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Comment by dijit | Hacker News Reader

Are you me?

Had a really similar experience until I said that “this is the cheapest rub job I’ve ever gotten” and winked at him. He didn’t appreciate that.

Tbh I seem to be making it my life’s work to be a little shit at airport security. I will _never_ use the millimetre scanner which seems to be a huge point of contentenion. And, while not TSA, the Gatwick airport security were trying very hard to convince me that I didn’t have a solid reason not to use this thing. Almost calling me silly or implying I’m stupid.

On the same trip I tried flying with half a tub of hair créme (layrite) and, while I managed to fly in from Copenhagen with the tub, apparently Gatwick has different rules, so if the container has the potential of fitting more than 100ml it’s disallowed.

Empty bottles are fine, but even a single drop of water makes it forbidden.

It’s. Ludicrous.

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Don't come to Australia: no opt-outs here, either you submit to the scan or you don't fly today.

I had no idea.

Thanks for informing me, I will (with a heavy heart) strike Australia off my list of available working/visiting places.

The new laws surrounding encryption should have tipped me off.

Thanks for letting me know. :)

What happens if you decline the millimetre scanner in a UK airport?

Gov't guidance states that ‘...the individual must either be screened by an alternative method which includes at least an enhanced hand search in private...’ [0]. Is that just a standard pat-down, or is it more ‘eeny meeny miney mo, I wonder where my glove will go?’

[0] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm...

They make it look more intimidating than it is, it's a standard pat-down in a room, the most invasive thing they did was put a finger in my waistband and rub around it.

Same as a normal in-public patdown tbh.

I (an average white dude) always ask for the public pat-down. Never in private. I want as many people as possible to see this.

Wow. I thought the experience I had with Gatwick was a one-off... :(

These days I aim for London City or Leeds-Bradford if I can, Heathrow is my second choice, and I'll actively avoid Gatwick and Manchester unless there's no other alternative.

I keep meaning to try Glasgow or Edinburgh for departures... I've flown into Edinburgh due to a KLM screw-up but never departed from there.

Oh, interesting! Would you be willing to share your gatwick story?

I had no idea it was usually like this.

I posted it elsethread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18714315

Basically, constantly rushed by the security staff, and another passenger tried to make off with my phone (the guy next to me stopped him by asking "Hey, are you with this guy (me)? I think that's his...").

From my experience, flying out of Edinburgh the staff have all been pleasant enough, but depending on your luck the queues at the security bit can be a bit annoying.

Manchester is the one airport that I will flat out avoid. It's up their with some of the worst US airports, and unlike those airports, has alternatives in reasonable distances.

You can even see by the passive aggressive (and consistent device) signs in security "All electronic devices must be taken out. Small electronic devices are excluded. Failure may result in delays of up to 2 hours" that it's an institutional problem. iirc they had some distinction where being battery powered meant it was a small electronic device, unless it was an iPad.

Add to that usual airport inconsistencies like "do I need to remove an 8inch tablet?" from my bag. A 10 inch tablet is pretty universally required to be removed, but I've been instructed both to return my 8 inch tablet to my bag or to remove it from my bag and sneered at for getting it wrong, sometimes at the same airport.

Or let's talk shoes + TSA in the US: Some airports require them through the scanner, others will look at you like your crazy. This will often not be reflected in local signage.

But then threatening a 2 hour delay for not reading their mind is just dumb.

In my final visit to Manchester airport, apparently an 8inch tablet does count as a small electronic device but a PS4 controller does not. Therefore I was supposed to conclude from the passive aggressive sign that the tablet must be in my bag and the PS4 controller must not be in my bag.

I've never travelled through Manchester. But I travel a lot, and what I do is simply to grab a bunch of trays, and add all my gadgets (and camera, if I have one) from the bag and put them on a tray. Including the little Kindle. There's no point wasting time asking. Sometimes (b/c this depends on the local rules of the country, and they change too) the security will notice and say 'no need, keep the camera in the bag', but if not, it does no harm. I don't remove my shoes unless there's a sign saying that I must. As my shoes don't have any metal in them there's never a problem. But I always wear simple shoes that I can just flip off in a moment, without bending down, just in case.

> I will _never_ use the millimetre scanner

Genuinely curious, is there a reason for this, or are you just fucking with the security?

I don't know about the OP but I have hardware attached to my body that can't go through.

I also have clearly labeled liquids (for medical reasons) which by law I am allowed to carry. At SLC the TSA meticulously opened each one, ruining sterility so I had to discard the lot. Fortunately I got home safely.

Not OP but I don't trust their data security and privacy practices and don't like the fact that it's based on gendered patterns (I get my hair ruffled through because I put it up and I'm a man, I can't imagine the horror pre-op trans people go through).

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