Short transfer; almost missed the connecting flight, again

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Got extra special security treatment flying out of Belize last Winter but thank goodness still made my flight.

Unknown to me, dear wife stashed 1/2 bag of ground coffee in my luggage and that was caught on the security scanner. The airport security guy pulled me aside and started subtly asking for a few dollars to make this “go away”. I declined and was detained.

Both wife and I are proficient in ASL and were signing back and forth while she was at the gate and I was held in security. Told her to get on the plane. Don’t wait for me.

I was released from security right before they closed the door for boarding. Was last one to board. Wife bought me a drink once we were up in the air and all was back to normal.

Coffee?? Was there supposed to be tax or duty on it or something? I would think whole, unroasted coffee beans might be restricted like fruit and vegetables, due to the possibility of invasive pests hitching a ride, but I'm glad you warned us, that's definitely something I would try to bring back.

 

[cathy63]

Coffee?? Was there supposed to be tax or duty on it or something? I would think whole, unroasted coffee beans might be restricted like fruit and vegetables, due to the possibility of invasive pests hitching a ride, but I'm glad you warned us, that's definitely something I would try to bring back.

I think it gets their attention because it's a brick shaped mass the scanner can't identify. DH got stopped by TSA in DEN with a pound of roasted coffee beans he'd bought there. The TSA agent looked at the vacuum sealed bag, saw that it was labeled coffee and it felt like coffee beans and was fine. Of course then he also had to open every single zipper and pocket and look at everything else in the bag too, so that took about three times as long as identifying coffee.

 

[anothercog]

At Schipol now. On a Wednesday it was smooth sailing from Amsterdam. Train was a bit crowded but minimal check in and security line. We checked our bags non stop to SFO. Got a free feel up at security but we still got to passport control in under 20 mins. We had priority with business class so that might have saved 20 mins.

Passport control was another 15 mins.

Overall I thought I was pretty efficient.

 

[audreyh1]

Pretty amazing for Schiphol. It can become super packed and backed up.

 

[tulak]

I flew out of Schiphol on Saturday and it was busy, but nothing out of the ordinary. Took us around 30 min to get through security/passport control.

It was busier at the gate, since we were flying Delta and the flight was overbooked. Luckily we made it back home without any issues.

But the displays on the bus to get us to the plane were blue screened.

 

[EastWest Gal]

When we booked our Hawaii trip months before, we allowed at least 1-1/2 hours between flights in Dallas. The airline changed our schedule, allowing only 42 minutes. We tried to get it changed but couldn't. On the first leg of the flight, a 6AM flight out of our local smallish airport, we got on the plane on time, then sat there. I had just bought new AirTags and used my phone to locate the luggage, which was still in the terminal. Apparently the conveyor belt had broken down and our flight was 45 minutes late getting off the ground. While we were in the air, the airline changed our booking on the next two legs. They didn't need to change the second leg, as we had a long layover at our next stop. That caused our seats for the rest of our trip from Dallas through LAX to Kona to go from first class to back of the plane. We had pre-ordered our meals so we lost those too. The airline gave an inadequate refund for our troubles. I was hopping mad. We used airline points for the flights, and we will never get those back.

 

[JoeWras]

Just got back from Europe. On the way out, 1 hour in Dulles. NUTS. Our plane from RDU was held up 40 minutes for "metering." They shaved 7 minutes off flight time. So we had 27 - 15 minutes (doors closed), for a total of 12 minutes to make it from terminal to terminal. DW and I played OJ Simpson, running, and then crammed people onto the tram which we literally made in 30 seconds. We arrived at minute 17, so 2 minutes to spare. Got in our seats and were immediately checked by flight attendants to see if we were rightful owners of seats because they were going to given over to standby. Whew. I should say, the flight attendants asked people to stay in their seats if they did not have a tight transfer when we landed in IAD. People cooperated and were saints. They were the main reason we made the flight. And miraculously, our baggage made it to Greece. It would have hurt real bad if it missed because were were on an island and I'm not sure the baggage would have ever made it if it was late.

On the way back, 1:05 in Frankfurt. Pop up security checks everywhere. 3 passport checks, 3 different places. CHAOS in the lines, people freaking. With current world unrest, you can expect more checks in all international airports. We were lucky a Frankfurt security guy grabbed a group of 20 of us and showed us the secret staircase with another passport check area. Saved our bacon. Captain held the flight for 13 minutes (which he made up in flight) because there were so many missed connections. DW, myself and about 15 others were saved by his delay. They also didn't have standbys so that worked out for us. The bad news is our bags are still in Frankfurt. Oh well, we are home. They can keep them for all I care. Maybe someone else needs dirty hiking underwear more than me. LOL. (Reading that last sentence, I may still be a bit delirious from the flights.)

NEVER, EVER, EVER again will we do this. The reasons it happened were varied. On the way out, we originally had a 5 hour layover in Canada, but it turns out Air Canada was about to strike so the travel agent changed them. On the way back, she just did this 1 hr in Deutschland. I wasn't happy about it, but she claimed it was the best. DW still likes using this agent. I'm not so sure. But it is "yes dear" right now. We both agree we won't stand for anything less than 2:30 at least and will send that message to said agent next time.

 

[JoeWras]

One more thing about those carry ons: the box rollers. Watch out.

Our flight from RDU to IAD was a smallish plane. They only allowed the first 10 to 15 passengers to have a roll on. Everyone else had to gate check the rollers, no exceptions.

Since we were on a hiking vacation, we had to use our backpacks for carry on. And, following the rules, we also didn't have another large carry on. Turns out this saved us. Backpacks can go under the seat so we didn't have to gate check them.

When we got off the plane in IAD, all the gate check people were still waiting. We started our sprint (in hiking boots) to the connection. If we had to wait just another few minutes, we'd have missed it.

Back in Athens this morning, the Swiss Air and Lufthansa gate agents were making people put their rollers in a box and weighing them. Had to be under 8kg and fit the box. People were failing the test left and right because their official size rollers were stuffed so full. One lady got her roller stuck in the box for about 5 minutes. Took a strong gate agent to dislodge it. I'd say it was humorous, but it wasn't because I felt bad for her.

The whole situation with luggage is a "<something> show" these days. Travel is not fun.

 

[athena53]

On the way back, 1:05 in Frankfurt. Pop up security checks everywhere. 3 passport checks, 3 different places. CHAOS in the lines, people freaking. With current world unrest, you can expect more checks in all international airports.

I wonder if that's just Frankfort. DH and I flew through there on our way to and from Russia in 2003, so ancient history, but I remember there being WAY more lines where you had to show your passport than I expected. We did miss a connecting flight but at least got to LED the same day. Ironically, they held the flight we did take for another group that had been delayed and would otherwise have missed the connection. Never happens to us!

I've done 2 international trips a year for a long time (well, only one in 2020 and only Alaska in 2021) and if anything I've seen fewer passport checks at airports because it's all electronic. Went through automatic gates at Heathrow on arrival; can't even remember a passport check on leaving. OTOH, for land crossings in some countries (E. Europe and Central America in my experience) you have show your passport and get it stamped as you leave, then head to another queue (in the same building in Central America and a few miles down the road in E. Europe) and show it again at the immigration queue in the country you're entering.

I agree with you that the one hour connection was insane and I wouldn't have agreed to it. If it's any comfort, you can do all you want to book a sane connection time and they can revise their schedule and mess it up. If you call immediately sometimes they'll send you out on a later fight but sometimes there is none.

 

[jollystomper]

I traveled so much during my career at Megacorp that I hope I have used up my lifetime quota of missed connections . One of my "favorite" was the first time I flew to Beijing, through Chicago then Tokyo then Beijing. A two hour layover in Chicago turned to zero as my flight was delayed first from takeoff, and then for landing. The airline customer service at the airport rebooked me for the next day, no other choice. Okay, fine, I will get my checked luggage to go to the hotel for the night. Oops, we cannot give you your luggage, it is on the flight you missed. So I missed the flight, but my checked luggage did not. Fortunately I had toiletries and clean undies in my carry-on for the overnight say. Now my only worry is will my bag make it to Beijing, and still be there a day later (this was back in the late 90s, and the Beijing airport was still "old school", shall we say). Fortunately it was. But, on a personal note, the delay meant the project activities were shifted back a day, so my "free" day for sightseeing was gone...

Now I plan for at least a 3 hour layover when I have to do connections (I happily pay more to avoid them). I am so used to airports that I can keep myself occupied for a long layover. Or even have the connection leave a day or two later and spend some time touring the connecting city. Hey, we are retired, we have the time .

 

[lrip]

I got pulled for secondary inspection in Rome once a few years back. When I looked around, everyone that was pulled with me was a man with a beard. Coincidence?

 

[jollystomper]

One additional comment about the coffee and other items that might cause a delay if found via a baggage security scan. I watch episodes of the TV series "To Catch a Smuggler". The airport episodes regarding detaining people based on mannerisms or suspicious baggage are interesting, maybe serving as examples of "how not to arouse suspicion" .

 

[RetiredHappy]

I got pulled for secondary inspection in Rome once a few years back. When I looked around, everyone that was pulled with me was a man with a beard. Coincidence?

I was pulled at Rome while queuing to get onto the plane and it pissed me off. It felt personal when they pulled me. Everything from my carry-on was dumped out and I was body searched. I figured they thought I was a drug courier from Asia. No, I am not a man and I don't have a beard.

 

[luckydude]

I was pulled at Rome while queuing to get onto the plane and it pissed me off. It felt personal when they pulled me. Everything from my carry-on was dumped out and I was body searched. I figured they thought I was a drug courier from Asia. No, I am not a man and I don't have a beard.

I think it's random. I've been pulled for extra screening while going through security at Rome, Zurich and even LAX. I am a guy but I don't have a beard.

When I was pulled for extra screening at LAX (this was maybe a dozen years ago), a little old lady in her 70s was also pulled for the same. I think they have some algorithm that pulls random passengers for extra screening, that's all. At any rate, I never take it personally and just go with the flow.

But in general, I agree that flying is just a huge pain nowadays.

 

[luckydude]

Our experience with carry on is that there are two different standards. The majors and NA carriers have a much more generous carry on policy and seldom appear to enforce even that. The downside is that it takes much longer to board and deplane because of this. So transferring with carry on from a carrier with loose, unenforced rules may cause issues if getting on a carrier that has stricter carry on rules and enforces them.

The regionals and a few others in Europe, Asia, etc have a very different carry on regs, often referred to as international carry on size. Smaller dimentions. It is what we now travel with no matter where we are flying.

This is true, but a carrier that adheres to international carry-on size will often let you slide if you fly business class.

Case in point. I flew out of Reykjavik on Icelandair late July, and on my way to the gate, I was flagged down by one of the Icelandair staff to have my old-fashion carry on checked because it exceeded the international size that Icelandair adhere to. I showed the staff my business class boarding pass, so she tagged my carry on with a sticker and let me through.

 

[JoeWras]

I wonder if that's just Frankfort. DH and I flew through there on our way to and from Russia in 2003, so ancient history, but I remember there being WAY more lines where you had to show your passport than I expected.

Reading this thread, a few mention it, so you are onto something. Even the Frankfurt airport maps have "security" points listed all over the place. In comparison, Munich seemed more logical and less scattered.

For future reference:
At Frankfurt, in the event you find yourself trying to get to the "Z" terminal, which is simply the international upstairs of "A", consider using the elevator or stairs instead of the main security which had a line over 30 minutes long when we arrived. Here's a part of the map. I circled the stairs. Basically, before you get in that line, consider turning around and looking for another "Z terminal" sign above a stairway and elevator bank. It is within 20 meters or so. Go there instead:

This is what it looks like up top with the same area circled. You get here by stairs, no escalator. A very small hall of security, but very few people go this way because none of the "Z" signs have arrows to point you this way. You have to look for it on the side:

Once you get upstairs, you may not be home free. They had pop-up security before the main hall to the Z50+ gates. This is not listed on the map and may come and go. This one was not optional for anyone, and they actually did quite a bit of studying of you and your documents before stamping your boarding pass. It took time, and it was confusing since everyone just went through border control a few minutes earlier.

 

[fh2000]

I think it's random. I've been pulled for extra screening while going through security at Rome, Zurich and even LAX. I am a guy but I don't have a beard.

When I was pulled for extra screening at LAX (this was maybe a dozen years ago), a little old lady in her 70s was also pulled for the same. I think they have some algorithm that pulls random passengers for extra screening, that's all. At any rate, I never take it personally and just go with the flow.

But in general, I agree that flying is just a huge pain nowadays.

If your ticket shows "SSSS", you will get pulled. As did my DW one time.

 

[USGrant1962]

If your ticket shows "SSSS", you will get pulled. As did my DW one time.

Now that you mention it, I haven't seen an SSSS in years. Does anyone know if they still do that?

It always seemed a dumb idea anyway - a bad actor looks at the boarding pass, sees SSSS, and delays the "mission".