Reply With QuoteJust discretely pop it into your hand luggage as you go through.
An encounter with one of society's inadequati this morning...flying to the IoM from T3, putting my stuff in the trays at security and the operative asked if I was wearing a watch. Yes, I replied to which he said "put it in the tray". There followed a brief exchange in which I said that I was unwilling to let a £5k watch out of my sight in a busy airport, but he said that having bought a ticket i was agreeing to abide by "airport rules" which required me to comply with his "instructions" if I wanted to travel. He appeared not to appreciate me pointing out that he was making up the rules as he went along, as demonstrated by the fact that not everyone was being forced to remove their watch.
On the way out I made a point of complaining to the manager there who confirmed that he was wrong and that she would "have a word" with him. Her advice, which I now share, was in future to stand my ground and ask to speak to the manager if faced with a similar encounter with a security operative.
Last edited by draftsmann; 26th July 2016 at 08:03.
Just discretely pop it into your hand luggage as you go through.
Still goes out of sight.Originally Posted by Ian.
Leave it on your wrist.
I always take wallet and watch off and stick them into my hand luggage or the pocket of a jacket. Simple.
I fly quite a lot for work and that's what I do, or I don't wear the watch from my car until I'm through security.
Best first world problem I've heard for a while though!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thing is i always wear my watch and it never triggers the alarm.
To be fair, at Luxembourg airport, or Isle of Man, or London City I will often do the same as they are small airports and most travellers are other business people. A large busy airport in summer season, full of tourists, some of whom clearly not from the most salubrious parts of the world, is a different thing.
What annoys me the most is the incredible amount of time and money spent on airport "security", when it is not making you secure at all. You are allowed to take a glass breakable bottle onto an aircraft, something that with one smash can be turned into a far more threatening weapon than the kind of knife they will confiscate.
The security would be a lot better if less money was spent on meaningless time wasting rituals and more on targeted searches and intelligence.
I use Heathrow T5 weekly, as mentioned before, take watch off, pop discretely into a zip up jacket pocket or inside hand luggage, put in tray, watch tray go into X-ray, go through metal detector, watch tray come out other side, retrieve watch as a priority then get on with managing laptops / belts / shoes / luggage. Been doing this since 1998 all over the world, never lost anything (touches wood).
The only close shave I had was with my Breitling Emergency which was completely my fault. Was at T5, retrieved the watch, wasn't concentrating and I let the watch slip through my fingers, through the rollers into the bowels of the machine. Was retrieved no bother, but kicked myself for doing it.
Let common sense prevail
Given Manchester, I wouldn't rule out him nicking watches himself
Don't bring Leicester into this
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
How many people have been killed by shoes on flights so far?
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Oi!!
OP, I just keep my wrist out of sight a little and make sure I'm prepared with everything else so the whole process runs smoothly. It never sets the detector off and even when they've asked me to take off my watch, I simply wait for them to be distracted and walk through the detector. It's too much of a risk to remove it. Taking an expensive one to Marbella soon; that won't be going anywhere!
I always keep mine on. I always set the alarm off anyway owing to the fact I have a metal plate & replacement elbow!
Just don't get behind me in the security queue.
Very slightly off topic however SWMBO who works for a ' government ' organisation was asked if she fancied smuggling a bomb through a northern regional airport last year,there were five of them who where booked on flights around Europe.
Her 'bomb' was in hand luggage and the people operating the scanner where too busy chatting to even look at the screen as it went through the scanner! Four out of five got through to the departures lounge, she then had to fake a panic attack to get back out as they couldn't blow the exercise at that point.
Scanning your watch should be the least of their worries!
We have no plans to fly from the said airport in the near future.
I used to live in Manchester. My favourite of the millions of stories we all had about about getting robbed: gentle guy was waiting on his bicycle at a red light in Hulme. Bloke walks up to him, takes grabs the handle bars and says, "sorry, but I'm going to have to take this"Oi!!
.... good way of drawing attention to it
When this has happened before the operatives have said words to the effect "ah, we understand". This morning's muppets were wrong as confirmed by their manager. I will follow her advice in future and not let them get away with it.
I've got a 4 inch plate on my clavicle & 3 cannulated hip screws but I've never set the alarm off going through the scanner. I was most disappointed the first time.
Give a monkey a little bit of power.....
None. None have been killed by belts or coats either. If a terrorist really really wanted to take down an airliner and had a little financial backing, then there are many easy ways to do so, and none of them involves passing through airport "security".
The "security" has reached such farcical proportions that one airliner crash killing over 100 people is directly attributable to it. The cabin door was so "secure" that the pilot could not enter the flight deck before the aircraft was pulverized against a mountainside.
Last edited by GrandS; 26th July 2016 at 09:55.
I'm not entirely sure of how the scanners work so if anyone is in the know please feel free to correct me.
I would have thought that the watch going through the luggage scanner (X-rays) was better than walking through metal detector (that uses a magnetic field) with it on your wrist.
Surly the inconvenience of taking a watch off for a minute is less than having it magnetized and running erratically until you can get it demagnetized again?
Maybe it's my fillings.
When you say Northern Regional do you mean England or Scotland?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Good luck next time you go through the same security. Wear some clean pants and practise touching your toes. You're going to hear the snap of a latex glove being put on very soon.
I just got myself a little watch pouch, tucked mine into that pouch and placed it on the tray. Kept an eye on the tray till I came out on the other end. Then picked the pouch as a priority and placed it into my pocket once through the scanner. Though there is always so much going on and staff shouting does create panic at the airports and from time to time a passenger (including myself) can easily loose concentration and focus on belongings.
I used to keep my watch on for airport security, but just like you experienced sometimes someone will have you take it off. Five years or so ago they started regularly asking for the watch to be taken off here at the local airports. Since then I've just started putting the watch in my computer bag for security.
I also had a case in HK where I was kindly asked to put my watch back on - before the scanner. The security lady was clearly worried of my expensive watch she noticed on the tray. ;)
What a load of fuss over nothing.
Maybe that's the big plan....
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
The calibre of people being employed at airport security is worrying. I suspect they're paid minimum wage and given minimal training. I 've had issues with security at Leeds/Bradford, ending up in a heated row. Far too much risk of stuff getting mixed up in trays for my liking, staff not paying attention, and a very defensive attitude when I raised concerns.
I always put my watch in a zipped pocket of a jacket, or in wifey's handbag. Trying to wear it when being told not to isn't a good idea IMO and neither is placing it in a tray for all to see. The problems arise if you're stopped at the scanner and searched; that's when you're separated from your belongings. The sensible procedure is to allow you to reclaim your stuff before searching; that's the point I tried to make but the middle- aged menopausal maniac I was dealing with got very stroppy very quickly.
Paul
almost got the opposite in Zurich last year, the nice lady at security told me not to be so silly, only cheap watches set off the alarm and she was right, so since then I've left it on,
but what is cheap? it was Zurich so I was already in danger of looking like a tramp with only my best steel diver
what is it the metal detector is looking for if it is not a half pound lump of steel ?
Haha, maybe you should change your amalgams for composites?
2 flights last week -
Flight 1 had to take shoes off but kept watch on - yes it did set off the body scanner but the guy just said oh it's your watch .
On the return flight had to take watch off but kept shoes on.
Seems different every time but I just smile and do what I'm told
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Had a recent encounter where they refuse to let me through with a 100ml bottle of perfume. Why I ask? Because it did not say 100ml on the bottle. But they ONLY come in 100ml!!!
Went on to tell me I need to take my Fifty Fathoms off and so I took 10 mins wrapping it up carefully and place it in the zip compartment of my hand luggage.
Had to take a couple of flights with the gf once, we changed flights somewhere in Europe ( can't remember where ) , she bought loads of toiletries and cosmetics airside , only to have them confiscated at the next round of security we had to go through!
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
while I'm the annoying person in front of you who triggered it despite removing watch, belt, coins, wallet, keys, glasses...
I'm starting to think I may be a cyborg, or that I swallowed something metal as a child.
Ha ha fair point your safe it was in England!
Had problems at Manchester. Went through the express lane as got tickets with parking. Turns out more staff on the normal channels so they were faster. Then no signs what to take off, belt?, shoes?, watch? Got a jobsworth who just said look at the signs. What signs? Delay was actually pickup up the trays and then hand baggage that had to be checked. Apparently the watches in case in there was ok but they didn't like the look of the USB charging cables on the machine.
Only other airport security hassle was at Doncaster. For some reason set off scanner. Could see rest of family disappearing so asked guy patting me down if he could hurry up. Quite politely. Jobsworth (I seem to attract them) took umbrage and was very by the book and really quite offensive with his remarks. Plus then there's the hassle of not knowing what's happening to the stuff in trays and carry-on. Haven't had to use that airport again and would really choose not to.
As said above now have a routine to put stuff in jacket pockets and/or carry on zip pockets.
At times it does appear UK airport security goes way OTT and the rest are more relaxed. Found Germany was laid back. America was just efficient. With the likes of Turkey I could miss the security being there.
As others have said the problem isn't with removing items. I routinely remove watch, belt, keys, coins, etc. and put them in zipped pockets in a holdall in the tray, and accept this in the interests of security.
The problem is watching the tray disappear when you are queued up or stopped at the scanner. There really should be a better system than that.
But whatever the faults in the system I have no sympathy for someone being difficult, argumentative and confrontational in this scenario.
I must admit, I take my watch off too.
If I'm going to put my passport, wallet, tickets, laptop and 'phone through the scanner (and "out of sight"), I may as well put the watch in there too...
I just bury my watch inside my hand luggage in some clothing, no one is going to open my bag and take it out, they are too busy dealing with their own stuff.
I drop it in the tray and keep a close eye on it.
More disturbed by the thought of all the dog shit smeared shoes preceding it - especially in France.
I do 3 flights to work and three flights home, I just stick my watch in my carry on going through security, not sure where the problem is?!
mike.
I do exactly the same thing and make the point of staying with my belongings until the enter the x-ray machine. With all the cameras around in airports it would be easy to catch anyone who's is devious enough to pinch anything at security, so I may be being overly cautious.
The most consistently chaotic security I've had the misfortune to pass through is Gatwick. Dread the journey every time I have to go there.
Last edited by stelmo01; 26th July 2016 at 18:16.
I agree it's a little arbitrary and annoying, but do you seriously think your watch is going to be stolen in the 1 minute it is in the tray?
If you are that nervous, keep an eye on the tray as it goes through. It's going to be very difficult for someone to steal the watch and you a) not notice and b) not be able to see who it was.
Why cause problems? Security can be a real pain and clearly on occasion don't know what they are doing or why, but pick your battles, I'm not sure this should be one of them.
Now, having said all that, I don't have a £5k watch and might think differently if I'm ever lucky or rich enough to own one!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Someone who knows what they're doing will have it in considerably less than a minute
If no one questions this kind of thing, then you can expect the inconvenience to increase and the thuggery shown by incompetent twits on the staff, people who could not find a job that actually involved using their brains, to increase. You are paying for this "service" and you have every right to expect it to be polite, efficient and effective.
This is a big deal, because the amount of time and money wasted by pointless airport rituals is obscene.
Same here. I just don't get it. Every flippin' timewhile I'm the annoying person in front of you who triggered it despite removing watch, belt, coins, wallet, keys, glasses...
I'm starting to think I may be a cyborg, or that I swallowed something metal as a child.
I went through Jakarta and got asked to remove my G-shock by a young man in a distinctly military uniform. I told him it was plastic and ignored him. As I walked away I did wonder whether that was the right thing to do. After two seconds of no shouting and no alarm I relaxed. With a 'real' watch I would put it in a zipped bag. I do share OP's concerns.
You didn't like free prostate massage then?
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Posting Permissions
