January 12, 2008 Getting personal in the UK: one bag, two bag?
As you’ve heard, some UK airports now allow a personal item in addition to one carryon, the determining factor being the availability of the new 3-D luggage scanners. I flew out of Heathrow on January 8 - day two of the relaxed rule - with no hassle at all. The screeners seemed quite relaxed; in fact they didn’t seem to be giving the bags a great deal of attention. My wife’s bulging 3-1-1 baggy, however, did attract the screeners’ attention. She was pulled aside for about five minutes while all of liquids were litmus-tested. I can’t say if this was because she had lots of liquids (though all under three ounces) or if it was because most of here containers were unmarked; it may have been random. At any rate, it was painless and pretty quick. One difference between US and UK procedures has to do with shoes. In most US airports your shoes go through the main scanner in a bin. At Heathrow we cleared the carryon scan only to shuffle through another line for a separate shoe scan. All in all, Heathrow was less hellacious than usual. The staff was pretty helpful; we witnessed very little drama. That’s a good thing since the Heathrow can often feel like a second-rate disaster movie.
NOTE: If traveling to the UK, check with BAA for the latest implementations of the personal item allowance. At the moment it’s apparently inforce only at LHR, Manchester, and Glasgow.
Reader Comments (2)
So how were the Tom Bihn bags?!? Don't keep us in suspense! I'm considering an Aeronaut right now.
Any review on the Western Flyer?