Comment by soapdog | Hacker News Reader

Comment by soapdog | Hacker News Reader

a somewhat similar situation happened with a friend of mine in LAX. It is not the same because the laptop was not stolen, what happened was that he picked someone else macbook pro and the other person picked his.

He only realized that upon arriving here in Brazil. After phoning the airport and having a friend from LA walk there. He got hold of the real owner of the laptop (he noticed before flight and filled a missing item request at the airport). After some back and forth they managed to exchange their laptops back over FedEx.

So in the end, nothing but money was lost as they both got hold of their own laptops back but this should have never happened in the first place if the TSA or whoever is in the scanning machines took care of what is happening. If we can put with all the trouble regulation and schemes, they can do a better job of paying attention to the process. There are more than one person per machine already...

Some backpack makers (such as North Face) make TSA Approved backpacks that allow you to keep your laptop in the bag through the scanner. They basically open up like a book and the laptop is held in a pocket where the shoulder straps attach, so there is nothing above or below it.

I have one of those (from Timbuk2), the main reason I purchased it was because it was TSA Approved and yet TSA never allowed me to keep my laptop inside it, even with it open like a book, nothing else inside it, they still required me to remove it every time...

Same here. TSA allows it at times, but not in SFO or SJC. And asian airports, including Changi, don't allow it. I like the bag though so not too angry.

Really? I've never had problems with my Surge II Transit. The only time I've run into troubles is when I'm in an international airport and go "But this is TSA approved..." to which the usual response is an angry "Sir, we're not TSA."

I bought a North Face SURGE which advertises this, but at LAX and Heathrow I was made to remove my laptop from the bag regardless. It just ended up wasting time as I tried to run the bag through with the laptop in it both times, and both times they made me take it out and send it through again.

Luckily I was able to return the bag when I got back to the states. It was nice otherwise, but I'd really bought it for the TSA convenience.

The variance between TSA employees is pretty wide. Some are pretty good about letting you use these pockets, others insist you take it out. I fly TSA Pre-Check and it's surprising how many TSA employees are hazy about the program, even when they have an Pre-Check screening lane (sometimes I've been asked to remove shoes, etc.)

IMHO, the TSA is another government program soaking up way too much money for far too little value.

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