International Flight Issues

[Chris Padilla]

Does anyone have a good site I could read that details what planes have available on board now that we have all these restrictions of what is allowed and what isn't allowed on the plane?

My wife wears contacts and suffers from dry eyes and it appears that she won't even be able to take any eye drops or saline solution on board with her for the long 11 hour flight from SFO to MUC (Munich, Germany).

Thanks

[Ian Barley]

Chris

Here is a link to information issued by the UK airport operators. I suspect that the information is similar. It looks like no botles of solution but you are allowed a spare set of contacts (in a small??? quantity of solution for non-disposables). I would chack with the airline to see if they are making other provisions but would guess that they will not. Maybe taking ordinary specs rather than contacts is an option??

http://www.baa.com/assets/B2CPortal/Static%20Files/hand_baggage_21Aug.pdf

[Chris Padilla]

Naturally, after I post this, I started googling things and found a fair amount of information. It appears that eye drops of no more than 4 oz. may be taken on board.

I still don't know what airlines will have on board available for passengers. The UK definately has A LOT more restrictions than the US. My wife was thinking to just wear her eyeglasses but now it appears she can wear her contacts and most likely be all right.

[Ian Barley]

... The UK definately has A LOT more restrictions than the US...

surprise, surprise:D

[Jim A. Smith]

Sure is getting to be a pain in the patuza boarding planes.

[Chris Padilla]

Yes, a certain group of folks are making it tougher on us be we won't let them get our goat, will we?! Heck no! :D

[Jim Becker]

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

You can now have one small carry-on through Heathrow, if that is how she is routed, including PC, cell phone and iPod. The link above "should" be kept current as things change each time someone at the TSA, umm...well...you know...has gas...

[Chris Padilla]

Darn, I can't bring my nunchakus on board but at least they can be checked through! ;)

Wow, even gel inserts for shoes will be confiscated! Now there is something easily not thought about! :eek:

[Matt Meiser]

Sure is getting to be a pain in the patuza boarding planes.

Just keeps getting worse. We decided to drive to Florida for vacation this winter because of it. Chris, maybe she can get a perscription for the solution?

[Ian Barley]

Yes, a certain group of folks are making it tougher on us be we won't let them get our goat, will we?! Heck no! :D
The way I see it Chris the worst thing is to let stuff like this change the way we lead our lives. If they want to stop me from flying they won't scare me out of it - they are gonna have to suck the air out of my lungs to make me buckle.

[Chris Padilla]

The way I see it Chris the worst thing is to let stuff like this change the way we lead our lives. If they want to stop me from flying they won't scare me out of it - they are gonna have to suck the air out of my lungs to make me buckle.

Sounds about right, Ian! Have a great weekend...I guess yours has started?! :cool:

[Bruce Benjamin]

Sure is getting to be a pain in the patuza boarding planes.

I haven't had to fly for a few years so I haven't been inconvenienced for a while. But these inconveniences sure beat the alternative and frankly, I wish the powers that be were more strict. Seems at least a couple of times a week you hear about another ridiculous security breach where somebody gets on board with something they should never have been able to board with.

My wife and kids went to Dallas, Texas last year and my wife got the thorough check at the security gate in Sacramento, California. She's a 42 year old white business woman traveling with a 6 year old boy and 9 year old girl. According to her, while she was being searched some far more, "Suspicious looking" passengers were breezing right though. The disturbing part about this is that she had unknowingly left a 4" folding hunting knife in one of the side pockets of her suit case, probably left over from our last driving vacations. The bag went through the Xray machine and they searched her bags during her experience. The knife was in a outside side pocket all by itself and they didn't even find it. Careless of her not to search her bags before leaving home but what does this say about our airport security?

Yes, I am all for racial profiling because I don't think we have the luxury of being politically correct when it comes to national security. And my wife looks about as non-threatening as you can get, yet plenty of other people who more closely fit a profile of a terrorist walked right through the security gate. This is such a common occurrence in airports and it is probably going to end up being another fatal error.

If they have to double security at airports and search everyone it will cost a lot more to fly but won't that be better than the alternative? I think we can all safely get rid of the notion that our world is a safe place to live so we need to act with that in mind. Sorry for the rant but I just wanted to express my feelings on this subject and share my wife's story.

Bruce

[Jim Becker]

As a frequent flier I'm both appreciative of the safety concerns and disgruntled by the solutions. I have copiously avoided checking bags for a very long time as it adds even more time to my journey away from my family. I travel "really light", even if I am away for nearly a week. I do online check-in from home or whatever office or hotel I'm in to save time. But until I find suitable alternatives for the various toiletries one needs to remain presentable, I've lost that time because of checking a bag. (In PHL, it can add almost an hour on the return because baggage handling is SO slow)

I will still be flying--it's what I do. At least the current restrictions are more reasonable than they almost were, so I can enjoy my books, wear my Bose QC-II headphones and carry my computer and wireless phone on the plane with me. And have some eye drops in my pocket...

[Lee DeRaud]

Darn, I can't bring my nunchakus on board but at least they can be checked through! ;)If you want to feel sorry for someone, consider the classical musicians flying in and out of England who can't have any carry-ons: would you want to entrust a $1M Stradivarius to the typical airline baggage handler?

[Zahid Naqvi]

My wife wears contacts and suffers from dry eyes and it appears that she won't even be able to take any eye drops or saline solution on board with her for the long 11 hour flight from SFO to MUC (Munich, Germany).

Thanks

Chris, I went camping couple of weeks ago and discovered that I had forgotten to pack the bottle of saline. It was night with no pharmacy or store nearby, I did have my glasses as backup but I was going canoeing next day. Since I wear disposables (who doesn't these days) I used drinking water for over night storage. The contacts were fine next morning. I guess if it finally comes down to it just use tap water. As a backup keep a set of packed contacts as backup.