entire link. So his plan was to catch a fish with this lone piece of bait, then cut up the first fish he catches and use it to catch more fish.

 

The first fish he caught (like 99% of the fish caught in that particular area) was a catfish. He gets the thing on deck, and then realizes he hasn't thought his plan through entirely. He doesn't have anything to cut the fish up with. So he goes on scavenger hunt number two. I get bored with watching him and find something else to do for a few minutes. The next time I see him, he has the poor fish on the deck with his boot on its head, and he's got two more remnants from breakfast: a plastic fork in one hand, and a plastic knife in the other, and he's giving it all he has to try and slice and dice through the catfish's armor. Keeping in mind that this is not the kind of high-quality plasticware you would get for $.96 for a set of 16 of them at Walmart. This is the kind of plastic cutlery purchased by the lowest bidder. They bend under their own weight.

 

Sorry if that was a "you had to be there" story but the fish's eyes looking up at him like :D , combined with the sweat pouring down the soldier's beet-red face as he sawed away like a caveman trying to start a fire with two sticks struck me as hilarious.