avoiding frisking by TSA agents at airport security

[silly2003]

For females who do not like to be groped by TSA agents at airports, this is what I plan to wear.

1) no bra, only undershirt

2) no barettes

3) tight t-shirt

4) tight yoga pants

5) tennis shoes which I will have to take off.

 

I have not tried this outfit, but a month ago I got singled out for special screening. The agent (female) was directed by her male supervisor to find any metal on me, she found 2 metal stays on my bra and a metal hook and eye closure which she had to touch everywhere she found metal. I was lucky as compared to the girl in front of me who had an underwire bra on.

I had a large t-shirt and some dockers type slacks on and I am baby boomer white female. I was upset by this whole affair and vowed not to fly again, but then I couldn't go on a cruise, so I am going to try these clothes.

 

I say barrettes because I was originally asked to remove my barrettes, but I thought that was ridiculous and I have no comb or brush with me in carry on, so I said they could use the wand, I didn't know I was going to be frisked for not wanting to have my hair messed up for the next 4 hours. I either had to put up with the frisk or leave the airport. That was the only two choices. It didn't matter that I took out my barettes, they still had to frisk me.

 

So things have changed since December 2004. When I got home I did a bunch of web searches and found they about 15% of women are frisked like this. I think this is outrageous. I hope my change in clothing will keep me from being frisked this time. This is a warning to women who wear bras with metal in them (remember that eye and hook closure in the back - that is metal).

 

I posted this on the air cruise forum too, but I don't think anybody reads that one. If you have any other ideas of how to avoid getting frisked, please tell.

[LonW]

Not just women!!! I have been searched like you are talking about on several occasions. Just one of those things we have to learn to put up with since 9/11.

[ger_77]

I've switched from an underwire bra to a sports bra for our flights. It just makes things a whole lot easier. And slacks that have an elastic waist (the travel knits are great because they keep their shape and look good after you've been in them for 25 hours). Anything to make it easier to get going on that holiday!

 

DH, on the other hand, has no choice - his chest is wired together from bypass surgery, so he makes ALL the bells and whistles go off whenever we get to the airports. The only place he hasn't been frisked was in Frankfurt - maybe the machine wasn't working properly that day, I don't know.:rolleyes:

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Chevdiver]

On a business trip to Houston/Midland I was thoroughly wanded and frisked (white male, 43) in Midland, but waved right through in Oakland and Houston. In Midland, I was just wearing dockers w/ a short sleeve collared shirt. I took off my belt, watch, and shoes and passed them through the scanner. I did not set off any alarms, but was still THOROUGHLY wanded and frisked. In Houston, my belt set off the alarm, but the waved me through anyway. To top it off, In Midland, they even pulled a 60+ year old grandma, frisked her, and even checked her for bomb residue on her hands. That was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.

 

I understand why they do it, but I think they really need to apply some common sense to the process. On one flight, to Washington DC from San Francisco, I was wearing a heavy coat and carrying two back packs. My wife was wearing a light sweater, snug fitting slacks, and was not carrying any extra bags. They waved me through and didn't even look twice at me, but they ran my wife through the whole process. I was standing there next to the national guard soldier during this whole process asking him if this made sense to him. He just shook his head and said it was ridiculous. People that were carrying bags and wearing big baggy clothes were passed right on through, and other with tight fitting clothes were pulled aside. go figure....

 

To the OP, I think avoiding all metal on clothing and body is probably the best bet, but still not a guarantee. I guess we should just expect the third degree and be happy if we aren't chosen. If the process works to deter even one person then I will gladly put up. I will plan for it and dress according. I guess the one added benefit is that I will have on much more comfortable clothing for flying than I would have had in the past.

 

Enjoy your cruise and just remember that the airport experience "is what it is" and isn't worth stressing over. I have flown a lot and I have learned to just go with the flow.

[samdham]

My 7 year old daughter was given the thorough search, and she was wearing just a regular top and pants. No underwire, of course. I'm not sure why she was chosen out of all the other passengers around at the time. Sometimes I think they go a little overboard in their effort to be "random."

[nybumpkin]

My whole family (me, DH, and kids 14, 9 and 5) were selected for strict security at O'Hare en route to New Orleans. I'm pretty sure I know why - after we arrived at O'Hare, our flight to New Orleans was cancelled and we were booked on a different airline for a flight the next day. Meanwhile, our checked luggage went merrily on its way to New Orleans on the original airline. So there we were - one-way tickets to New Orleans and no checked bags. That sets off all the alarms. No, it's not the pleasantest experience in the world, but we've been wanded and had bags searched at amusement parks too. You just have to go with the flow. (On the up side, the line for strict security was shorter!) BTW, when we picked up our luggage in New Orleans, we all had those nice notes in our luggage from the TSA that our bags had been searched - after all, they flew to New Orleans with no accompanying passengers!

[johnql]

IMO, the randomness, which sometimes strikes us as absurd (e.g., frisking an elderly woman) is exactly what is needed. Predictability in a security procedure is a vulnerability. If a terrorist can scrutinize a procedure and figure out that, for instance, all elderly women will never be stopped, that becomes the weakest link in the security screening. The terrorists would then do their darndest to recruit elderly women to become their pawns. And if you think this is unlikely, that's what people used to think about female suicide bombers. When it became clear that females weren't as heavily scrutinized as males, the terrorists in Israel started recruiting females.

 

All the security procedures that have been instituted since 9/11 are an inconvenience to some extent, but I believe they are a minor and necessary inconvenience.

[samdham]

nybumpkin, Don't you kind of wish that since they took the luggage off the wrong plane to inspect it, they would have put it on the right plane when they were done? ;)

[wrp96]

My whole family (me, DH, and kids 14, 9 and 5) were selected for strict security at O'Hare en route to New Orleans. I'm pretty sure I know why - after we arrived at O'Hare, our flight to New Orleans was cancelled and we were booked on a different airline for a flight the next day. Meanwhile, our checked luggage went merrily on its way to New Orleans on the original airline. So there we were - one-way tickets to New Orleans and no checked bags. That sets off all the alarms. No, it's not the pleasantest experience in the world, but we've been wanded and had bags searched at amusement parks too. You just have to go with the flow. (On the up side, the line for strict security was shorter!) BTW, when we picked up our luggage in New Orleans, we all had those nice notes in our luggage from the TSA that our bags had been searched - after all, they flew to New Orleans with no accompanying passengers!

 

For my 2nd cruise, the cruise line booked us into and out of different airports so our tickets were one-way tickets both ways. At that time, they were also doing random searches at the gates in addition to security. So not only did I and my best friend get pulled out at security for extra searches (us and our bags) in both directions, we had to go through it again at the gates. So by the time we got home from our cruise we had been thoroughly searched 6 times. (2x at security and 4x at the gates). We just smiled and said thank you each time. We were grateful to be allowed on the plane, as we know a couple of people who somehow have made it onto the no-fly list. They have to jump through hoops just to be able to fly, so I don't figure I'm going to complain for having it take extra time to go through security.

[nybumpkin]

nybumpkin, Don't you kind of wish that since they took the luggage off the wrong plane to inspect it, they would have put it on the right plane when they were done? ;)

 

We wondered why, if we couldn't fly earlier than the next day, they couldn't have our bags join us as well - it would have made life a lot easier for us in Chicago where we were scrambling to make do with carry-ons (although we know enough to pack a change of clothes in carry-ons). It apparently was easier to put our luggage on a plane than it was to put us on a plane. Such is life in the modern airport. I will say that despite the change in our plans (we hoped for a pre-cruise experience in New Orleans, not Chicago), we did okay with a day at the Navy Pier and one of the boat tours on the Chicago River. At least we made it to our cruise on time!

[samdham]

I suppose if you're going to be unexpectedly stuck in a city, Chicago is a good one to be stuck in. :)

[booboo4031]

On any given day, your boarding passes have a ever changing random extra secrity check assigned by the system. Just because your passes have this code for one leg of your trip, does not mean that all the legs of your trip will have these extra security check codes. Sometimes it's your 'lucky' day :D The code changes daily. Tickets are also flagged that are purchased within 12 hours of departure.

[mrsfuzzmo]

I've had the entire frisk, with and without bras on. I've had the "feel for the underwire" a few times and to me it was just something to laugh off. Of course, my husband made it into a joke and asked the TSA gal if he could have here job...etc., and though it may seem extreme to some folks, I really don't mind it at all and am glad for the extra security measures. That being said, I now travel in a tank top with a built in shelf bra, sweat shirt, yoga pants and flip-flops. Just makes it easier and quicker for eveyone.

[Happy ks]

I have been fortunate and never have gotten "pulled over"...yet. But, I'm sure my turn will come eventually. I think the key is to go along with whatever their request is and plan for it. The cami tops with the built in bras are a great idea, I like to wear sneakers for foot protection, but I have no problem slipping them off. In my carry on I have everything packed in see-through containers and have all meds in original bottles. I also limit my carry on to essentials, I've seen what people go through during the search and having to reorganize everything.

 

My sister was thoroughly searched one time, the farthest person from being a terrorist you could think of. She said she just kept her mouth shut and the woman was done in a couple of minutes.

 

The added security is not a new thing and we just have to get used to it. Just think, if these measures were employed before September 11, 2001, perhaps our world would still be naive as it was on 9/10/2001.

[kitty9]

If any of you have ever had to go through security checks in places like Bombay or Dubai, you would never, ever complain about the checks here in the US. In those two places, you are separated by gender, stand in separate lines and taken into a curtained off area. You stand on a small box, and are completely felt up on your entire body by a member of your same gender. You are then wanded by another person. You have to remove any lose clothing like jackets or sweaters and those are gone over by another person. They even check your feet. No one is exempt from these searches, it's not at all random, even kids are searched and parents cannot be in the curtain area with them. And in India, you have to give your cameras or your film to the flight attendants because it's illegal to take photos of any airplanes---the cameras and flim are given back to you after you get off the plane.

 

And silly, it does't matter what you wear to the airport, if your name comes up on the computer as the random selectee, you're going to be patted down and searched. It doesn't matter if you wear an underwire bra or loose clothing. If your name is up, and your boarding pass is stamped with the code, you're going to be pulled from line for additional security checks.

[gambit57]

And silly, it does't matter what you wear to the airport, if your name comes up on the computer as the random selectee, you're going to be patted down and searched. It doesn't matter if you wear an underwire bra or loose clothing. If your name is up, and your boarding pass is stamped with the code, you're going to be pulled from line for additional security checks.

 

That basically sums it up. Me and my fiancee are the unlucky ones. We always get searched. We're honestly surprised when we don't get extra security searches (only like twice since 9/11 and we've been on tons of flights). Clothing doesn't matter. I just wear clothing that makes it easier to be searched since i expect to be.

[kitty9]

We went to NY one month after 9/11 and on our flight home out of Newark, my mom, who's 78 was wearing her underwire bra. Of course, the wand kept going off when the lady passed it over her. Mom is 4'9" and weighs all of 90lbs. The security lady looked at her and said, "honey, you don't need to wear a bra". Mom looked at her and said, "if I took off my bra, my boobs would fall so far and fast that all the wrinkles would leave my face and I wouldn't look like my ID". Mom didn't realize that a very young National Guardsman with a very big gun was standing right next to her when she said this. He just about lost it, laughing so hard.

[Margie1983us]

Bring on the search!! If I need to be searched each leg of my trip to travel safely, ***** Lets Roll**** I know we live in different times than pre 9-11 and it is a little hard to grasp it. But now that I have found cruising, I say "bring it on" . What ever needs to be done to have a safe trip.

Now a few suggestions might be.

1. For females being searched, only 25 year old male models wearing a nice pair of swim trunks.

2. For men being searched,(my husband) only slightly overweight 40 year olds with 2 kids. Oh wait thats me, I don't think he wants me to search him. lol :)

[aprilmay2]

Interesting thread....

During the summer of 2002, my family and I (Dad, Mom, Me [18 then], and sister [15 then]) went to Disney world for a week. My sister was about to be 16, and my dad wanted to buy her a certain car. He owns a pre-owned car dealership, and usually buys our cars at auction. He found "the car" on the auction website a week before we left for DisneyWorld, and it was being sold while we were to be gone. So he booked a round trip ticket to Atlanta and back for the day of the auction so that he could get home to buy the car and then return.

 

WHAT A MISTAKE!

 

Delta treated him as they would a terrorist. He was thoroughly searched at each and every security point, and at each and every gate, round trip. Neither of his flights was full, so they informed him that he would not be able to sit in the seat that he had booked. Rather, he was put in the last row, aisle seat, just in front of the flight attendant area (what do you call that?), with no other passengers within several rows of him. He said it appeared they had changed other passengers' seat assignments to avoid being near him. The flight attendants ignored him other than staring at him, and he couldn't get a soft drink for the life of him. He heard another passenger actually ask the flight attendant "Is that guy a criminal?" Her answer simply "No." Luckily it was a short flight. He swore off flying for a while, but is over that now.

 

Strangly enough, he is actually an assistant Magistrate Judge in our county. 40 year-old white male. His round-trip ticket in one day probably triggered such treatment. He also had a good tan from being on vacation, and with his dark hair and eyes, he may have looked Eastern European. He wrote a letter to Delta when he returned home, but received no response, so he chalked it up to bad luck. Although he was very upset about the whole ordeal, we understood that it was only a few months post-911, and security was tight. Not that this type of treatment is acceptable, but it was understood.

[CaptData]

Since 9/11 you can be randamly searched. You do not need to set off alarms. Sometimes, if you book a quick flight or a one-way you will be searched. I get searched everytime I go. I'm in a wheelchair.

[SAfricansinBahrain]

If any of you have ever had to go through security checks in places like Bombay or Dubai, you would never, ever complain about the checks here in the US. In those two places, you are separated by gender, stand in separate lines and taken into a curtained off area. You stand on a small box, and are completely felt up on your entire body by a member of your same gender. You are then wanded by another person. You have to remove any lose clothing like jackets or sweaters and those are gone over by another person. They even check your feet. No one is exempt from these searches, it's not at all random, even kids are searched and parents cannot be in the curtain area with them.

 

 

I am sorry to disagree, but I travel via Dubai airport an average of 6 to 8 times per year, and have NEVER experienced or even witnessed such "divide and search" activities. At the most my husband and son have had to take off belts - now they either fly without one or just put them in one of our carry-on bags until we have passed all the security checks.

 

The worst security check was our first holiday in the states after 9/11. First the checkin lady made sarcastic comments about my birthday ( yep, you guessed, 9/11), and then all non-us passport holders were herded to one side and our shoes etc were checked. (What made it even worse was sitting next to my teenage son as he took has sneakers off after a 14 hour flight - talk about CHEMICAL WARFARE ;) )

 

I don't have a problem with added security as it makes travel safer for all of us, but the remarks re Dubai were inaccurate!

[Grayce]

I say barrettes because I was originally asked to remove my barrettes, but I thought that was ridiculous and I have no comb or brush with me in carry on, so I said they could use the wand, I didn't know I was going to be frisked for not wanting to have my hair messed up for the next 4 hours. I either had to put up with the frisk or leave the airport. That was the only two choices. It didn't matter that I took out my barettes, they still had to frisk me.

 

I thought they could deny you boarding if you were not cooperative with the security checks. I wonder if refusing to remove your barrettes might be the reason you were subjected to a full search:confused:

[Aunu]

My husband travels every 28 days for work, goes to foriegn countries, EVEYTIME he leaves from our local airport he gets screened. On the bottom right hand of his ticket are 3 S's. They told him it randomly selects him to get scanned. Not very random if its everytime. So when he picks his tickets up, we look and there they are, SSS.

[Hate 2 W8t]

The OP was most likely frisked because she refused to remove her barrettes. As a result, when the metal detector went off, the TSA rep has an obligation to do the full search.

 

This happened to me recently on a quick flight to San Fran from So Cal. I didn't want to remove my shoes because they were lace-ups. I figured they wouldn't set off the detector anyway because they were such cheap shoes, I didn't think they would actually contain any metal. The gal at the detector asked me if I wanted to take them off before coming through and I said I would take my chances. Ding, ding, ding. Oops. So...I still had to remove my shoes AND get the frisk.

 

Lesson learned - most of these people do know what they are doing. If they advise you to remove your belt, watch, shoes, barrettes, etc, DO IT. It may save you from the joy of a TSA frisk. :D

[Eliot Ness]

........Lesson learned - most of these people do know what they are doing. If they advise you to remove your belt, watch, shoes, barrettes, etc, DO IT. It may save you from the joy of a TSA frisk. :D

Anymore I carry a Ziplock bag in my carry-on. Before going through security I put everything (belt, coins, wallet, keys, jewerly, cell phone, etc.) in the bag and toss it in one of the trays along with my shoes. Yes, it's a pain to do, but it saves the hasssle of having the detector go off and then getting frisked.

 

John