A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 TRAVEL.

hi all,

as you probably know by now ,i work in at the pierre-elliot trudeau montreal international airport for 22 years now.so when weezie posted a topic about what we re good at to help others i simply said theat one of the things i knew well was airport stuff. weezie though it would be a good idea to do a special topic on the subject,so here i am;of course nobody is perfect and there must be a few things i don t know on the subject,but there s a lot of things i know.

so,here s a few general information about a littlebit of evrything you should know about traveling,if you have any questions please feel free to ask as it s a little bit easier for me to answer you in detail or almost.


packing ....

first of all if you re thinking of packing only 1 BIG lugage to save you the trouble of carying 2 or 3 ....wrong idea.

lets supose you re going to see the familly over the hollidays,you tell yourself..i ll have only one to cary,less trouble.well you get to the airport,alone in a taxi,if you re lucky the cab driver will help you with the big,heavy bag(that s if he s not afraid to break his back that is.)you ve got a connection and have to take care of your own lugage inbetween the flights,2 hours waiting in transit,well,you ve got this huge luggage you can t take anywhere without steping on someone s toes with it.it heavy and back breaking,plus you can t lift it....AANND...at final destination you realise they ve sent your bag in kansas and you in hawaii,and since were not in kansas anymore...and think you had all the clothing and gifts ,papers in that bag.

NO,twas a bad idea,better to pack a medium size luggage to register and in another little bag that you ll cary with you put : all documentations.,and an xtra pair of underware with a clean sweater,just in case you ll be delayed one night because of weather and have to sleep over in transit.

as for the gifts:always wrap the gifts at your arrivals or after you ve past security,never wrap before departing as they might want to open it to see what it is,screening personnel don t cary xtra wraping paper and bows in their pockets.

speaking of screening,never pack all electronicsor electrical(blowdryer,curling iron etc...) in the same corner of the bag as all they see will be wires on wires.ladies if you ve got secrets, ,put it in your registered luggages.

hey,you ra italian anda mada homamade vino for alla da famiglia,well,escusa but puta your vino in your big registered bags,causa every bottle in cary on luggages musta be labeled and not open,they ve got to know what it is.

Frannie...this is excellent information for holiday traveling...I would have never thought of some of those things...like not pre-wrapping gifts...

Thank you for posting this...most of it can be used year round..not just during the holidays!!!

Now..I just wish I were traveling somewhere!!!

~V~

Vanessa,

thank you very much for the encouragement,i was starting to wonder if it was ok,if i made it clear,and yes the infos are good year round.

hope to hear from you and thanks again

Love all the advice Frannie!

Triss,

thanks,i ll have some more when i could think of it,tired,no brain when tired,going to bed with hubby,hoping he wakes up...

ooppss, that is so he stops snoring and i can sleep that is...get your mind out of there...

great information - unfortunately I just put my mother-in-law on a plane with the wrapped gifts in her checked luggage.

A trip for traveling by car is to put your overnight stuff and one change of clothes in a smaller bag so that everything doesn't have to be hauled into the motel at night.

hi Bev,

believe me you also want to have an overnight bag even if you re flying,connections or not;specially in winter.

did your mom pass screening ok with the wraped gifts,if it was nothing electronic,electric or crystal chances are it was ok and they didn t stop her.

have a good day.

franny.

Franny - why would they stop crystal in checked luggage? I only wrapped books and clothes.

Bev,

a quick answer before going to work;as you know crystal is basicaly sand,it s very dense and black on an xray screen;so if you see a big black square in your xray,would you want to know what it is too.

franny.

good point

My husband went and bought a huge suitcase on rollers with a handle. It's like the kind you see all the time where the handle pulls up or pushes down into the top. I've never seen one this big. We can both pack stuff for a week in it. I can pull it up stairs but it's very heavy even before being packed. I had mentioned to him that it would be nice just to have to take one bag out of town - he took me seriously. With this bag you cetainly don't need another.

Thanks for the advice about packing an extra set of stuff. I've had my luggage lost before. It's no fun.

hi best,

he really took you to the word didn t he;better maybe to have 2 medium luggages like the one you talk about,that way if he finds out 3000 miles away at 1 am that he don t have any underwear to go to bed well it s his own falt,HE forgot it,it s his suitcase not yours so it won t be your false happened to me about 14 yrs ago,since then he has his own thing to pack and tough cookies if something is missing ,hey a couple a years ago they had a great invention,it s call a general store.

Hello,

this time i ve got some tips on films....

now when you go to vacation or familly for the holliday,of course you take a lot a pictures;the normal passenger will ask screeners if possible to not x ray their film.we all know that when you buy films,most of the time the salesman will tell you not to put em in airport xray,well this is half right,here s why:

in an airport there is principaly two types of xray,upstairs for screening your cary-on luggages and downstairs for the registered baggages.

cary-on xrays: you can safely put films up to 1400 speed,as those are low rays ,more than that you mayask for handtcheck ,telling them you are a proffessional and these are more than 1400 of speed;they re suposse then to swab it with the edt(snifer for explosive components)

registered baggages xrays: very strong xrays,try as much as possible not to put any films in your reg. bags,if you do they have a chance(i m not saying all the time) to come out a little paler or a bit blurry(xcuse speling).

in anycases wouldn t you want to always cary those souvenirs along with you in you cary-ons to avoid loses,you know so they won t end up in kansas when toto and you are not in kansas anymore

Francine,

Would you mind talking about tools of trade? Like LapTop computers, knives, scissors, etc..

I have had my share of trouble getting these things thru the gate in my previous travels in many cities of the US, Alaska, Germany & other European countries. For the knives & scissors, I used to carry several foam pad envelope/pouch that were pre-addressed/pre-paid in case I have to mail these to home, office or destination address.

And, talking about lost luggage, one October month, I flew to Anchorage, Alaska [by way of SFO->SeaTac] and arrived without my luggage. It was sent to another airport and wasn't delivered until the following afternoon...more than 30 hours later. Luckily the airline found it, otherwise I would have proceeded to Fairbanks without it.

Hi papito,

you were right to bring some extra enveloppe,it s the sign of a passenger who is always prepared.you can continu to bring enveloppes with you just in case they find siccors or multitool in your bags(sometimes we don t know it s there and i found a knife in my own bag once,i was at home but still.

if it s a local flight(same country) and they find a little thing like sicors or that old pocket knife your dad left you as an heiloom you could always mail it to yourself.

if you past customs already,lets say you were in mont. and were going back home ,then it s more difficult, unless you find a good soul in the screening agents that wants to take it upon himself to mail it for you on his breack(they re really not suppose to do it but sometimes they do anyway).then if not you simply lost it,confiscated.

but of course you know by now that:

any sicors,unless rounded are forbiden.
no lighters in any us flight,if they let you through with it,it either cuz they didn t see it or they re not aware and they re new(wich is not soppose to hepen normally.

any tools you put in registered bag.

computers you take out of the bag and pass it separately in xray,they might want to swab it for explosives.

if there is something else i didn t think of,just ask.

There are some new guideline about carry on baggage:

12/2/05
Friday, the Transportation Security Administration announced the government is scaling back some of the airport security measures put in place after 9/11.

When you fly for the holidays, the person in the seat next to you may have a pair of scissors, or a seven-inch screwdriver in their bag.

Under new TSA rules, airline passengers will be allowed to take scissors with blades four inches or smaller, and tools like screwdrivers, up to seven inches long in carry-on bags. With more security measures now taken aboard planes, the TSA wants screeners to spend more time searching for dangerous weapons.

We went to ILM in Wilmington to see what airport officials and passengers had to say. ILM Airport director John Rosborough said, "With the sealing of the cockpit doors, by putting federal marshals on aircraft, by having some pilots authorized to carry weapons, the TSA is now looking at the more severe threat of explosives on aircraft."

The theory; a pair of scissors or a pair of pliers won't help a terrorist bring a plane down. But some passengers aren't so sure they like the new rules. Whiteville resident Wayne Hall said, "Since 9/11, it's a bad idea to let anyone have any kind of weapon."

Kathy Shortell likes to sew to pass the time on her flight back to New York and welcomes the new rules. She said, "Because I sew and knit, it's nice to have something to do on the plane. I'll be glad to be bringing on my scissors in the future. I don't have any now because I knew they wouldn't let them through."

Screeners also won't be asking all passengers to take off their shoes, and will be more random in patting people down. In a world changed by 9/11, airport security will continue to change. Rosborough said, "I have some concerns about that, too. I mean, if you get a four-inch blade, you can do a lot of harm with that. We'll see how it works."

TSA officials say they hope the new rules will get the lines at airports moving faster and provide better security for passengers and crews aboard the planes. The new guidelines will take affect December 22, in time for Christmas travel. Many items will remain banned aboard planes, including knives, box cutters, and lighters.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4194681&nav=menu70_2

hi,

yes,it may aply for us flight but for now the canuks see it differently,for now we didn t receive anywords from the u s for the sicors;the only ones we will still permit is the rounded tips one,roseborough is right you can do a lot of damage with a 4 in. blade.

for now canada obeis the us rules for flight goin into their country.but just for the heck of it i ll tell you(i m in a very good position ,first hand to tell you,when or if that memo aplies for canada;if it does it should be before the 22 nd. of this mounth.

hey,

here s a little trick not to have your padlock brocken if ever a surch is required in your registered bags.there is a little padlock that made specially for tsa and that security people s got the key;it sales at almost any luggage store and i presume in some airport store also.

it s better than to have yours brocken isn t it!!

DO NOT,I REAPEAT, DO NOT TEASE,MAKE FALTS DECLARATIONS,TAUNT ANY SECURITY OFFICER,OR ANY AIRPORT SECURITY....SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!!!

prescrition drugs...

always have your prescritions on the bottle or at least your pharmacist sticker on it,same if you ve got an epipen.


ziplock bags...

are good to pack everything,from your nylons to your toiletteries,you can easily see trough it and don t have to look for it in everycases or every makeup bags.

bottles...

in between sweaters or in big winter wool socks.


waiting for you suitcase at the carousel...


not to mistakenly take the wrong suitcase,attach a big colorful ribbon or mark a big x on it with colorfull tape(do it on everyside as you don t know how they re gonna place your suitcase on the carousel),you can also use a chalk and same principle but you write your initials.


those are just some tricks,i m sure you can think of plenty of other tricks.

good night.

Francine..
*THANKS FOR STARTING THIS THREAD**
You're doing some great work on it...

What about portable oxygen bottles???
Or a nebulizer machine???
**(It's a breathing, cleans the lungs out so to speak)

I have a great tip for seniors flying alone
and maybe a bit nervous flying by themselves
and finding check points, etc...


Call and tell them you need wheelchair bording...

They pick you up, load you first, come get you to where you need to go, and really look out for you.

Hi weezie,

thanks a lot, i m trying to help people as i can,so ask away,it ll always be my pleasure to answer.

c pap (breathing machine)...

they are permited,more and more passengers have those; a more or less trained eye for xray will ask you what it is but most of the time they know.

oxygen bottles are not permited on the cary-ons unless pre-othorize by the aircarrier, you must first have your medical papers.


co2 cartriges for scubadiving are only permitted in registered bags.

talk to you later,

franny.

weezie,

this is a very good advice you ve got, evendough the airline told the people to have a wheelchair ready at you destination you should always remind them anyway.

depending on the airport size,the waiting period for the wheelchair can be a few minutes ,do.