Liverpool Airport Security Checks

sabina1986

Just wanted to let you all know about a recent experience in Liverpool John Lennon Airport, that may be of interest if you are planning on using the airport anytime soon.
Last week I travelled to Germany and having not travelled from there for a long time, instead choosing to fly from Manchester I assumed the security proceedures would be pretty much the same.
Previously I have been requested to put any liquid items (that complys with sizing rules) into a small clear plastic bag if it is to be carried in hand luggage.
Last time i flew from Manchester I used a clear small sandwich bag with a zipper on the top to avoid the items falling out.
When I walked through to the security check area I was asked to place any liquids ect in the tray with my shoes, belt,coat ect. I did this, but no sooner than it had landed in the tray, did the security assistant grab it out and say that it was "unacceptable" due to the bag. I asked why this was so, and he explained "that the bag must not have a plastic zip strip (one that you run across, like a zip but plastic to open close the bag) but must be one with a strip you close with your fingers"? I was completley bemused by this as it was exactly the same princple less the small piece of plastic used as a zipper on mine.
I was not prepared to argue and hold people up so instead I asked for one thinking the airport was probably been fussy and would provide me with one, instead he advised me to go out of security down the corridor to a vending machine and buy 2 for 50p?!?!
I decided not to argue and just sort the problem out instead as the que's were long and I did not want to be late for my flight. (I had an online check in and dont really like airport shopping )
After I got down the corridor there was another que of nearly 30 people all doing the same thing and buying these bags from the vending machine. (which I should point out were slightly larger than my bag with no plastic zipper but thats it?) A lady also told me she had forgotten to take her plastic bag out of her hand luggage,and obviously it had been picked up on the X-Ray and so she was asked to open her case, and the guy doing the searches on the other end was very rude, pulling her things out and then stuffing them all back in, to make matters worse he told her she was the rude one when she mentioned him doing this, as she had held everyone up! Oh errr someone must have been having a bad day .
Anyway generally although this is a rant at the fact Liverpool seem to have a nice little money spinner here with this trick, I really wanted to know had any other MSE members had a problem with this at Liverpool or any other airport for that matter? And no, before anyone asks I don't want compensation and I wouldn't even have bothered writing this if it had only applied to me but clearly this was not the case.
Sorry if it was a bit long, but rant over!

Reca_5050

Couldn't you have just bitten the top half (with the zip) off?

sabina1986

To be honest I never even thought about doing that, seen as how he said it was the wrong bag? To be honest I should really take a leaf out of some the regular MSE users books and maybe voice an opinion more often but i didnt want to cause a scene at the begining of my hols :rolleyes:

Absinthe_Fairy

That sounds awful! This is making me nervous - I haven't flown for a while and may be doing so in January.

Out of interest, and slightly off-topic, does anyone know where you can get the 'proper' plastic bags (other than at the airport)?

sabina1986

Hi, I'm really not sure perhaps you could have a look on ebay interesting though on returning home the german airport was giving them away FREE at security:mad: needless to say i took several! If the worst comes to the worst I can always send you one lol:beer:

maninthestreet

The bag must be resealable, but the the type of seal is not specified:

http://www.liverpoolairport.com/airport-information/baggage-restrictions-and-security.html#liquids

sabina1986

I knew I was right! So do you think the airport is doing this to make money then or just to be akward?It seems a little daft to me, especially with the amount of people they are upsetting!

maninthestreet

thriftymanc wrote: »

Having said that, when I was at Liverpool Airport once I did get shouted at for having a spiral bound notebook in my carry on bag. It wasn't even metal... I could have done more damage with my bare hands but they didn't question me about taking those on board...

That's outrageous - not just the fact that they thought a spiral bound notebook somehow broke regulations related to carry on items, but that they chose to shout at you. I would have certainly lodged a formal complaint.

nexuss

It is more a case of lax security at manchester than liverpool.They have certain alerts at the moment.

maninthestreet

nexuss wrote: »

It is more a case of lax security at manchester than liverpool.They have certain alerts at the moment.

What alerts, and how do they translate to the type of seal used on a plastic bag???

nexuss

I am not going to discuss on a forum how these kind of things are used to construct 'items'.I was told how these idiots do it and the alerts by a friend in the security services.