Is the liquids ban no more?

by Grant Martin on

It’s hard to remember a time when liquids were openly allowed on a plane, when wine runs to Paris were plausible and when bringing a full water bottle past security wasn’t considered a shame-worthy sin. For several years now the TSA has ardently enforced a 3-1-1 rule, effectively restricting anyone from carrying liquids in containers over 100mL onto an airplane.

As time and tempers have faded, however, so has enforcement. Now when marching through the security line it seems that a few containers over 100mL can slip through the X-ray and that few are asked to remove and display their liquids. Our old friend Chris Elliott writes up a few first hand accounts over at MSNBC, where from his perspective it almost appears that the ban is no longer.

Needless to say, take Mr. Elliott’s experiences with a grain of salt. Officially, the 3-1-1 policy is still in place, and anyone bringing an egregious amount of liquid or citing his article is surely going to get rebuffed. For now, count your blessings that the TSA might be looking the other way and cross your fingers that the policy soon becomes permanent.

Breaking: NY port authority realizes what we all know – LaGuardia airport is a dump

by Scott Carmichael on

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has come to the conclusion that LaGuardia airport is “outdated”.

And who wouldn’t agree with them? Twenty years ago, LGA was probably considered a timeless relic, but nowadays the place is a disgrace, albeit a disgrace with a pretty decent location if you need to go to Manhattan.

As a major gateway into New York City, the place is about as welcoming as a punch in the stomach, which is why the port authority says the best solution is to completely rebuild the airport.

Of course, like any airport operator, cash for the rebuild is nowhere to be found (even though 26 million passengers pay a $4.50 facility fee when they use the airport). Several options are being evaluated, including a privatization and an airline financed reconstruction.

As an airline passenger, I don’t really care how they fix LaGuardia, as long as it involves ripping the whole place down and removing any remnants of this horrible airport.

Luggage liquid limitations to end – but only in Europe, and not till 2013

by Scott Carmichael on

The European Union has committed to lifting the current restrictions on liquids carried by air passengers no later than April 2013.

It was back in 2006 when security staff at London Heathrow UK police foiled a terror attempt that planned to use liquids stored in hand luggage to blow up a plane – and since then, travelers have been limited in how much they can carry on a plane.

The rules have been a major hassle for everyone (except the makers of travel size toiletries). Thankfully, Europeans only have to deal with the rules for three more years, which is when airports should have the necessary equipment to detect liquid explosives. Once the rules are lifted, all liquids will once again be allowed in carry-on luggage.

Hopefully the next development will be a reliable shoe bomb scanner, because once we can keep our shoes on, and our toiletries in our bags, travel will be one step closer to how it was before the terrorists screwed things up for us.%Gallery-76818%

Customs arrests man for flying with postage stamps

by Sean McLachlan on

Customs officers are generally our friends. They keep people from boarding the plane with stolen antiquities or live reptiles, but occasionally innocent people get caught in their net.

Stamp collector Markand Dave of India seems to be one of those people.

Mr. Dave tried to board a flight from Sardar Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, to Frankfurt, Germany, on his way to attend a stamp collecting exhibition in London. In his luggage he had a collection of rare, early Indian stamps. While Mr. Dave is a well-known philatelist and had an invitation to participate in the exhibition, he had forgotten to ask permission from the government to take the stamps out of India and ran afoul of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, which considers rare stamps to be antiquities. He’s due to appear in court on charges of antiquities smuggling.

Mr. Dave is probably not an antiquities smuggler, but as a leading philatelist he should have known better. Collectors should understand the laws that cover their collections and fill out the proper paperwork before they travel.

Besides, he should be thankful he didn’t have his rare stamps stolen by a baggage thief.
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Annual “DOTTY” awards honor traveling fools

by Laurel Miller on

Those crazy kids at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have released the winners of their annual DOTTY awards. Since 2008, the government travel industry watchdog has exhibited a most uncharacteristic sense of humor for a federal agency. Honorees are those travelers who have displayed the most moronic behavior. This year, the awards were issued just as DOT put new regulations into effect to provide increased security for travelers. Unfortunately, they can’t provide increased IQ, as well.

msnbc.com contributor Rob Lovitt breaks it down, pot cookie overdose, bomb scare ploy, monkey-disguised-as-pregnancy, tighty-whitey amphibian smuggling, and all.